Ziotek Media Carousel Plus Special Edition

by Ziotek

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 18 x 7 x 15.5 inches ; 10.1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B000G7WZQY
• Item model number: ZT1341450
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)

Product Description

The Media Carousel Plus organizes 150 discs and can automatically serve up any in seconds! Use the keypad to retrieve discs or use the USB connection and software to build a searchable database on your computer... one click and a disc is called up! A built-in single port USB hub in the Media Carousel Plus lets you connect another Carousel or other USB accessory, such as a mouse or scanner, without an additional hub. Requires Windows 98SE/Me/2000/XP/Vista. MAC OS Drivers no longer available - as of Summer 2008.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

100 of 104 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost Perfect, One Cost Cutting Feature Prevents Perfection, September 24, 2006

By 

Christian Girard "SuSEKing" (I am a citizen of the world taking refuge in the USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ziotek Media Carousel Plus Special Edition (Electronics)

I first bought an Imation Disc Stakka for the cd/dvd storage. I was not completely impressed with it because (1) it offer no method of ejecting the disc, without the computer and (2) there was no Linux driver. I then found the ZioTek Carousel Plus and I immeadiately thought that it would be an improvement because of the digital display and keypad for standalone operation. Thus, if there were no Linux driver, I could still use the carousel.

After using the ZioTek for a month, I can now offer a comparison to the Disc Stakka.

Portability Winner: ZioTek. They offer Windows AND Macintosh drivers. I found a Linux driver, but it has no catalog so I use my Macintosh. Stakka only has a Windows driver.

Cataloging System Winner: ZioTek. Their software allows you to group your cd/dvd titles by your created categories. ZioTek also allows you to search on cd/dvd title. Stakka does not allow either of these features. With the Stakka software, can sort your titles alphabetically, but then you must visually scan the list for the title of interest. Both software allow you to enter your cd into your reader and have that information transferred to the cataloging software. ZioTek's software is simply more flexible.

Speed Winner: ZioTek seems to access a disc almost twice as fast as the Stakka. This is impressive because the ZioTek stores 150 discs while Stakka only stores 100 discs. The ZioTek is almost much quieter when it is searching for the disc. I can barely hear the ZioTek carousel turn, while you definitely know when the Stakka is rotating its carousel.

Appearance Winner: ZioTek looks nicer. I have the special edition black.

Disc Handling Winner: Stakka. Surprisingly the Stakka has the better disc handling system. It is like a slot cd drive ... you partially enter the disc and the Stakka draws it in. The ZioTek has a little arm that it will lower, upon which you are to place the disc. The arm looks to flimsy ... at least to me.

Security Winner: ZioTek. The unit comes with a key lock that allows you to lock the access window so that no one can use your discs. It is a nice feature. Of course, it would not take considerable effort to break the window, but for a home or office setting, this risk should be minimized. I imagine that you can say that the Stakka has a built in security system because no one can eject a disc without the host computer.

Standalone Capacity Winner: ZioTek. This unit does not require a computer to operate. An inventory booklet is provided for you to write the names of your discs so that you can enter the disc number to eject it. This feature works even if the unit is connected to the computer. I really like it.

In summary, I highly recommend the ZioTek DC-300. Except for its loading disc loading arm and the lack of a linux driver, it is perfect.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best for what's out there., April 15, 2007

By 

J. Koon "grasshopper80" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ziotek Media Carousel Plus Special Edition (Electronics)

I researched media carousels for about a month because I wasn't sure if I wanted to drop this much money on something that does what a shoebox can do. However, I must say I am very pleased and it was worth the money.

I agree with most of the other reviews that the arm appears a bit flimsy. However, it works fine so far. The manufacturer claims that the software doesn't work with Vista, but it does. It just doesn't load all the pretty graphics. I entered in all 150 DVDs in about 20 minutes.

The nice thing about the software is it has a print function. They provide a book so that you can write down all of your movies, or you can click the print button and it prints off a list complete with numbers and titles.

You can use this without a computer by typing in the number on the keypad. I am very glad I purchased this. It finds a movie in about two seconds and is not that loud. It isn't the smallest piece of electronic equipment, mine takes up the top of my printer stand.

Great product and I am planning on buying another for my software and video games. If you are considering buying electronic media storage, consider this as one of your top choices.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Much better than a shoebox, January 6, 2008

By 

Kim Hill (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ziotek Media Carousel Plus Special Edition (Electronics)

I received this as a gift. It holds 150 CDs or DVDs (or combination of both) in an upright position just like a slide projector. There is a simple interface that allows you to name each disc and then add comments (or key words) about the content of the disc. You can then search the carousel by key word to retrieve the disc you are in need of.

The downside is that I had hoped it would call up the actual disc content and display it on my screen. But it doesn't do that. It simply locates the disc and serves it up to you so that you can take it out of the carousel and put it into your disc drive. Now, for me that is still very necessary and helpful since I have a slew of discs. The only other con is that it is very large - about 14" x 14" and about 6 or 7 inches tall. WAY bigger than I envisioned it to be.

The pros are that you can daisy-chain them together and stack them up to hold a ridiculous amount of information, including movies and music collections. The other pro is that it makes it so much faster for me to find the disc I need. The more key words you add to the description, the better your results will be when searching. There is also a handy management form that you can fill in so you can do a quick disc retrieval from the physical form as opposed to using the search function (and you can print it out from the provided software if you are not interested in writing it out long-hand).

Another pro is that there is a lock on the carousel so that little hands can't access your stuff. VERY GOOD cuz I tell ya, my boys were completed fascinated with this thing. It lights up like a disco when the carousel spins. LOL

So there ya go. If you're thinking you need to get all your discs off your desk and into a handy, searchable database, this is a great solution.