Rating: 
Summary: Hewlett-Packard DVD100i DVD Writer
Review: HP tries to give you the impression that DVD+RW is compatible with "most standard DVD players and computer DVD-ROM drives". Well, in my experience that's not true. I've tried two different Panasonic DVD players and two different Toshiba DVD-ROM drives. The DVD+RW discs won't play on any of them. All of the equipment is fairly new - most of it bought within the last year. So, if you're hoping to play your DVDs on home video equipment, I strongly suggest you get something else. The HP drive can't write DVD-R. Mine is going back...
Rating: 
Summary: Very fine product - ignore the poorly informed reviewers
Review: I find it peculiar when a reviewer complains about a product, not due to any actual shortcoming of the product, but due to their failure to understand what they're buying! "I bought this new sports car, and then found out later i have to fill it with premium gasoline! this is a rip-off!" ha!The HP dvd100i is represented as a DVD+RW drive, and that's what you get! I've used mine to back up my harddrive using the included Simple Backup software, which includes compression, so you can backup a fair bit more than the raw capacity of 4.7gigs on a DVD+RW disk; to burn a video DVD of some old home video -- the disk played just fine in my more-than two year old Pioneer DVD player, and the image quality was fantastic (tapes decay as the years go by, so this is a great way to archive your family memories); and to make a few smaller backups to CD-RW and CD-R disks, which worked absolutely fine. I've used three different brands of DVD+RW media, and had no problem with any of them, contrary to other's claims that you can only use the HP media. In terms of functionality and the DVD100i's ability to do what it is represented as, it's fabulous. As others have noted, the docs are skimpy - I've noticed this with other HP products too. They do a decent job of making the installation drop-dead easy with their fold-out getting-started sheet. However, the lack of serious technical documentation is a notable oversight, particularly in a cutting-edge product such as this. The most notable shortcoming is the integration of the included software. While you do get a lot - five distinct utilities, each of which *does* do what it's supposed to do - the integration of the programs via the central 'launcher' will break if you visit HP's website and download all of the updates for the programs. They still work separately, but it's annoying to lose the launcher's functionality after upgrading the software. Nevertheless, this does not detract enough from the product to give it anything less than five stars. I recommend the HP DVD100i enthusiastically. It's fast, powerful, reliable, and very versatile. No, it won't read or write DVD-RW disks. So what? They never claimed it would!
Rating: 
Summary: It's Okay - but be careful moving to XP!
Review: I installed the product under Windows 98, and it seemed to work just great. I thought the software was a little disjointed, somewhat cryptic - but figured it out after a while. HOWEVER, my hard drive crashed, and I decided to install Windows XP instead of Windows 98. As this was a clean install, XP Pro detected the drive as a HP dvd200j, not a dvd200i. I could burn to CD-R's and CD-RW, but could not erase from a CD-RW, or read, burn to, or play any type of DVD (DVD+R, DVD+RW, or regular DVD). The installation disks I received with the writer wouldn't function under XP, and there are no downloads available. You have to pay ... PER DISK (there are two installation disks), plus shipping, to have the actual installation CD's mailed to you. I really get ticked when a manufacturer makes me pay for software I already paid for, and especially when I have to wait 5-7 days (unless I get it FED-EX'ed to me). So a three-to-four star product, with 1 star service. That comes out to 2 stars, I guess.
Rating:
Summary: It's Okay - but be careful moving to XP!
Review: I installed the product under Windows 98, and it seemed to work just great. I thought the software was a little disjointed, somewhat cryptic - but figured it out after a while. HOWEVER, my hard drive crashed, and I decided to install Windows XP instead of Windows 98. As this was a clean install, XP Pro detected the drive as a HP dvd200j, not a dvd200i. I could burn to CD-R's and CD-RW, but could not erase from a CD-RW, or read, burn to, or play any type of DVD (DVD+R, DVD+RW, or regular DVD). The installation disks I received with the writer wouldn't function under XP, and there are no downloads available. You have to pay ... PER DISK (there are two installation disks), plus shipping, to have the actual installation CD's mailed to you. I really get ticked when a manufacturer makes me pay for software I already paid for, and especially when I have to wait 5-7 days (unless I get it FED-EX'ed to me). So a three-to-four star product, with 1 star service. That comes out to 2 stars, I guess.
