Customer Reviews

Philips PCRW464K 4x4x6 External USB 2.0 CD-RW Drive

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

I understand this can work only on 95/98. If you are on Windows 2000, the CD creator software that comes with it cannot recognize the drive.THIS IS NOT MENTIONED IN THEIR SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS..

DON'T BUY IT. The first problem I had was with the Easy CD Cretor (what a piece of...). I could not write a CD at 4x, only at 2x. I bought Nero Burning ROM and I could write at 4x.... but... The drive worked fine for 2 month, when I only successfully burned about 25 CDs. I lost about 20 more, due to a kind of Laser Power Failure error. One day it was working and the next it stoped working. I called Philips Customer support and they asked me to send them the drive for repairs (by UPS, 8 bucks). Then, after 4 weeks they sent me back the drive. Guess what?. The unit I received wasn't the same unit I sent them, because I compared the serial numbers and didn't match. I called Philips Support again and they told me that they send REFURBISHED unit in exchange for the damaged ones!!!. They DO NOT exchange with NEW units. Now I have another's guys CDRW drive, with a scratched and dirty enclosure, not like the new-alike one I sent them.

If I could give this product 0 stars, I would. I bought this CD burner after seeing on the box that it's advertised to be compatible with Windows 95, which I have. I'm not a computer genius, but the instructions seemed easy enough to follow. Boy was I WRONG! The instructions are fine but after numerous attempts to install the drive I noticed that one of the instruction manuals referred Windows 95 users to the Windows 95 Installation instructions in ANOTHER manual, and no where in that other manual did it say a thing about Windows 95 at all. To add to the aggravation, the instructions say that you have to have Windows 98. Why then did they say their drive is compatible with Windows 95 when you can't set it up with Windows 95? I agree with the other reviewer who couldn't find any support numbers. I checked the web address in the manual and found NO online help that actually helped, and then I noticed a different web address on the box and finally was able to find a customer service hotline but it was closed over the Holiday. Poor customer service (if any at all), misleading advertising, and an all around bad experience add up to a lost customer for Philips. If you're considering buying this drive, do yourself a favor and DON'T!!!

If you have Win98 fine. But if you have win2000 forget it. It won't detect CD-R discs. Plus the tech support is terrible. There is no tech support phone #, and they don't return your emails.Make sure your drive is compatble with all windows os's.

i bought mine (...)with a pcmcia interface for xmas '99 when it was a new product.

the drive has had problems with windows 98 drivers and connecting to various laptops since i've had it and now (12/01) fails to show in my device manager or on "my computer" despite showing up in the system tray correctly under its pc-card icon and despite downloading the latest drivers from freecom.com, the site of their firmware provider.

philips phone support has been friendly but not terribly useful, and once the product's out of its one year warranty, they won't service it at all. the adaptec software is also harder to use than it should be and has its own problems recognizing when the drive's plugged in.

my advice -- i'd probably stay away from this one....

I bought the previous generation Philips external CDRW and was shocked at how bad the customer service around this product was. At the time of purchase the support was bad, and to add insult to injury they did not offer drivers to allow the drive to be used with Windows 2000.

So - unless you want to stuck with an obsolete product with no manufacturer support - don't buy this product.

Unfortunately I didn't read these reviews until after I bought this product. I thought it would work fine with my laptop, which has Windows 95. Ccome to find out after installation that Win 95 doesn't support the USB. They advertise on their box that it is compatible with Win95...it is NOT! This device is a total waste! I only hope I can get my $ back from the store I bought it from!

Did not work on my Windows ME PC. The drive wasn't detected by the included software. Do not buy. Waste of money and time.

I got a prior version of this device with somewhat useful Windows writing software. I don't use it so much anymore because I have an internal burner now in my machine. There are some undocumented uses for this drive. Freecom, the Dutch company that makes the USB cable for this drive also made drivers for Mac OS 8.6-9.x, though for a magneto-optical drive. Still works, though, but not, alas, under OS X.
The drive itself is actually a Philips PCA460RW internal IDE drive, inside a custom enclosure, and an IDE-to-15 pin converter PCB. If you decide later on to get a performance boost (4x burning never worked right on USB 1.0), you might try taking the drive out and installing in the computer chassis, or in another enclosure. (This actually works on OS X, though Adaptec Toast 4 doesn't.)
One irritant: after a while, the fan in the back of the IDE drive (or better said, its bearings) will dry out, causing a rather annoying hum. The only fix for this is replacing the fan. (Not difficult with electronics experience, but not trivial, either.
On the whole, all right if you're stuck on USB 1.0.

I have a laptop PC running Win98SE, and this drive works just fine; exactly as advertised.