but CD Architect does exactly what it's designed to do and does it better than anything else
931246
The interface is a bit dated, but CD Architect does exactly what it's designed to do and does it better than anything else.
4588322
Ok, so I've only had this player 1 day. Still, it is exactly what I was hoping it would be. It plays all my "trouble" CDs like home-made CD-Rs that have some scratches. I love the snap that holds the cover down. I love that all the buttons are big and directly on the front cover - very easy to use. I went for a walk with this in a sholder bag and it never skipped. It DOES have the auto-resume feature where if you are listening to a CD and then turn off the unit...when you turn it back on it starts where you left off. The entire unit feels VERY solid, like it won't break. I also like the clean styling, no crazy designs, just a good player. ~ The user manual could be a little clearer, but with a little playing around everything makes sence. ~ One example is it doesn't have a "stop" button when playing CDs. You have to press the "radio off" button. Easy enough to figure out, but it doesn't say that in the manual.

Overall, great product. I'm very happy with it.
977496
It does the job, doesn't hog resources, provides sufficient configuration and customization options, updates without problems and is free. What else could one want?
1932968
i bought a pair of these for a bicycle trailer sound system i'm putting together and am only using one of them at the moment for power distribution. the unit does exactly what it's designed for, is a good deal, and ESPECIALLY for my application, is perfectly matched to the translucent smoke & blue wiring i'll be using.

another review made a big deal about the cover coming off, but unless you're dropping stuff on it, it'll never be an issue. if left alone, the cover is more than secure, and i'm more than confident that mine will be just fine doing duty in a slightly more challenging application mounted on the bottom of a bicycle trailer. compared to that, a plush suspended car application is nothing, and if you're REALLY a paranoid worrywart, you could always superglue the cover, but that'd just make your life a pain if you want to ever remove them from your system. the cover does what it's supposed to... quit fiddling with it already! LOL
2263276
I HIGHLY recommend these to anyone who has a lot of CDs, DVDs, software discs, video games, etc.

I have two old models of the Discgears (a 120 and a 100). I prefer them because they're sturdier and have switches to open the top and slider at the bottom. Regardless, any form works wonderfully.

My Discgear 120 was a gift from my mother for my old CDs when I started redoing my bedroom several years ago. I really wanted one for my video games, so I bought a Discgear 100 shortly after. I used to keep all of my video games on my shelves, but my severe dust allergy forced me to rework my living space entirely. To condense all of my discs down into a safe storage case like this is a dream, and they actually look really slick on my shelves. Cleaning is now a breeze.

Having acquired more DVDs since then, my mother bought me this 80 disc Atlantic as a really awesome surprise! My DVDs went from taking up three shelves to a small space on one shelf.

