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QPS 2x1x4;8x4x24 External FireWire DVD-RW/CD-RW Drive

QPS 2x1x4;8x4x24 External FireWire DVD-RW/CD-RW Drive

List Price: $499.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Unreliable Product/Inaccesible Customer Service
Review: First of all the product was on back order. Then when I did get the product, the software listed in the box and the manuals (Roxio Easy CD creator, Toast) did not match the ones provided in the installation CD (Ahead NERO). This was very confusing. So I tried to call QPS and had a hard time getting through. However, someone did return my call and sent me a CD with the Easy CD Creator & Toast. This was the only positive thing that happened.
Then I realized that the NERO software does the same thing as the Roxio software. So I loaded NERO v QPS 5.5.7.8 from the installation CD, however it did not work. QPS customer service was difficult to get hold off and when I did connect wasn't of any help. I then downloaded v 5.5.8 from NERO and it did work. Then I had problems with the drive not ejecting the CDs and sometimes turning DVD-RW into a DVD-ROM despite using the right software (InCD) to transfer data. On the whole, I am fed up and I am getting ready to return the product. It wasn't worth the trouble.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Unreliable Product/Inaccesible Customer Service
Review: First of all the product was on back order. Then when I did get the product, the software listed in the box and the manuals (Roxio Easy CD creator, Toast) did not match the ones provided in the installation CD (Ahead NERO). This was very confusing. So I tried to call QPS and had a hard time getting through. However, someone did return my call and sent me a CD with the Easy CD Creator & Toast. This was the only positive thing that happened.
Then I realized that the NERO software does the same thing as the Roxio software. So I loaded NERO v QPS 5.5.7.8 from the installation CD, however it did not work. QPS customer service was difficult to get hold off and when I did connect wasn't of any help. I then downloaded v 5.5.8 from NERO and it did work. Then I had problems with the drive not ejecting the CDs and sometimes turning DVD-RW into a DVD-ROM despite using the right software (InCD) to transfer data. On the whole, I am fed up and I am getting ready to return the product. It wasn't worth the trouble.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: It's slow, but it works
Review: QPS-DVD Burner: Does the Job

I found this product especially difficult to buy. That is, I had to read through a lot of material both before and after my purchase to fully understand what it was I needed, who made it, and where to find it. The easiest part was finding the lowest price.

The difficulty lay in the fact that DVD standards have not yet settled down, and there are several to choose from. These include DVD-RW, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD+R, DVD-RAM, and possibly others. There are also single layer and double layer media as well as single sided and double sided media.

Here's what I needed:
· a low cost machine
· that can backup computer files
· and burn DVD's playable on home players
· with appropriate software

What I found was that QPS basically puts a plastic shell around a Pioneer burner thereby making it "external." They bundle it with software and sell it under their own label.

What I got was a machine that can store 4.7 Gb of data or video on a single sided, single layered media using the DVD-RW or DVD-R standard. QPS' bundled software, InCD, conflicts with DirectCD, so you must uninstall DirectCD first. However, I can read my DVD-RW disks in my other DVD-R/CD-RW drive as well as in my DVD drive on a different machine that still uses DirectCD. So I'm quite satisfied.

Software:
InCD works well enough, though you can only eject the media through the software and not through the drive's eject button. I can also create DVD-R disks playable on any of the DVD players I've tried.

On the other hand, I found the software which creates movie DVD's wholly inadequate. When one creates a movie DVD, one wants an application which helps create box covers, disk labels, navigation screens, movie chapters, etc. For an additional hundred bucks, I purchased DVD Complete Deluxe which does all that through a very easy to use interface. If you dream of making your own movie DVDs, you'll want to spend the extra hundred bucks.

Performance:
In addition, QPS' DVD-RW formatting and data copying processes are "slow" (slow being relative). It take about an hour to format a DVD-RW disk, and longer to convert and burn a DVD movie. If you don't need speed, and you're prepared to buy your own DVD burning software (or are willing to settle for less), then this machine does a great job!

Other:
I was happily surprised to find that one can chain multiple firewire devices through this machine. However, I was disappointed that the included six pin to six pin firewire cable was not compatible with my four pin Sony VAIO port. I had to buy a four pin/six pin cable for another twenty or thirty bucks. The additional two pins simply provide power to devices that don't have their own power source. This drive, as one might expect, requires its own power source. No big deal, though. The product documentation "prepared" me for this, and I had the appropriate cable in hand by the time UPS delivered my machine.

Now I just have to hope I bet on the right side of the "standards" battle.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: It's slow, but it works
Review: QPS-DVD Burner: Does the Job

I found this product especially difficult to buy. That is, I had to read through a lot of material both before and after my purchase to fully understand what it was I needed, who made it, and where to find it. The easiest part was finding the lowest price.

The difficulty lay in the fact that DVD standards have not yet settled down, and there are several to choose from. These include DVD-RW, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD+R, DVD-RAM, and possibly others. There are also single layer and double layer media as well as single sided and double sided media.

Here's what I needed:
·a low cost machine
·that can backup computer files
·and burn DVD's playable on home players
·with appropriate software

What I found was that QPS basically puts a plastic shell around a Pioneer burner thereby making it "external." They bundle it with software and sell it under their own label.

What I got was a machine that can store 4.7 Gb of data or video on a single sided, single layered media using the DVD-RW or DVD-R standard. QPS' bundled software, InCD, conflicts with DirectCD, so you must uninstall DirectCD first. However, I can read my DVD-RW disks in my other DVD-R/CD-RW drive as well as in my DVD drive on a different machine that still uses DirectCD. So I'm quite satisfied.

Software:
InCD works well enough, though you can only eject the media through the software and not through the drive's eject button. I can also create DVD-R disks playable on any of the DVD players I've tried.

On the other hand, I found the software which creates movie DVD's wholly inadequate. When one creates a movie DVD, one wants an application which helps create box covers, disk labels, navigation screens, movie chapters, etc. For an additional hundred bucks, I purchased DVD Complete Deluxe which does all that through a very easy to use interface. If you dream of making your own movie DVDs, you'll want to spend the extra hundred bucks.

Performance:
In addition, QPS' DVD-RW formatting and data copying processes are "slow" (slow being relative). It take about an hour to format a DVD-RW disk, and longer to convert and burn a DVD movie. If you don't need speed, and you're prepared to buy your own DVD burning software (or are willing to settle for less), then this machine does a great job!

Other:
I was happily surprised to find that one can chain multiple firewire devices through this machine. However, I was disappointed that the included six pin to six pin firewire cable was not compatible with my four pin Sony VAIO port. I had to buy a four pin/six pin cable for another twenty or thirty bucks. The additional two pins simply provide power to devices that don't have their own power source. This drive, as one might expect, requires its own power source. No big deal, though. The product documentation "prepared" me for this, and I had the appropriate cable in hand by the time UPS delivered my machine.

Now I just have to hope I bet on the right side of the "standards" battle.


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