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graphics84 · Aug 23, 2001, 10:57 AM

the reasons...

1. they don't pay out there rebates

I bought this thing in April... it was sposed to have a $30 rebate... I've never seen it... even though the web page says I quailfi and they have my account listed... bastards

I've heard if you call a few times they'll send you the rebate! what a scam!

2. I've only got this thing to burn at full 4x speed 3 or 4 times... I've used 4 machines the last one an icebook

crappy machine... terrible customer support

don't buy things from this company

dfbennett · Aug 23, 2001, 11:33 AM

I just want to clarify some things you've said. First, I sent my rebate for my Que Fire! drive in April and I got the rebate about a week ago. Just give it time. If it doesn't show in a few weeks call the number an complain. Second, USB CD-RW drives are terrible by nature. USB is low bandwith. Almost all USB burners have trouble burning reliably at 4x. It's too bad you're having such bad luck with it. I'm having no trouble burning at 12x with my Que Fire! drive

CRASH HARDDRIVE · Aug 23, 2001, 11:38 AM

A USB CDRW is a bad idea no matter who makes it, unless it's a combo USB/Firewire device... and only then for compatibility with older machines that lack Firewire...like many PeeCee laptops.

USB may have been a half-way good idea for optical storage devices in 1998/99 when many new Macs had no Firewire, but now it's a past-due, rotten bastardization of a technology that needs to be put out to pasture.

And by the way, a 4x CDRW shouldn't cost much more than $30 at this point in time! I moved past 4x CD burning back in 1997 or so!

graphics84 · Aug 23, 2001, 12:04 PM

Originally posted by CRASH HARDDRIVE:
<STRONG>4x CDRW shouldn't cost much more than $30 at this point in time! I moved past 4x CD burning back in 1997 or so!</STRONG>

dude, I agree with you... That's just the nature of technology right now... and I guess the $30 bucks will get me a lot further now then it would have then...

anyway...

I called the Rebate company...

they said... "ok, you've waited long enough... we'll cut you the check and send it tomorrow"

it was long distance and I was on hold for about 20 mins

SCAM

"F" que....

again I would never sugest purchasing anything from them...

anyone up for fire bombing ther both a Macworld SF? heh, just kidding but I would like to yell at them a little... but buy that time I'll be burning with a new drive I'm sure and just chalking this up to a $200 mistake... the funny thing is that the QUEs suck just as bad for the PCs too... My friend bought one for his...

dfbennett · Aug 23, 2001, 01:20 PM

I should add that I recieved my check without calling the rebate company to complain. I still think Que's usage of that rebate company was poor(it took about 3 1/2 months for me to get mine) compared to the excellent HP rebate I did which came about two weeks after I sent it. Oh well atleast it came and my Que Fire drive is working well.

GORDYmac · Aug 23, 2001, 03:25 PM

FWIW, you can remove the CDRW from the QPS (USB) enclosure and install it in a FireWire enclosure. You'll at least get to burn a 4x then.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I did this with my Que!Fire 4x4x24 after the power cord got flaky. Since all of the 4x drives are all Mitsumi, I don't see why a USB version would work differently.

graphics84 · Aug 23, 2001, 03:35 PM

ok... sounds cool

are there any recomendations out there? case? brand?

also if I put a Hard Drive in the enclosure whould it be really slow? I have a few IDE drive laying around that could be nice little drives..

milhaus · Aug 24, 2001, 07:49 AM

Before I moved on to my 12x Lacie burner, I never had problems buring at 4x on a Lacie USB burner - plugged directly into the computer or into a hub. One catch, audio must be done at 2x. Data CDs burned reliably at 4x.

CRASH HARDDRIVE · Aug 24, 2001, 12:22 PM

Originally posted by graphics84:
<STRONG>ok... sounds cool

are there any recomendations out there? case? brand?

</STRONG> http://www.outpost.com/product/83381/
I recommend a Pyro case such as this one. $100 is about an average price.

also if I put a Hard Drive in the enclosure whould it be really slow? I have a few IDE drive laying around that could be nice little drives..

Depends on the HD's original speed really. I recommend http://www.fwdepot.com/ for Hard drive enclosures. Under "FireWire 2.5"/3.5" enclosures".

Just a side note: Don't get bamboozled by the (non-911) and 911 stats, in this case in particular, most of these enclosures--unless otherwise noted--use the Oxford 900 chipset, which supports ATA-66 and is all you need for your Mac. I've compared the DT 3.5-Crystal(non 911) against a 911 enclosure with 7200RPM harddrives, and there's not a whit of difference on the Mac thanks to lack of ATA 100 support. In fact, without using a RAID setup with the 900 cases, you won't even get the 900 controller up to it's actual saturation level very often.

Stay away from the LSI chipset, unless you just want storage and speed isn't an issue, but the 900 is fine for speed.

Companies are just using the 911 chipset as a marketing tool right now, as the price of Firewire is dropping so fast, that their profits are dwindling right from under them!

[ 08-24-2001: Message edited by: CRASH HARDDRIVE ]