While they come with list templates, it's much easier to just register on the Discgear website and use the printable templates there. The website is "meh" in terms of functionality (you'll want to put on a movie and sit down with a cup of coffee if you have a lot of things to type in), but the inevitable convenience is nice. You can easily reorder discs without erasing or having to start over. It's also really handy if you get anything new.
4778864
Normally I don't ever review anything twice, but I wanted to give this Plextor the ultimate test and see if the drive could do it, and if Burn-Proof lived up to its name. Well, I think some of you might be interested in the results.
I decided to burn a full 650 MB CD tonight at 8X on a rather generic CD-R. While I was burning the videos from my 45 GB drive, I was defragging it, and copying 65 MB of files off my zip drive to another hard disk. My system was tremendously slowed down and the buffer was always at 1% or 2%.
Imagine burning an ENTIRE CD at 8X (1200k/sec), while DEFRAGGING the host drive, and copying 65 MB of files off a zip drive to another hard disk, and looking at web sites.
If anything is a sure fire way to ruin a CD, this is it.
As soon as the burn cycle was done, I tested it. Perfect. The videos play fine on it. This is the ultimate test of any burner I have ever seen. Nobody believed I could defrag my hard disk while burning and have a good CD. Well, I just did it. Perhaps some people won't believe me, but that's the truth.
Sure the drive is expensive, but show me even a SCSI CD-RW that you can defrag the host drive, bog the system down this much, and have a perfect CD!
One final point: depending on which package you get, you will either have Adaptec Easy CD Creator or PlexTools. You will definitely want Easy CD Creator. PlexTools is not very good and you cannot make a custom CD like you can with Easy CD. So if you don't get it, go get yourself a copy. You will be much happier. Also, you will need Easy CD Creator 4.02 with the updated libraries so it will recognize this drive.
This Plexwriter is a rock solid drive. I wouldn't have even done this test on a SCSI burner.
Burn-Proof works and this drive has it!
4290398
I'm from the old school and have a DJ's mentality. I record my own CDs on a CD Recorder and because of me striving to create the perfect show with that perfect flow this product is perfect because of its capability to delete, edit and rerecord the songs I have incorporated into my prospective perfect 80 minute show. It has also become the perfect instrument to download songs from the computer. I download, use the download cd to create my dynamic compilation cd and then delete the songs on the download cd and it's ready for another downloading session.  If you have a passion for creating great cds the TDK-CD-RW Music is absolutely:
  RELIABLE, DEPENDABLE, OUTSTANDING, PERFECT!!!
Yours Truly:  ARMANDO BRAVO
981008
First off, this Diskgear Selector is sleek, and has a very finished look to it.  Once the CD's, DVD's or BluRay's are loaded, selecting them is as easy as sliding the selector to your disc and hitting a button.  The Diskgear "picks up" your disk, and practically hands it to you for playing.  I purchased the literature albums, where you can store cover art, etc.  These are easy to browse, and once you see a disk you like, simply enter it on the Selector and off you go.  The Diskgear locks as well, via a hidden latch on the bottom.  This keeps the unit from accidentally opening or being used as a toy by visiting children.
2279699
I'm not quite sure why people are whining about DI 2002.  To be blunt, it works wonderfully - as well as 5.0.  Indeed it even has more options, such as DOS-level networkable boot floppies.  I almost always run it from DOS mode, from a bootable CD.  My previous review is still accurate and attached.  This stuff works like a champ, and imho disk imaging backups are the best way to go.
Previous review:
I've been using DriveImage as my primary backup solution for literally years. This latest version is the best so far. I have had no difficulties whatsoever under WindowsXP. I especially like the ImageExplorer!
I make backups on a very regular basis, under multiple machines. I've never had a corrupted backup, or been disappointed with the results.
4539949
I was looking for something to securely hold CDs in full-size cases, that would also fit into unused shelf spaces. This is perfect, as it can orient both horizontally and vertically. It is an almost perfect fit for IKEA Ivar system shelves, incidentally, as it fits across horizontally, with the loss of an end-slot. Worth it though, to fit a space where nothing else can really go. It seems a bit more sturdy in the vertical position. So far it has not toppled or been difficult to remove CDs from. The two column unit that holds 30 CDs, made by the same company, is also excellent, and is probably best for horizontal placement. The plastic 'vanishes' due to being clear, and this is the best of numerous units I researched, as it doesn't collect dust, isn't much larger than the CDs it holds, and is affordable. I bought two more after the first, since they fit easily in so many unused spaces. Excellent for storing full-size jewel cases and for anyone who still uses CDs. Very happy with these.
4162389
If your needing to make mass amounts of cd's and quick this is the product for you.

Pro's:
Easy to use interface
Fast burn times
Its standalone so no need for a pc

Con's
Takes a few seconds to boot up when first starting
No options to add a usb hard drive to store image files

For what it does it does it well, its fast and reliable and doesn't take a computer scientist to run. Its as easy as putting the master cd in the top drive. Add blank media to the others and hit enter on the lcd. Thats it.
2576501
Does exactly what it is supposed to do and does it wonderfully.
3515160
They got everything right what others did wrong. This device is built with the user in mind, not with the brochure. The usability surpasses that of most others I have owned. And more specifically, it does much better for professional use than many very expensive and "professional" NAS-es.

A few examples: The web interface is blazingly fast. Every other NAS I have owned and used is slower to much slower. It supports every protocol invented for remote storage. It has a large fan which runs slowly. That is much better for the noise and lifetime than a small, fast running fan. Why do only the folks at Synology understand that?

