Rating: 
Summary: Some Comments and Advice
Review: As with any piece of hardware, using the proper software is most important. This is especially true for burning CDs and DVDs. Here are some comments on my experience with the hp dvd200 and the software that comes with it. I use the hp dvd200e, the external version of the drive and Windows ME on a 1ghz Pentium 3 with 128mb RAM.The drive ships with hp RecordNow burning software, a scaled down version of Stomp's RecordNow Max. When I initially used the HP version of RecordNow, I encountered errors burning files onto DVD+R's, a very frustrating experience given the cost of blank DVDs. I experienced only a 30-50% success rate. Then I downloaded and purchased Stomp's full version of RecordNow Max 4.5 and all problems were solved. Now I have a 100% success rate, without any problems whatsoever. So my advice is to get the full version of RecordNow Max. This is not unusual -- rarely do you want to use the scaled down versions of software that always ship with hardware. Stomp allows you to download a free 30-day evaluation copy of RecordNow Max 4.5 so you can try before you buy and make sure you really need it. Maybe the hp version of RecordNow max will work fine for you. The hp DLA software that ships with the drive works great. DLA is what you use to save files directly onto a DVD+RW as if saving files directly to a hard drive. It operates invisibly, allowing you to either drag and drop files onto the DVD+RW or use Windows Explorer's "Send To" menu option to send files to the DVD+RW. The software that ships with the drive for watching DVDs on the computer (PowerDVD) works great. I use Nero Burning Rom to burn CDs and have a 100% success rate. The drive supports overburning so you can burn 85 minutes of music onto an 80 minute CD-R (maybe more, but I stop at 85 minutes). The hp dvd200 burns CD-Rs better and faster than my Sony CD-RW drive. I've abandoned my CD-RW and use the HP dvd200 exclusively now. Stomp's full version of RecordNow also works great for burning audio CDs, so if you do not already own and use Nero or another burning program you will be in good shape. I use Adobe Premier and Pinnicle Studio for video editing. I never even bothered to try the video editing software that ships with the hp drive. Make sure you upgrade the firmware on the hp dvd200, which is simply a software download from the hp website. Not a problem. Blank DVDs are expensive. Google search for multi-packs of 10, 25, or 50 DVDs to get a reasonable price. I find that Ritek DVDs work best with the HP drive. I had none of the problems with installation or compatability that others here have reported. Just follow the directions on setting up the drive and the software, all of which are very simple. HP has good technical support if you have any problems. Before getting the HP drive, I tried the Que dvd burner. I found the HP drive to be superior. I hope this helps.
Rating:
Summary: A good choice for DVD recorders
Review: I had lots of problems with the software, which really [disappoints]. The packet writer is called "DLA", or Drive Letter Access. It makes the DVD+RW drive behave like a disk drive. You just drag-n-drop files onto an open explorer window and it writes them to the DVD+RW disc, albeit a little slower than a hard disk drive. This feature is very nice, and it is one of the things which made me purchase the drive, however... These comments apply to Windows 2000 Professional. Don't know how other windows versions will behave. 1. DLA is incompatible with McAfee VirusScan (version 4.5.1, the corporate version). I spent hours on the phone with HP, but they wouldn't escalate the issue and issue a patch. The support people just had no power to help me. I ended up switching to Norton AntiVirus, and DLA works fine. 2. The firmware update program completely locked up Windows 2000. I had to hit the reset button, and Windows 2000 then was not bootable. 4 days later, and a million and one reboots later, after installing Windows 2000 and all my software, I was back where I started, with the same firmware. I ended up installing a temporary copy of Windows 2000 onto another disk and running the firmware program there, and it finally worked.
3. The DVD-Video authoring software is completely lacking. It couldn't capture from my DV device (a Canon video camera). Crashed the program everytime. Basically, after about 40 hours of playing with it, I gave up. This included using other capture programs, to get the raw data, and trying to author discs... ... All in all it's been a horrible experience. If it didn't take me more than 30 days to decide I didn't want the drive, I would have returned it!
Rating: 
Summary: I cannot recommend this product
Review: I had lots of problems with the software, which really [disappoints]. The packet writer is called "DLA", or Drive Letter Access. It makes the DVD+RW drive behave like a disk drive. You just drag-n-drop files onto an open explorer window and it writes them to the DVD+RW disc, albeit a little slower than a hard disk drive. This feature is very nice, and it is one of the things which made me purchase the drive, however... These comments apply to Windows 2000 Professional. Don't know how other windows versions will behave. 1. DLA is incompatible with McAfee VirusScan (version 4.5.1, the corporate version). I spent hours on the phone with HP, but they wouldn't escalate the issue and issue a patch. The support people just had no power to help me. I ended up switching to Norton AntiVirus, and DLA works fine. 2. The firmware update program completely locked up Windows 2000. I had to hit the reset button, and Windows 2000 then was not bootable. 4 days later, and a million and one reboots later, after installing Windows 2000 and all my software, I was back where I started, with the same firmware. I ended up installing a temporary copy of Windows 2000 onto another disk and running the firmware program there, and it finally worked.
