computer dvd drives

I purchased this CD-RW unit thinking that it would allow me to upgrade an "older" PC using this device's parallel port connection. I was optomistic and enthusiastic about the purchase and assumed that this device would solve my problem of archiving data "trapped" in a PC without CD-RW capabilities. To date, I have tried to install and use this unit on two PCs, one clone and one Dell GX1 unit, both using the parallel port connection. With the clone, I struggled, but was able to archive some, but only a small fraction of my data. The performance of the clone, however, rapidly degraded and ultimately resulted in a crash of the system that was "irretrievable". On the Dell, the installation of the software alone would result in a system crash anytime the unit was plugged in to the parallel port. When unplugged, the system performance was seriously degraded. In attempting to uninstall the software with the provided CD, the system became unbootable upon restarting.

I have worked with the support folks at the mannufacturer upon several occasions, and they told me that these problems were not previously encountered and they tried to be of assistance. Ultimately, however, their assistance was insufficient to allow the unit to work on either of these two "older units". I note that the operating system on both units is NT 4, and that might be a factor (albeit that NT 4 installation is clained to be feasible). Of greater concern is that the provided software in-and-of-itself degraded system performanse and resulted in fatal crashes requiring rebuilding of system software. So, not only did the device prove not to work on the older PCs, but it seriously damaged the system software.

My recommendation would be to avoid this unit on all PCs of "older" vintage, as I am 0/2 in getting this device to work on said units (e.g. pre-USB PCs). To be fair, this unit may work fine on newer units, but then again this unit would seem to be best suited to older PCs without CD-R capabilities... I have not tried to use this unit on more recent PCs/notebooks, but I am now afraid to do so, fearing that it will result in yet additional system crashes.

Despite the salesman's best effort to entice me with the latest models of fully loaded notebooks, I forged ahead and bought the Backpack 212010 CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo. Although I had my doubts whether my three-year-old IBM notebook would be up to receiving a USB 2.0 PC cardbus and the addition of an external drive, I was determined. Much to my surprise, installation went smoothly. With three types of connections to choose from (all included), MicroSolutions could not have made it easier for those of us with elderly machines. I chose the high-speed USB, which is recommended if you want to play DVD. I have now watched Monsters Inc. and backed up my document files using the UDF software with just a few clicks of the mouse. I did find the unit to be a bit pricey. But then again I can eke a few more years out of my old but working machine