Simulating a power failure (pulling the plug) and then removing one hard drive (simulating a HDD failure on power return) was handled gracefully. The system beeps when the array is degraded. The beeping at degradation is configurable in the first place and then you can turn off the beep while you wait for your new hard disk to arrive. Why do only the folks at Synology understand that you want to mute that beep after you heard it?

After inserting the new drive (which was the drive I removed of course) you have to manually start the rebuild. Which is fine, because you want to be in control, and you want to be warned that the contents will be erased.

I don't know about the many multimedia and home applications the device offers as well. I am not interested as I intend to use this NAS in a professional environment. Although it might sound strange, there is nothing wrong with that. The hard drives you insert in this device are the as you insert in "professional" devices. And I don't doubt the embedded processor board doesn't differ in any way from the boards used in "professional" devices. And the options this device offers and especially the limitations that are not willfully and unnecessary implemented make it more applicable than many "professional" devices which cost a multiple of this one.

Fortunately the owner has root / SSH access to the device. Again, without limitations. The device runs Linux of course. Everyone who ever played around with Linux RAID knows that this RAID is solid as a rock. I just have not been able to discover which Linux version this is. It does not provide one of the package managers (apt, yum...) and the kernel is 3.10. Maybe this version is built from scratch by Synology. Nothing wrong with that, though.

Just one thing which I don't understand is the Time Zone setting. I am in UTC-4, but I install every device, server, workstation and whatnot in pure UTC. If you have multiple servers around the world you want that. You don't want to realize that 15:00 in Amsterdam is basically earlier than 09:00 in California. (Or is it??) But it seems impossible to get this device on UTC. I choose Monrovia GMT+00 which I expect is UTC without DST. But when I NTP with time.google.com I get the time one hour off. Maybe Google refuses to assign UTC to my IP, I don't know. Google does more of those smart moves.

Now as it happens, the first device I have to install will be standing next to a Mac incarnation manufactured by HP in Glossy white. Other than that I had preferred a matte black case. But the contents of the box is more important, after all.
4281149
Like many other reviewers, I searched for a replacement for an old cd changer, a Sony CDP-C315, which finally became dysfunctional after 20 years of great service.  Since the rest of my system consists of Yamaha components I tried the CDC-697.  Yes, it is very easy to set up and begin using immediately.  You should be aware, however, of the very poorly designed display panel.  The lighting is red, which makes it impossible to read from any sort of distance during daylight.  Even in a darkened room the size of the images is quite small.  If you want to know what the cd track is or how much time remains on the disc, for example, you are out of luck.  The figures in my old Sony's panel are white, far brighter, and larger, so I never had any problems reading the images from six or more feet from the changer. So unless you have incredibly perfect vision and you plan to sit no more than a couple of feet from your changer, I advise you to consider another cd player.
1648757
Not much to say here. It does exactly what it's supposed to do, once you get the software running properly.
909124
This CD carrier is a perfect replacement for those not so professional (bachelor pad) looking basic CD holders. This makes my place look so much better than a entertainment center driven, computer disc/video game cluttered, frat house. Thank You I couldn't be more pleased!
270058
Chief Architect X8, Step by Step is the only outstanding third party comprehensive reference book for a great piece of architectural software.  In addition to the 8.5 X 11 inch, 955 five well indexed pages, the well organized content  allows you to quickly find the answer or procedure you are seeking.  If you are not careful you may over look a treasure chest of information on the included CD:  (1) Pre drawn plans to save you time and effort and let you immediately apply the task you are trying to learn,  (2) CAD Overview,  (3)  X8 new features,  (4)  Model House Plans,  (5)  Study guides, and  (6)  Workbook projects.  With a minimum of practice you are able to produce parametric 3D views similar to the views you see on several TV home improvement shows.  The CD includes a full color version of the entire volume.  I have been using Chief Architect for several years as a retired drafting instructor and now in business drawing custom house plans.  I depend on X8, Step by Step to help me solve real world design and drafting challenges.