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Sony MPD AP20U External CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo DriveThe sleek and silvery device enables computer users to perform common CD-R/RW burning tasks, such as backing up data, recording digital...
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The sleek and silvery device enables computer users to perform common CD-R/RW burning tasks, such as backing up data, recording digital images and creating original music CDs at up to 24X speed. When connected to a computer, the MPD-AP20U also operates as a DVD-ROM drive for viewing DVD movies, and as a Memory Stick media reader for viewing, saving and transferring files. When detached from a computer, the drive works as a stand-alone CD player that can play back standard audio CDs, as well as MP3 and WAV files from either a CD, DVD, or Memory Stick media.
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6 Reviews from Shopping.com
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Upgrade your netbook with SONY's Ap20u - in 500 words or less !
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Pros: Offers a DVD-rom and a CDR/W. Can be used as a portable MP3 player.
Cons: Weak portable player by today's standards.
The Bottom Line:
While Sony's AP20u doesn't offer a great portable player by today's standards, it does offer modern netbooks a drive with features you otherwise can't get.
Modern Netbook computers do not include CDRW drives or DVD players due to their small physical size and their lower pricepoint. Therefore, some of you out there who have purchased a netbook as a primary computer will eventually find the need for a portable disk drive. The reason I am writing about the SONY MPD-AP20U is to not only inform you of its existence and novelty, but because I’ve wanted to write this review for a while and figured Epinions: Lean & Mean review period was the best time to do so!
I’ve had the Ap20u since 2003, but, I hadn’t purchased it to use as a CDR/W. I purchased it to use as a portable MP3 player since back then, long before cellphones were viable audio players, I used CDR disks to mobilize my music libraries. Yes, the AP20u can be used as a portable CDR/W disk player, but, it may also be used with Sony Memory sticks – which at that time were very expensive compared to the rewriteable disks. Nowadays disks are dirt cheap and memory sticks can be purchased at less than $10 for 128MB.
In order to use the player as a CDRW or DVD player, you’ll need to have USB2.0 (which is already a standard among netbooks). Even though the device comes with a cradle and an AC adapter to support USB1.0 speeds, it doesn’t work well on USB1.0 – it has trouble writing disks at lower speeds and reading DVD’s at 1X is terribly slow. So long as you’ve got 2.0 - no problem! The Ap20u, reads/writes CDR's and plays DVD’s very well. You can even store files on memory sticks if you have some laying around from your old SONY digital camera or PSP.
The biggest problem however with the Ap20u is that its functionality as a portable player is limited by the lack of a digital LCD screen on the device. Instead, you need to use the included, clip-on, remote control unit. If you damage the wire or the remote itself, you won’t be able to see any track information at all. Since the device only has a [sound] button to cycle through equalizer presets, you’d only be able to let a disk play randomly in order to listen to it. The cord is also relatively short so you’d need to keep it in an upper jacket pocket rather than near the waist. The CD player sometimes locks up and needs to be hard reset frequently. Fortunately, this isn’t a problem with memory sticks. The rechargeable battery offers memory sticks roughly 4 hours of playback time.
As a portable player by today’s standards, the ap20u would get a failing score. By 2003 standards, it might manage a 2/5.
You can find Ap20u’s on Ebay for reasonable prices. It was a good idea by SONY, but, they should have gave it embedded controls to make it stand out. If you need a drive for your netbook, take a look!
(~497 words)
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