The Iomega is a competent external CD burner with good flash memory compatibility. But its long term usefulness is undermined by the advent of cheaper and faster DVD writers.Iomega's new external CD-RW/DVD-ROM 7-in-1 Card reader drive is a niche storage product that should appeal to legacy CD users who want flash memory flexibility as well as CD recording and DVD playback in a single box. Equipped with a memory card reader (which supports Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, CompactFlash, Memory Stick and SmartMedia cards), this AU$249 unit's industry-fast 52x CD writing makes it a decent portable storage solution for desktop replacement laptop and SFF (Small Form Factor) PC users--if they can look past the drive's lack of DVD burning options. This poses somewhat of a marketing dilemma for the storage monger: Two years ago, Iomega's triple format whammy would have no doubt given it the killer edge over more pedestrian offerings. As it stands in today's pro-DVD climate, this chunky combo writer may be slightly past its sell-by date.
Installing the new Iomega drive is not the hardest thing in the world, provided you have the proper operating system. With our Windows XP test system, it took us less than 3 minutes before the drive was ready for its first recording session. Both USB 1.1 and 2.0 interfaces are supported, but for optimum drive performance, we'd opt for USB 2.0 as the drive takes full advantage of the extra 480Mbps bandwidth. Most Intel and AMD machines now support this feature, but for older boards (and laptops), you may need to purchase a separate USB 2.0 adapter.The drive is also compatible with Windows 98 SE, Me, and 2000 and works with Mac OS 8.6 to 9.1. Unfortunately, only Mac OS X supports USB 2.0 connections.
At 300g, this behemoth is one of the least portable external drives we've tested. Four rubberised feet support the unit, giving a good grip when the drive is mounted on slippery surfaces. Two USB 2.0 slots sit at the rear of the unit, together with the power input connector. However, there's no onboard power switch and the Iomega can't run off USB bus power. The drive uses the tray mechanism to feed in CDs and DVDs like an internal drive.There's nothing particularly stylish about the device's charcoal-coloured fascia but it has all the necessities: A headphone jack, a volume control, an eject button and a power LED. In addition to playing CDs and DVDs, the Iomega also accepts five forms of flash memory cards via its front-mounted slots. Performance-wise, the drive's 52x write, 24x rewrite and 52x read speed is among the fastest you can find in a external CD drive.
Iomega bundles in the relevant necessities including a power adapter, 52x CD-R blank, USB and power cables, and complimentary CD burning software. HotBurn Pro, Iomega's newbie-tailored CD authoring program, is blessed with an intuitive graphical interface and most first-timers will find the application's drag-and-drop functionality easy to use. Other software extras include MusicMatch's Jukebox software for ripping audio CDs to MP3 files, Sonic's CinePlayer for DVD playback and Adobe's Photoshop Album 2.0 software for compiling digital photographs into an interactive album. Overall, the well-rounded suite should be sufficient for users with basic multimedia needs.
Plugged into a USB port, the Iomega appears as a removable drive in both Windows and Mac OS X operating systems. Users can use all four card slots in tandem, even while the CD drive is operating--in our real-world tests, the drive worked flawlessly with MMC, CompactFlash cards and Sony Memory Sticks. DVD movies, meanwhile, ran without a hitch, while copying pictures directly from flash to disc was equally convenient, due to HotBurn's drag-and-drop approach.The drive excelled in our regular write tests, too, thanks in part to the speedy USB 2.0 interface and its Constant Angular Velocity (CAV) design. The latter produces constant and controlled rotation speeds while recording to all tracks on the disc. Using Nero's CD Speed benchmarking software, we obtained an average write speed of 39x when testing the drive with an Imation 52x CD-R. Packet-writing speeds were also good--HotBurn Pro managed a time of 4 minutes 22 seconds when copying 400MB over to a 32x CD-RW.
Iomega CD-RW/DVD-ROM 7-in-1 Card reader USB 2.0 Drive
Company: Iomega
Price: AU$249
Distributor: Selected resellers
Phone: (02) 8223 9140
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I am interested in the Iomega CD-RW/DVD-ROM 7-in-1 Card reader USB 2.0 Drive, but I have a Win 98 operating system on a Dell (love my Dell) Dimension XP450 (500Mhz)with 256 MB installed. Iomega's product description says this unit is supported by Win 98, but ZDNet says it's supported by Win 98SE and higher. Will Win 98 support it?