DVD writers buyers guide

Introduction

Although Blu-Ray and HD-DVD have been officially introduced, the developments on DVD burners have not stopped. The magical 16 speed limit has been broken by a few companies, the compatibility to use different discs has improved considerably and new technologies like lightscribe and labelflash have been introduced. Although it might seem that all DVD rewriters are the same, there are a few very important distinctions that need to be considered.

The technology behind DVD rewriters has been completely developed by now, as prices have been coming down in the last few months. A lot of manufacturers are now offering their latest models for around 25 pounds (40 euros). Because of these low prices even the most basic PC comes with a standard DVD rewriter and a lot of people are considering trading in their older model for a new, quicker one.

So what should you pay attention to when buying a DVD rewriter? Basically there are two aspects that are important, one being the speed of the rewriter, usually the quicker the better. The second one is the quality of the end result, as you want to be able to read your data on the DVD after a period of time as well. Where the specification on the box will tell you the speed, the actual quality of the drive is a bit more difficult to assess. Our product database shows these two aspects in every drive that we have tested.