Rating:
Summary: Don't buy this if U are looking for compaibility with dvdrom
Review: I purchased this writer and I am sending it back, it came with 1 DVD-RW and 1 CD-RW. After using the DVD-RW for a few times it stopped working, the DVD-writer damaged the disc. ...
Rating:
Summary: Don't buy this if U are looking for compaibility with dvdrom
Review: I purchased this writer and I am sending it back, it came with 1 DVD-RW and 1 CD-RW. After using the DVD-RW for a few times it stopped working, the DVD-writer damaged the disc. ...
Rating:
Summary: HP is misleading you
Review: I recently purchased this item with the hopes of creating DVDs of family events and such for easier distribution. The drive works fine on CD, CD-R, CD-RW (if proper software installed), DVD, and DVD+RW. The drive however will NOT, I repeat will NOT recognize DVD-R or DVD-RW discs. This is mentioned only by omission in the packaging and if you want to record DVD for distribution you need to get DVD+RW discs which are more expensive and more difficult to find. In a word I am VERY unhappy. I give the drive 2 stars only because it was able to deal with what it was able to deal with fairly effectively and once I contacted HP they did their best to explain the problem. But this is obscenely misleading product labling and irresponsible of the manufacturer to release this without clearly explaining what the situation is...
Rating:
Summary: The Best DVD Recorder!!..
Review: I used this DVD recorder and other too, included DVD-R, DVD-RW y DVD+RW, and this is the best of all.
With DVD-R and DVD-RW I had problems to read in to many DVD home systems and older PC-DVDs (Realy I don't now why DVD-R/RW are included in the standard if it didn't work on all DVD systems). Also I tested DVD+RW and it work on ALL DVDs systems (PC, MAC, DVD Home and old DVDs home that don't read CD-R/RW and MP3s).
The only problem with this is (capture) MyDVD software included (it is very limited), I used the Ulead DVD MovieFactory to make the test.
The other DVD software work well, I made data backups (on DVD and CD) and work well, this data recorded in DVD+RW was accessed in five differents DVD-ROMs.
Rating:
Summary: Missing DVD-R compatability
Review: I was impressed by the price and features of this new HP product, until I found out it was not compatible with DVD-R.
I have to give it 2 stars for HP's decision not to make it clear in their documentation of this product. It is easy to overlook it's omission when comparing DVD recorders. Aside from this shortfall, I have found my other HP products to be adequate performers, and have good customer support behind them. I would trust that the product performs as described, but I cancelled my order due to lack of DVD-R support. If your archiving videos, DVD-RW is an expensive alternative to DVD-R.
Rating: 
Summary: A good early DVD recorder...
Review: If you want to record DVD's that can be viewed on home DVD players, this is the model to get. This is because DVD+RW format discs are viewable in virtually all DVD players. Some reviewers have complained because the drive does not read or write DVD-R or DVD-RW, but I believe this is not a valid concern, as HP has clearly stated that this is a different format DVD drive. Many older DVD players DO NOT read DVD-R or DVD-RW, and HP has attempted to address this issue by, along with many other manufacturers, creating the DVD+RW standard. (...) The only complaint I have with this drive is the included authoring software, MY DVD 3.0, by Sonic Solutions. This software makes it difficult to encode properly for DVD distribution. You can however, use the HP Record Now software which is also included and works well. However, I have found that the Ulead Systems DVD MovieFactory works VERY well with the DVD 100i drive, and the combination of the two allows you to EASILY create DVD's for home use. Also, DVD+RW discs are readily available (...) in my area. They are slightly more than DVD-R discs, but not much. (...) So, contrary to the issues raised by other reviewers, I have had ZERO problems obtaining DVD+RW discs at reasonable prices.
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