3. The DVD-Video authoring software is completely lacking. It couldn't capture from my DV device (a Canon video camera). Crashed the program everytime. Basically, after about 40 hours of playing with it, I gave up. This included using other capture programs, to get the raw data, and trying to author discs... ... All in all it's been a horrible experience. If it didn't take me more than 30 days to decide I didn't want the drive, I would have returned it!
Rating: 
Summary: Quality, speed and reliability from HP
Review: I have always trusted HP when it came to add-ons for my computer, having had good experience with their CD-Writer Plus 8200i and Scanjet 3200c. This drive came on the market just as I was looking for a DVD Burner to use with my Canon Digital Camcorder. Based on the DVD+RW technology, this drive was a deal I could not resist. This latest model from HP which allows recording to both DVD+R and DVD+RW, was an improvement over their previous model DVD100i, which only allowed recording to DVD+RW media. I had a chance to install this model on a friend's computer and it worked beautifully. One of the fastest DVD burning speed on the market - 2.4x....Also records to CD-R/RW. This made me decide to order one for myself. ... Plugged it into the system and Windows recognised it without a hitch. Comes bundled with the great, easy to use software. Transferred video from my camcorder and in no time I had my first home made DVD of my newborn son for Mom. It played without a hitch in her home DVD player. Although DVD+RW technology is in competition with older more established DVD-R/RW, more manufacturers are making drives in this format. Great deal and price. ... Definite MUST buy if u are looking for a good burner.
Rating:
Summary: awesome drive if you know what your doing....
Review: I LOVE THIS DRIVE! i bought this drive about a month ago and have not had any (knock on wood) problems with it yet. I have not burned a coaster, it has worked flawless in both Windows 98, Windows 2000 pro and Windows XP Pro (i triple boot, ya never know). I updated the firmware no problem using windows 2000 (i installed the HP software on 2000, and use Neroburn on XP). if your getting a drive like this (any dvd burner) either you are a movie maker/taker or a movie backerupper (making copies of your already owned dvd movies). I am the latter and it works great. you just need to know what your doing and you'll be ifo editing, vob ripping and gobs more.. I have had no lockup errors. The only problem i had right away was playing somewhat scratched movies but the firmware update fixed that.
Here is my system (for stability reference):
Athlon XP 2000+ CPU
ECS K7S5A Motherboard
100 Gig WD 7200RPM Harddrive(this really helps for movie backing-up, remember to use NTFS (FAT32 won't let you write files over 4gigs)
20 Gig WD 7200RPM Harddrive
256 PC2100 DDR-SDRAM
Geforce 2 MX200
Mad cooling! To conclude:
great drive, kind of spendy but hey dvd burners were over [money]two years ago. media is still a little spendy (about [money-money]per disc). doing what you want to do is a little higher learning curve, but worth it.
peace
seaomnkey420
'knowledge is power, spread the power'
Rating:
Summary: A good choice for DVD recorders
Review: I purchased the DVD200i after 6 months of research. The major factor for deciding on the +R/RW format was that it offered both quality data storage while providing a great DVD-Video solution. The 2.4x speed doesn't hurt either. The format wars don't seem to be an issue as both + and - fill a niche. Additionally, my DVD+R played in 9/10 DVD players and 8/10 DVD-ROM drives tested. Reading the other reviews, I have to agree in that I was under-whelmed by the provided software. MyDVD is not great, and DLA does have compatibility issues with other CDR software. I chose not to use MyDVD, choosing instead Ulead DVD Workshop 1.2 (a very good product). Since I don't want to use DLA, I use NERO as the DVDR/CDR recording application. I also upgraded the firmware to the latest edition (1.27) which helped a lot. There were some problems reading discs under Windows XP Pro, but the firmware solved them. I am anxious to see the new Sony DRU500A, -RW and +RW combo drive. But, I will wait for the bug report and 4x media to come out first...
