Photo gallery: Imation 8x External DVD±RW Burner
Setup And Ease Of Use
At a glance, the minimalist design should appeal to business users, but those using it at home may find the external drive a tad plain-looking.
Like most other USB 2.0 burners, this Imation is extremely easy to set up. Just connect the USB and power cables to the relevant ports, and you're ready to burn. Once the drive is powered on, it is automatically detected by the desktop PC and will install the relevant drivers for systems running Windows XP. In all, it took us less than 10 minutes to get the drive up and running.
According to Imation, the external drive is also designed to work with Windows 98SE, Windows Me and Windows 2000 computers, though some of these systems may require installing additional drivers for the USB adapter. The manufacturer has included a handy user manual for troubleshooting errors that may be encountered during installation and operation, although we never had to refer to it.
The Imation DVD burner comes shipped with blank CD-R and DVD+RW media as well as the Nero OEM Suite and Cyberlink's PowerDVD 5 software, so users can start burning and watching DVDs immediately. Other supplied accessories include an AC power adapter, USB cable and a diskette containing Windows 98 drivers.
Features
Although Imation includes support for both USB1.1 and USB2.0 connectivity on its external DVD burner, users have to connect via the faster USB 2.0 port and use the appropriate media if they want to achieve the highest specified burning speeds: 8x for DVDÃ,±R, 4x for DVDÃ,±RW, 40x for CD-R and 24x for CD-RW. Unfortunately, the 8x burner does not burn on the more expensive DVD-RAM or dual layer disc, a feature increasingly found on newly released drives.
A 2MB buffer memory, which has become a standard on most DVD writers today, is offered here with SmartBurn technology to prevent buffer underrun errors, especially when burning at high speeds. Imation also adopts the widely used VAS Vibration Reduction System to improve the retrieval of data signals from DVDs. What's noteworthy here is the inclusion of an onboard power switch which lets you turn off the drive directly, rather than via the power socket.
Performance
In our Lab tests, the drive took slightly more than 9 minutes to burn a 4.7GB DVD+R disc and about 14 minutes for a DVD+RW, which is relatively fast but won't put this Imation among the top 8x burners we've tested so far. Writing onto DVD-R/RW media took an average 30 seconds to 1 minute extra to complete. There were no surprises during the CD writing tests which saw the drive write a full CD-R in just 3 minutes and CD-RW taking slightly over 4 minutes.
Overall, the Imation performed admirably, writing successfully on all the CD and DVD media we threw at it. In a few instances, we found the DVD read speed somewhat slower than in other drives, but the difference is minimal and should hardly be a concern.
Imation backs its burner with a standard one-year limited warranty which includes phone and online tech support. Users can also visit the company's Web site for a comprehensive listing of drivers, software patches, FAQs and manuals.
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