Rating: 
Summary: Nothing but junk
Review: Shame on Iomega for selling this product. It is flimsy, shoddy, and unreliable. If you've got a lot of time to waste, and don't mind destroying a stack of CD-Rs, you might burn a few successful CDs. But I plugged this thing into three different computers and had the same inconsistent results each time. The list of potenial errors is truly amazing. There seem to be an unlimited number of ways that this product can ruin discs. Perhaps a dependable external cd-burner has not yet been built. But this one is so terrible, I doubt I'd buy anything with the Iomega name on it again.
Rating:
Summary: CD Burned
Review: Well, folks-the bad reviews are all too true. I bought this piece of trash also and have had nothing but problems with it. My experiences are basically the same as others have reported; wasted CDs, wasted time and money on a product that must have been rushed to market without any testing. Do yourself a big favor and pass this worthless product by. I would have rated it -3 stars if that were possible.
Rating: 
Summary: Predator considers CD-RWs its lawful prey...
Review: Let me preface this review with an explanation of what machines I'm using it with: first, Compaq Armada 3500 notebook running Win 98; and a self-built Athlon 550 mhz running Win98. System requirements were secure. I bought this drive even after reading the mixed reviews because
1) I don't do much CD-R recording, and
2) I figured most negative reviews were the result of incorrect installation and/or use of the drive. I was wrong. First, if you're looking for drag-and-drop functionality with this, be prepared to lose 167 MB out of 650 or 700 MB to Adaptec's DirectCD formatting. I called Iomega about the ridiculousness of that, but they admitted that's the way it is, and, what's more, you only get 533 MB out of a disc, whether it's 700 MB or 650! More lunacy followed when I tried an end-around DirectCD by using Adaptec's included EasyCD Creator as per Iomega's tech support prescription. I had to manually "end-task" DirectCD to get rid of it, after which EasyCD Creator *still* said DirectCD was interfering. After several more rounds of trying combinations and reboots, I gave up and just resigned myself to 533 MB per my PNY 700 MB discs. Finally, be aware that the Predator is very finicky about other appliances using a secondary USB port while it's plugged in. I had to disconnect my Nomad Jukebox (which catalog I was trying to archive onto disc using the Predator), then reboot and hope the Iomega didn't freeze. When that happens, the drive becomes impervious to both software and hardware commands (e.g. the eject button), and crashes the system because of a disk error that Windows can't handle. Any files that DirectCD thought were still "open" *will* be lost. Hope you had back-ups. The design looks good, I'll admit, but the USB version requires the use of a funky, clunky add-on unit which plugs into the back of the drive and to which you connect both the power and USB cables. The connection from this unit to the drive is tentative at best, and should not be moved lest you experience even more problems than you're already going to. All in all, some got this drive to work, but remember: I didn't even bother with write-once CD-Rs. I hesitate to imagine buying hundreds of discs to replace the ruined ones. At least with CD-RWs I can try again. Good looks, bad drive. There are better choices. Choose wisely.
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't work well with any CD-R
Review: I have ruined a number of blank CD-R's since purchasing this product.
I first bought Maxell and not one of them worked. When I called support, they said they had heard the same complaints and recommended TDK & Sony as the best ones to use along with a few others. Would they refund me the cost of the CD-R's? Not a chance.
I then purchased a pack of Sony CD-R's and have had mild success with them. I'd say about 40-50% were ruined and couldn't be used when attempting to burn some tracks. Finally I purchased TDK's after another reviewer said they worked great. After 6 tries, I have yet to have one work. Basically I have wasted a lot of money and a ton of time trying to burn songs (and data) onto my disks and I would highly recommend looking at other devices with a better track record before purchasing this one.
Rating:
Summary: garbage
Review: The predator is garbage. Since I, stupidly purchased this product it hasn't worked correctly, It starts to record but part way through it stops and freezes my PC. The only way to
clear it is to reboot. I've wasted many cd's trying to get this to work but with no success. There are reputable companies with products that do work, Don't waste time with this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Product
Review: This is a great product (so far). I've had this burner for almost two weeks now and my friends and I used it all the time. I have no problems with it at all. I installed it in two minutes with extra simple steps. I'm using it for my laptop to hold mp3s and data for school. I always burn audio cds and it works incredibly fast compared to my friend's. I was a little bit worried at first b/c many people complained about it, but I think people who like the product didn't give any time to praise it. The only drawback is the plastic design, iomega could have done much better with their plastic supplier. But for a rebate of 50 dollars and a dark blue design, I can live with it. My suggestion, buy it.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Drive
Review: After following the easy to understand directions for assembly and operation, I was well on my way to burning a CD. This drive is not only visually pleasing, it is easy to use and works great. It is a very good enhancement for my iMac. I definitely recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Slow and No Help
Review: My unit worked fine initially, and then stopped writing on most commercial discs. The first response from their so-called support group took three days by e-mail. They offered suggested corrections one at a time, with additional delays before offering the next step. Phone help is not available except during working hours. It took over a week to get instructions which could have been sent initially, none of which worked. After all that they said another unit would be sent at an indefinite time in the future. That was twelve days ago, and I've heard nothing since.
Rating:
Summary: On My Way to the Return Desk
Review: Bought this Iomega Predator drive earlier this week. While not a computer guru, I am a neurophysiologist, and I have been designing electronics and using all sorts of small computers since the early 1980's. Used to program them when they were simpler. Anyhow, installing the Iomega Drive onto my Compaq Celeron has been the most frustrating installation process I recall. The initial installation took hours, and even then encountered an error that prevented the entire set of drivers and so forth from being installed. Before the install software will re-install, the partial installation must be removed with the uninstaller. This too takes hours, and in my experience about 5 or six passes before the software completed the whole job without crashing. Eventually I ended up with what seemed to be a working installation, although the setup did not seem to correspond to what the manual described. I did successfully get one CD created (the Verbatim CD-R that came with the system), but no more after that. It's back to the return desk for this paperweight.
Rating: 
Summary: Lukewarm drive
Review: I bought a ZipCD external USB CD writer from IOMEGA. After 2 days and 8 coasters (1 of each company that i could find CD-R's of at the local Circuit City), I returned it to IOMEGA and got the Predator. It's slightly better than the ZipCD but still wanting in many areas. First of all, you can only use expensive branded CD's - there seems to be no rule of which brands will work and which wont except that the cheap generics certainly wont work. The USB adapter sits rather loosely on the drive and does not look like it can withstand too many removals and reattachments. Depending on which system you have, you might have to turn off all virus protection software for the drive to work right. Also, if you plug the drive into the power socket after the computer is turned on and booted, it sometimes causes the computer to reboot instantly. All this apart, it has not caused a single buffer underrun (which results in coasters) since i learnt all the little things. And IOMEGA tech support is more responsive than most other tech supports i have dealt with. (I have never had to wait more than 30 seconds to talk to someone) And the drive is really a lot smaller and sleeker than most of the other USB drives i have seen. All said and done, it is about as reliable as most other USB drives out there (there may be exceptions but the USB writers i have used have always been quirky) - no more, no less. Judging on price, quality, features and support, I feel that this drive is still a good option. And a year down the line when firewire becomes more common, the firewire adapter should be available cheap to upgrade the drive to an 8x.
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