Rating: 
Summary: Boneheaded install package
Review: Nice DVD Burner, good price, expect to waste a lot of time installing it. I previously had an HP CD Burner in my 800 Mhz box with 256k of RAM,, very clean install - install package choked because I had a previous CD Burner and the install package found it and refused to install the new DVD burner Software (HP Record Now) because it detected the prior installation and tried to remove it (too bad, long since deleted and uninstalled, however it appears the install has detected something in the registry which tells it to find the prior install log and uninstall the prior installation - too bad not there, installation is crippled and can't complete (what a bone-headed piece of softtware, who writes this stuff?) Another 6 hours wasted because big HP Software Company can't get more intelligent coders and testers. :-{ RLP
Rating:
Summary: Boneheaded install package
Review: Nice DVD Burner, good price, expect to waste a lot of time installing it. I previously had an HP CD Burner in my 800 Mhz box with 256k of RAM,, very clean install - install package choked because I had a previous CD Burner and the install package found it and refused to install the new DVD burner Software (HP Record Now) because it detected the prior installation and tried to remove it (too bad, long since deleted and uninstalled, however it appears the install has detected something in the registry which tells it to find the prior install log and uninstall the prior installation - too bad not there, installation is crippled and can't complete (what a bone-headed piece of softtware, who writes this stuff?) Another 6 hours wasted because big HP Software Company can't get more intelligent coders and testers. :-{ RLP
Rating: 
Summary: Bundled software problems
Review: The 200i has successfully written several DVDs without a single failure. A lot has changed since the early CD-R. On the other hand, the bundled software has gone the other direction. I was already using Pinnacle Studio and MGI Videowave to create movies, producing AVI files for DV tapes and MPEG 2 files to place on DVDs when I finally purchased a writer. Immediately after the installation of MyDVD (bundled with HP DVD200i), ALL of my software packages apparently forgot how to produce MPEG 2 files that any other package could read. HP's tech. assistance primarily consisted of deinstalling and reinstalling several packages in different orders. Clearly there is some sort of codex problem. Many hours of my time later, I was told, it wasn't HP's problem. I could have purchased a bare drive for about $100 less than the bundled drive, but I wanted to have MyDVD. That was a mistake and I asked HP make good on this situation. They declined to make any effort what-so-ever. To make a long story short. I pulled the HP software from my system and placed it in the circular file. I am out about $100 for that software. I will now try to find a product that WORKS! Perhaps the new version of Studio. It probably does a better job anyway. From my limited experience, MyDVD seems about as bare bones as possible. If you use EasyCD Creator expect similar conflicts with HP DLA. I had to remove that software to get HP DLA to even install. Bottom Line: HP may make a good drive, but paying extra for bundled software was a mistake. This experience with tech support at the "new HP" was disappointing. Other manufacturers are releasing drives soon. Waiting for them may be the best advice.
Rating:
Summary: Great hardware, shame about the DVD authoring software
Review: The HP DVD200i improves on its predecessor by adding DVD+R capability in addition to DVD+RW, DVD-ROM, CD-ROM, CD-R and CD-RW. This is an improvement because DVD+R is compatible with far more DVD drives due to its higher reflectivity vs. DVD+RW. Also, DVD+R disks are cheaper. HP gets top marks for ease of installation. The multi-lingual installation poster explains clearly what to do. HP's software looks at your system, asks you how you want to install the drive (whether to add to the system or replace an existing CD drive), installs the drivers and produces appropriate instructions, which you can print for reference. You set the drive jumpers accordingly and install in your PC using a screwdriver -- it took about 10 minutes in my Dell PC. The bundled "drive letter access" software offers the ability to read & write to DVD+RWs as if they were 4.7GB removable disks. Formatting DVD+RW disks takes less than 30 seconds -- much faster than formatting CD-RWs. The drive's DVD write speed is 2x (approx 3.4MB/sec) -- this makes DVD+RW excellent for archiving or backing up digital photos and digital video. HP includes DVD player software for viewing regular DVDs. I had a few problems getting it to work and called the support number. In short order I was talking to a real person who helped me trouble-shoot. Although the problem turned out to be with my Windows configuration, the technician didn't automatically blame my PC. He spent the time to verify thoroughly that there really wasn't anything wrong with the drive before arriving at the (correct) conclusion. This kind of support is all too rare! HP includes "RecordNow" for creating CD-R and CD-RW disks. It will copy audio files off regular CDs, so you can create your own mixes. It will also burn from MP3 files. A good basic audio CD creation tool. Sonic "MyDVD" and ArcSoft "Showbiz" are included for authoring DVDs from your own home movies. Showbiz is a very basic video editing package -- useful for arranging and trimming video clips but little else. MyDVD is the DVD authoring package, designed to convert your video clips to DVD MPEG2 format, create menus and navigation, and burn the final product to DVD. Unfortunately, MyDVD is the weakest part of the package. I created MPEG-2 files directly from Adobe Premiere, and imported them into MyDVD, and created a simple menu. I previewed the DVD, and all appeared well. When I moved on to DVD burining, the program spent some time transcoding my existing MPEG-2 files, even though they were already in the right format. Then, after creating the menus and navigation, it stopped with "Unknown error". The help files and web site were no use, and further attempts with MPEG-2 files all failed in the same way. Next I tried exporting native DV files from Premiere and importing into MyDVD, which transcoded them into MPEG-2. This time, I was able to burn a DVD+R disk. However, when I played it in my DVD player, the sound track was not synchronized with the video. The sound runs faster than the video track -- it starts out synchronized, but after a few minutes it is several seconds ahead. I was now the frustrated owner of a...sparkly DVD+R coaster. Sonic, authors of MyDVD, refuse to support HP's OEM bundle of their product, and HP cannot fix problems in MyDVD. Based on suggestions from other frustrated DVD200i users, I downloaded the demo of Ulead DVD MovieFactory. It worked first time, produces better quality MPEG-2 files and offers considerably more flexibility in building menus and chapter lists than MyDVD. I'll be buying this software! In summary, an amazingly versatile piece of hardware, and fine if your primary goal is high capacity backup without giving up the ability to burn CDs. If you want to author DVDs, you will have to spend at least another $[money] on better DVD authoring software, hence 4 stars out of 5.
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