Iomega Super DVD Model DVDRW4224E2Q
Of the PC based DVD burners the Iomega is the only external unit in this test and its charcoal and silver grey case is quite attractive. If you're not after an external drive the same unit is available as an internal unit. The power supply is an external mini "brick" and connection to the PC is via USB 2.0 so we weren't anticipating any problems with transfer speeds. The only other connectors on the rear of the unit are a pair of RCA audio outputs and for added security there is a Kensington lock connector on the rear.
The software bundle is quite good and the CD/DVD creation software called HotBurn Pro is a little different to most. HotBurn can be used in two ways; either through the extremely simplified Wizard or through HotBurn's relatively basic interface. Bells and whistles are a little lacking when compared to some of the other bundled software packages, but the software does make basic music and data disc creation a doddle. HotBurn also includes basic CD label and jewel case creation utilities. Iomega also supply an applet to implement automatic backups from your PC to the burner, as well as MusicMatch Jukebox and Cineplayer for musical and DVD movie playback respectively. If you are into creating your own VCD or DVD movies then Sonic MyDVD4, although quite basic, does allow you to capture video and burn to DVD.
The Iomega Super DVD is capable of writing to every current DVD media format including DVD-RAM. We did experience some problems during the performance testing; we found that the Iomega was unable to connect to the USB 2 PCI card in our test PC at any speed higher than USB 1.1. As a consequence we carried out the performance testing on a PC configured with an Intel D875PBZ motherboard that includes integrated USB 2.
Performance was, in general, quite good although as noted we expect the write times for DVD-R media to be around 7 minutes rather than 13 minutes with the firmware upgraded to A106.
We did experience some problems with DVD-RAM however with the HotBurn software claiming that blank JVC and TDK DVD-RAM 4.7GB media was too small to write our 1.8GB test files. This was prior to the firmware upgrade, and we had to resort to a drag and drop copy from Windows that took a mind numbing 49 minutes to complete. For contrast the LG's software managed the same task in 17 minutes.
Iomega Super DVD Model DVDRW4224E2Q
Company: Iomega Australia
Price: AU$699 (External USB 2.0); AU$499 (Internal IDE)
Phone: (02) 8875 7851
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I have tried to access the reports on comparing dvd players but it keeps going back to the same screen when I click on any of the links. Can you help?