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iMacguy · Jun 8, 2001, 02:30 PM

I'm looking to purchase either the QUE 16X10X40 Firewire CDRW or the Formac version with the same speeds. Does anybody own the Formac version yet? I know enough about the Que and it sounds like a great piece of gear but I like the fact that the Formac is bus powered and was curious if anyony had any experience with it. The Formac recently got a fairly good review in one of the bigger Mac mags, I just can't remember which one.
Thanks

Lolo from Paris · Jun 8, 2001, 05:24 PM

I don't know about the Formac but the QPS Que Drive is great and i have no problems with it !

Cucumber Jones · Jun 8, 2001, 11:24 PM

but I like the fact that the Formac is bus powered and

Hmmm... Be careful. I know that their 8x was bus-powered (i shoulda jumped on that one), and the 12x was bus powered from any desktop machine (powerbooks couldn't power anything over the 8x model). But I thought the 16x (and the coming-soon 24x) weren't bus powered. Can anyone confirm this?

They sure have great prices though, no? So why is it noone is buying them?

[ 06-08-2001: Message edited by: Cucumber Jones ]

Skywalkers new Hand · Jun 9, 2001, 03:12 PM

My 12x QPS is awesome!

marka · Jun 10, 2001, 05:03 AM

I've got the Que!Fire 16x10x40x and it works great.

The first one I received was dead out of the box. QPS sent me a new one and it works fine. No coasters yet - it screams. I switch it off between my two Macs.

I've owned a 12x for nine months. I've burned literally hundreds of audio and data CDRs and lots of CDRWs too. I sold it to a friend and it died. QPS will either repair or replace it.

Just wanted to add some real life experience with the QPS line of Firewire burners.

STAT · Jun 10, 2001, 05:31 AM

In my dealings with them, QPS has been nothing but a pain in the @$$ when it comes to customer service. I remember calling them a couple years ago when they announced the FireWire burners (which they were about a year late releasing, BTW) asking when they'd be available and always getting the run-around.

But I finally squeezed a Que! Fire 8x4x32 out of Outpost a few months ago and it's friggin great. I've never had it burn coasters because of its own fault (I've had a few due to data problems with the material I was trying to put on the disc, though). But back to the CS problems, my drive was supposed to have a $30 warranty and I sent it in and everything and never got the check. I called and they said they'd send it May 1 and it's now June 10. So...don't count on that. Anyway, if you can find a good deal on one, get it. Whether it's 8x burn or 12x burn, anything faster than 6x will be just fine.

iMacguy · Jun 10, 2001, 07:00 PM

Thanks for your input.
Cucumber, yeah, the Formac website lists the 16X as bus powered but doesn't say anything about PoweBook incompatability as far as not supplying enough power. Thanks for raising that point. I can probably ask them about that. It's important to me since I'll be working on a PowerBook primarily.
Thanks again.

G4ME · Jun 12, 2001, 09:44 PM

If you can wait untill this summer to get a burner. the prices will drop on the 16x models when a 20 or 24 comes out. but you only gain about a minute from a 12 to a 16 on a 60 min CD so if I were you I would find a nice cheap 12x10x40 if you can and save the cash.

JamesKass · Jun 12, 2001, 10:03 PM

Clubmac's got one for $270, which is the lowest I've found. If you go to clubmac.com and do a search for "Clubmac CDRW", you'll find it.

Petter · Jun 14, 2001, 04:32 AM

I got two different drives... one EZQuest 12X and one Formac 16X.
The EZQuest sucks bigtime... the hotswap does not work properly, it hangs the mac or have the need for a constant disconnect when not using it, otherwise the internal fan will start(!!!) after 30 minutes or so... even if the mainpower is switched off!!!

The Formac on the other side is lovely!
Burns at 16X and i able to do that without external power!
Hotswap is working perfect as well!

Go get it, you will love it!

p.

Jun 18, 2001, 12:09 AM

Last week the local Best Buy was selling the discontinued Sony Spressa 12x/8x/32x Firewire CD-RW (model CRX 1600L) for $250. I know Sony Mac support sucks, but so far I have had good luck with Toast 5.0 and Retrospect 4.2.

Toast works fine without installing the Sony i.Link extension. Unfortunately, Retrospect seems to require it.

The drive comes with Discribe software which I don't use.

marka · Jun 18, 2001, 02:14 PM

QPS FireWire 12x. Had it for ten months. Fast. Sweet. Hot swap between two Macs all the time.

QPS FireWire 16x. Had it for one month. Faster. Sweet. Hot swap.

Sold 12x. Died. QPS is repair/replacing for free.

16x arrived dead. QPS replaced it for free.

Oh, and 12x works fine with Pismo and G4 PowerBook. Haven't tried 16x yet.

[ 06-18-2001: Message edited by: marka ]

iMacguy · Jun 19, 2001, 12:12 AM

Cucumber Jones,
Well, thanks for the heads up about the 16X not being bus powered. After looking at the specs this is the only model that says that it ships with a power supply. Whereas the slower models do not. I suppose that can only mean that it isn't bus powered after all.

Thanks for all your input.

Justin Morgan · Jun 19, 2001, 04:26 AM

The Formac 16/10/40 is bus powered if you own a recent desktop Mac (tower or Cube). For anything else, you need the supplied wall wart power supply.

Don't know about the forthcoming 24x though...

iMacguy · Jun 19, 2001, 10:33 AM

Ah Ha. I see. OK, well thanks for clarifying that for me. That's kind of a bummer since bus powered devices add to greater portability. I'll wait and see the 24X.

Thanks again.