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| CD Writers - CD-RW Drives Review, Rating & Buyers Guide |
| Addonics Pocket CD-RW Review, Rating & Buyers Guide |
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| If you are researching a new CD-RW Drive or CD Writer, we
hope that our Addonics Pocket CD-RW review, rating & buyers
guide will
help you. While CD-RW drives are often internally mounted, many people would rather not open up their PCs to install one of these drives. Others might want a CD-RW drive for use with a laptop. If either (or both) is the case, consider the Addonics Pocket CD-RW drive. A slim, lightweight external drive, the Addonics Pocket CD-RW is, with a 4X write speed on both CD-Rs and CD-RWs and a 20X read speed on standard CD-ROMs, somewhat slower than many internal drives that are much less expensive. It is, however, much more convenient to install if you don't want to bother with an internal IDE drive. The drive features a slide-out media tray, and at 6.4x5.4x0.9 inches and 14 ounces, the Pocket CD-RW drive won’t take up much room either on your desk or in your laptop’s carry case. A required 5V DC power supply, however, prevents the Pocket CD-RW from being used in truly portable mode (at 35,000 feet, for example). Getting the Pocket CD-RW up and running was just a few minutes' work. Our review unit had a USB interface, though you can also purchase the Pocket CD-RW with a PC Card interface if you’ll be using the drive only with a laptop. We would recommend the USB interface for most users because it lets the you attach the Pocket CD-RW drive to both laptops and desktops, as long as both units have at least one free USB port. Also included with our review unit was a copy of Adaptec’s Easy CD Creator for burning CD-Rs and DirectCD software for packet writing on CD-RWs. Installation took less than two minutes: Plug the drive into a USB port on the desktop or laptop system, and when the system boots up and recognizes the drive, insert the USB driver diskette. Once this is done and you re-boot the system, the drive will appear under “My Computer” with its own icon. You can then install the Adaptec software from the included CD-ROM. With the USB interface, we found the Pocket CD-RW delivered pretty good performance. Keep in mind that this is a 4X record and rewrite drive. There are external drives with considerably higher write speeds, but few that are this thin and light. It is these attributes that make the Pocket CD-RW worth the somewhat hefty premium that Addonics charges for it. The Addonics Pocket CD-RW drive is not the least expensive portable external drive on the market, but it still represents a decent value. Pro: Usable with desktops and laptops, easy installation and setup, good CD-R software Con: Somewhat pricey |
