Currently I am in the market of purchasing a CD-RW, but I don't know which one to buy. I need it to be usable for both a Mac and a PC with USB connections; also it should have a 2M buffer. The ones I have looked at so far are the Que, La Cie, and Applied Innovation CD-RW's. As of this morning, I have noticed that there are new drives by Freecom ( The Portable and the super-sleek Traveller), VST Technologies Inc., and Iomega that have raised my eyebrow. All the drives I've stated above write and re-write at 4x, the read speed is not a factor to me. If anyone has suggestions/advice or can tell me where to find consumer reviews on these products or any others that I'm missing (I'm particularly curious about the Traveller and Iomega ZipCD), please let me know. Any kind of help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

TechNutt
theyoungone@Bresnanlink.net

After 18 months of using a LaCie, I am very satisfied. But I question the serious utility now of CDRW. The low cost of CDR makes the time it takes to clean off a CDRW too long for reuse. (Go could take a shower, eat dinner, etc--but it is not time I want to spend in the office at the end of the day, while I do a backup.)

[GORDYmac]

I looked at the ZipCD last weekend, PC only software. Maybe there are drivers on their site, but out the box it's PC only.

Originally posted by GORDYmac:
I looked at the ZipCD last weekend, PC only software. Maybe there are drivers on their site, but out the box it's PC only.

I looked at the site by ecost and they have down that the software that comes with the ZipCD is EZ CD Creator, Direct CD, and Toast. Here is the link in case you're interested in buying like myself.
http://www.ecost.com

[This message has been edited by TechNutt (edited 04-01-2000).]

[This message has been edited by TechNutt (edited 04-01-2000).]

So are you saying that CDR's are just as good as CDRW's? I mean, a CD holds an awful lot of info, and I heard CDR disks hold their info better... if I can go cheaper, I will... I'd mainly be backing up simple files, keeping short records, and of course, burning CD's!

any suggestions?



Flipside

[Zwilnik]

I've been using the Freecom Traveller since it came out last year. Totally reliable, and portable too (2 hour rechargable battery , and I can change cables to make it a firewire drive.

[herbert68]

I'm using the Yamaha RW 4616 ext.SCSI. $230 at eBay. It works without a problem and the backup to a RW disc is as simple as to a hard drive. And some times it's great to write files to a CD and later change them or add new ones.

[deedar]

Zwilnik - Do you know if the Traveller is available in the US?

[This message has been edited by deedar (edited 03-29-2000).]

I use a Yamaha 6416sxz it’s great. If you buy a CdRw try to purchase it Bare(no software) it’s cheaper, then you can buy what you want.
Some CDRW’s come with Toast 357 where 4.0 is far better.

On the other hand, if you need cross platform software the Yamaha comes with both in it’s retail package. the 8424 is fast and has a CD that runs at the same speed as a standard mac CD rom. 24x
Internal or ex? http://www.yamaha.com/cgi-win/webcgi.exe/cHDR00007

Check them out here, might be a bargain somewhere? http://dealmac.com/

I use Cdrw’s a lot for my purposes, back-up and what not, for keepers I’ll burn an “r” for picture and audio. I have the time to wipe them.

To deedar above,

In the MacNN forum you asked about the traveller, and since I was also curious about the drive I emailed Freecom. Below is their response.

USA / Canada
Dear Sirs,

FREECOM Technologies do not sell their products in the USA / Canada due to service and warranty reasons. FREECOM do not have a distributor in those countries and FREECOM do not execute deliveries to dealers or endusers directly Ð also not via the FREECOM Internet shop. All orders placed via the Internet will be passed on to the distributors in the respective countries. The distributur who got the order will instruct a dealer to deliver the ordered goods to the customer cash against delivery.

Kind regards
FREECOM Europe GmbH Berlin

I think it sucks, but oh well. You might want to try VST Technologies skinny portable instead, although it's in a gray, instead of a blue color. I have no idea on how the drive performs, but it does also have Firewire options (have to buy cable on the side). Good luck in your hunt.
http://www.vsttech.com/vst/products....5?OpenDocument

Hi!
Just bought the ZipCD today. Installing it wasn't a big problem! Have burned 15 CDs till now. Not a big thing with this cool thing.

Martin.

Just got an Email back from Freecom.

Here's the gist. They don't sell the Freecom Traveller in the US. They do, however, OEM the drive for VST and Smart&Friendly. The VST drive comes standard with the USB cable and has firewire as an option. The Smart&Friendly drive comes with the PCMCIA interface, and they don't sell the accessory cables for it. Same drive, different color cases and logos, different software packages.

I'd wait for the VST version, just for the cable and software bundle. I have no idea if the Smart&Friendly version's PCMCIA interface is Mac-compatible, and it's all windows bundled software.

-Coyote

[JimWall]

I just go a Sony Spressa and haven't had a problem with it. Its fast and comes with a good set of software. It uses Discripe from Charismac Software, which I like better than Toast anyway. It is solid and high quaility piece of hardware. I recommend it.

James Wall
rtb.ink@mindspring.com

------------------
James Wall
rtb.ink@mindspring.com

[Krusty]

JimWall,
I'm looking at one of the recently announced 10x4x32 Spressa CD-RWs (FireWire). Did you happen to get a Firewire Spressa? Any oddities/difficulties with the FireWire interface (does it show up in Discribe as a SCSI or ATAPI device or as a FireWire device?). I downloaded the latest demo of Discribe two days ago and it appears that Firewire devices aren't explicitly supported. I've read in this forum about firewire "bridges" which cause the device to appear as SCSI or IDE and I've read about issues with Discribe only supporting firewire on machines (such as BW G3s) that have an emulated SCSI bus and NOT working with the Firewire on G4 or iMac DVs (which is what I have).
I will appreciate feedback/experiences from ANYONE who has successfully used a firewire Spressa with a UMA mac or knows if the most recent crop of firewire Spressa work out of the box with newer macs.
Krusty

[bohdanz]

Martin, so you got the Iomega ZipCD -- I'm jealous -- and curious where you got it.

Even yesterday I couldn't see the MAC version listed on Iomega's own store.

Any quirks about it?
I want one tomorrow!

[bmyers2]

Even though I've seen ZipCD for sale on the web at www.ecost.com (as mentioned previously), Iomega's page says it isn't available yet for Mac. I'll be curious to see what people have to say about it. Hey, Martin Hinteregger! How did you get your drive?

So does anyone have an Iomega ZipCD yet? I'm still curious about the performance, any software problems, driver problems, etc.....The only thing that I 've really heard about this drive is that it is bigger than it appears in Magazine ads. I checked at Sears today (a supporter of Macs and related items), and they don't have them yet (could be I live in BFE). So if anyone has this ZipCD, please reply to this thread, others are curious too. Thanks.