Rating: 
Summary: Not a friend software but burns CDs smoothly
Review: Using a P4 1.6Ghz IBM T-30 laptop running WinXP with USB1.1, it takes about 19 minutes to burn a 700MB CD. Overall I think this is a pretty reliable product as the actual burning process is very smooth. I haven't run into any errors (will keep my fingers crossed). However, I found the Iomega HotBurn software to be extremely user-unfriendly, before you get to the point when it starts burning:
1. After double-clicking the launch the application, it takes about 5 minutes for the logo page to disappear and find the burner.
2. Moving around in the software across difference tabs and functions constantly causes the screen to freeze or become "Not Responding", although hitting CTRL+Break will clear the dead actions right there. It's extremely annoying and may crash your confidence on the product.
3. Neither the advanced mode nor the easy/wizard mode are designed for the easiest navigation for the user. Steps are not streamlined and you always think there could be something missing when you hit the Start button. So far I still haven't found the way to "close the disc", always just waiting for it to prompt me.
4. I also didn't like the way that detailed User Guide (I haven't read it) is only available on CD, while the quick installation guide is extremely simple. I always think it's up to the user to decide how much to read before he starts but the manufacturer should always provide easy/graphic instructions with as much details as possible. However, I must say I'm very satisfied w/ success rate of the CDs burned once it gets into real action. When I was using Roxio's Easy CD Creator 5 and MicroSolutions older Parallel burners, I wasted 1 CD-R for almost every 3-4 CDs I was trying to burn - that is with testing before burning. I haven't done any testing until now on HotBurn. Being in the software testing/implementation business myself, I think I'm very tolerant to minor bugs/inconvenience in software as long as there is no major show-stopers. The burner is worth buying. If you can't stand the software, shop around for an easier-to-navigate app to make your life easier.
Rating:
Summary: Works with WinXP Home via a PCMCIA USB 2.0 port & Nero 5.5
Review: Why I bought it: was unhappy with speed (8x4x8 I think) of internal drive on my hp zt 1150 laptop -- it took 12-14 minutes to burn a CD. What I thought: Extremely solid build. Whisper quiet when plugged in, a bit loud when spinning. WinXP recognized and installed the drive in about 15 seconds. The feared "high speed USB device plugged into a low speed port" popup didn't come. I know the no-name PCMCIA to USB2.0 card I have has about a 7Mbps throughput to USB2, so I expected to burn at about 30-40x speed. I burnt a 60 min audio cd in just over 4 minutes, and an 80 min data CD in 5.5 minutes -- not quite the under 3 min promised, but still about 1/3 of the time I'm used to, so I'm satisfied. Software: Having learned from my nightmare with the factory installed RecordNow on my laptop, I didn't even open the CD that came with this drive. Nero 5.5 works, so why bother? Update: DO NOT use with Nero 6.0 -- I got several "could not perform fixation" errors. Switching back to Nero 5.5 solved the problem. HotburnPro, the software that Iomega supplies with the drive also works (i.e., the burn process is successful), but has a slow and maddening interface. It also tends to slow the drive down to 4x-6x speed about halfway through the burning process.
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