Iomega CD-RW USB 2.0

External CD-RW drives are something of a luxury. Traditionally, they are slower and cost more than their internal cousins. However, many people buy them because they don't have to open up their PCs to use them.

The Iomega CD-RW USB 2.0 turns this on its head. It's an external drive that is not slow but does require that you open up your PC; not to install the drive itself but to install a USB 2 expansion card. The card, which fits into a PCI slot, is the key to the high speeds that the drive can achieve.

It can read a CDRom at 40-speed, write to a CD-R at 16-speed and write to a CD-RW at 10-speed.

This means that you can record an hour of music on to a CD-R in about four minutes. As a special introductory offer, the drive is available with a USB 2 card bundled. If you had to buy this separately it would cost an extra £50.

Don't worry if you want to use the drive on another PC which doesn't have USB 2. It will work more slowly with an ordinary USB, writing disks at 4-speed and making a music CD in about 16 minutes.

Installing an expansion card can seem like a daunting task but it's actually straightforward. We reckon you should set aside at least an hour to get from opening the box to recording CDs.

Recording CDs should be a very pleasant experience thanks to the buffer under-run protection included. This means you can use other applications when recording a CD without fear of having a 'bad burn'.

Its bland interface and inability to save play lists of music CDs didn't endear us to the Iomega software though.

We found the Iomega CD-RW USB 2.0 a fast and reliable CD-RW but an internal drive is better value if you have the room.

Price: £199 (inc. VAT)

Contact: Iomega 020 7365 9527
www.iomega.com

Also consider: Waitec Megalus
A super-fast, burn-proof internal CD-RW. £99 ****.