How to Buy a Rewritable DVD Drive
All the talk about the next wave of optical formats--Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD--might make you think that the venerable DVD-Rewritable drive is passe. Not so fast: DVD burners remain a vastly less expensive option for writing discs than those costly new formats.
Plus, you can get superior performance from a dedicated DVD burner. Here's what you should consider when making a purchase.
Introduction
All the talk about the next wave of optical formats--Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD--might make you think that the venerable DVD-Rewritable drive is passé. Not so fast: DVD burners, and the media you use with them, remain a vastly less expensive option for writing discs than those costly new formats. Plus, you can get superior performance from a dedicated DVD burner: The write speeds top out now at 20X.
Rewritable DVD's advantages over CD-R are long established: Single-layer DVD media lets you store up to 4.7GB on a disc, while dual-layer (also referred to as double-layer, for the DVD+R format) media lets you pack up to 8.5GB on a single disc. Like CD-RW drives, rewritable DVD drives support both write-once and rewritable media; write-once discs are best for creating movies playable on standard DVD players and for data archiving, while rewritable discs are well suited for regular file backup.
The Big Picture
Formats, speeds, compatibility--which to choose? We'll introduce you to the basics of rewritable DVD drives. more
The Specs Explained
Whether you're shopping for the fastest or the most economical rewritable DVD drive, use these specifications to compare the various DVD burners. more
Rewritable DVD Shopping Tips
Whether you're shopping for the fastest or the most economical rewritable DVD drive, use these specifications to compare the various DVD burners.
Rewritable DVD Drive Shopping Tips
Are you ready to buy a rewritable DVD drive? Here are PC World's recommendations for buying a drive that will best suit the needs of the average user.
Decide if speed is important to you. At this writing, speed is not much of an issue, since the two write-once/single-layer DVD formats are identical. Keep an eye on double/dual-layer write speeds, though--many drives on the market don't support the fastest speeds possible.
Consider compatibility. Both DVD-R and DVD+R are highly compatible with current DVD players and DVD-ROM drives.
Some older players might have better luck with DVD-R than DVD+R, simply because DVD-R has been around longer. If the drive burns DVD-RAM, remember that the format can be useful but is poorly suited for discs you plan to share with friends and family.
For desktop PCs, get an internal drive with a SATA interface. If your PC supports Serial ATA (SATA), you'll do better by having SATA's thinner, less cumbersome wires inside your system.
For external drives, or desktop PCs with few internal connections, consider the interface. With external drives, you'll see about the same speed from a FireWire drive as you would from a USB 2.0 drive.
Costs for drives of each interface type are similar, and for a few more dollars, you can often buy a drive that has the flexibility of both interfaces.
Make sure the bundled recording software fits your needs.
With drives sold at retail, all manufacturers include software; the bundle typically covers DVD and CD mastering (including audio CDs), DVD video authoring, and the ability to drag and drop data.
Some vendors add software for backup tasks and video editing.
Plus, you can get superior performance from a dedicated DVD burner. Here's what you should consider when making a purchase.
Introduction
All the talk about the next wave of optical formats--Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD--might make you think that the venerable DVD-Rewritable drive is passé. Not so fast: DVD burners, and the media you use with them, remain a vastly less expensive option for writing discs than those costly new formats. Plus, you can get superior performance from a dedicated DVD burner: The write speeds top out now at 20X.
Rewritable DVD's advantages over CD-R are long established: Single-layer DVD media lets you store up to 4.7GB on a disc, while dual-layer (also referred to as double-layer, for the DVD+R format) media lets you pack up to 8.5GB on a single disc. Like CD-RW drives, rewritable DVD drives support both write-once and rewritable media; write-once discs are best for creating movies playable on standard DVD players and for data archiving, while rewritable discs are well suited for regular file backup.
The Big Picture
Formats, speeds, compatibility--which to choose? We'll introduce you to the basics of rewritable DVD drives. more
The Specs Explained
Whether you're shopping for the fastest or the most economical rewritable DVD drive, use these specifications to compare the various DVD burners. more
Rewritable DVD Shopping Tips
Whether you're shopping for the fastest or the most economical rewritable DVD drive, use these specifications to compare the various DVD burners.
Rewritable DVD Drive Shopping Tips
Are you ready to buy a rewritable DVD drive? Here are PC World's recommendations for buying a drive that will best suit the needs of the average user.
Decide if speed is important to you. At this writing, speed is not much of an issue, since the two write-once/single-layer DVD formats are identical. Keep an eye on double/dual-layer write speeds, though--many drives on the market don't support the fastest speeds possible.
Consider compatibility. Both DVD-R and DVD+R are highly compatible with current DVD players and DVD-ROM drives.
Some older players might have better luck with DVD-R than DVD+R, simply because DVD-R has been around longer. If the drive burns DVD-RAM, remember that the format can be useful but is poorly suited for discs you plan to share with friends and family.
For desktop PCs, get an internal drive with a SATA interface. If your PC supports Serial ATA (SATA), you'll do better by having SATA's thinner, less cumbersome wires inside your system.
For external drives, or desktop PCs with few internal connections, consider the interface. With external drives, you'll see about the same speed from a FireWire drive as you would from a USB 2.0 drive.
Costs for drives of each interface type are similar, and for a few more dollars, you can often buy a drive that has the flexibility of both interfaces.
Make sure the bundled recording software fits your needs.
With drives sold at retail, all manufacturers include software; the bundle typically covers DVD and CD mastering (including audio CDs), DVD video authoring, and the ability to drag and drop data.
Some vendors add software for backup tasks and video editing.
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