| Internally the HP4020i is using the Philips CDD-2000 drive and the HP6020i is using the Philips CDD-2600 drive. A label can be seen, on the inside of the HP4020i, which says: CDD2000
These CD Recorders are very likely to fail to work after some time. One of the main problems is that both the CDD-2000 & HP4020i have a faulty spring which will fail to do it's job (aligning the laser-head). The reason that the spring is faulty is because it is too thin and it will lose it's flexibility after some time. Replacing this faulty spring for a working spring will fix the problem but the whole drive needs to be taken apart to get to the spring (this job can only be performed by a skilled technician)! It took me about 2 hours (and 3 old disk-drives to get a proper spring) to fix this problem with my own HP4020i which stopped working after 2½ years. The problem can be recognized when CD-Rs are not read anymore or when failures appear when writing CD-Rs (especially near the end of the CD-R).
This problem is already known for some time now but at last there is something done about it. Both Philips & HP won't fix this problem when the drive is out of warranty (which is the case with all these drives as they are not made anymore for over a year now). Here in The Netherlands it is possible to exchange your defective HP4020i for a refurbished/fixed drive but this will cost you about NLG 250 = US$ 135! |
