Drives > from 33x to 48x Drives > 32x (CD) / 8x (DVD±R) / 2.4x (DVD+R DL)

Advantages: Fast, reliable
Disadvantages: No DVD-RAM support

For the most part, this is just another DVD burner in an already crowded market, but one or two things make this stand out from the crowd. To start with it was one of the first low-priced drives to support dual-layer writing, allowing you to cram twice as much on to a single disk, although the price and availability of dual-layer media at the moment makes this less useful than it might be. Still, this should change soon enough... The most remarkable ...
...with even the cheapest media available, and the fact that it'll burn as fast as it can regardless of the rating of the blank media. Using a dynamically adjustable burning laser, the drive automatically adjusts power and speed to suit the disk -- if it detects an uneven dye surface (common on cheap blanks) it'll compensate; the burning process may slow down, but it's almost guaranteed to work. On good quality media it attempts to burn faster than ... Read review

Advantages: Can be moved from PC to PC, lighweight, robust, reliable, fast
Disadvantages: None so far...

...an external CD writer by Freecom which had been extremely reliable, I opted for the High Speed (USB2) Classic DVD+/-RW Double Layer model. It was the most expensive at just over £120 at the time (much cheaper now, see below), but the best available. The Hardware: In the box was a black DVD RW which was slim and lightweight (it was also available in white), the USB connector cable, the power transformer/cable (PSU- power supply unit) and two adapters ...
...system. A quick phone-call to Freecom (the phone no. at the time was 01423 704715) solved the problem. Roxio would only work on Windows 2000 or Windows XP and they would send me a disk with Nero 6 on which would work every bit as good as Roxio on my system. The company was true to their word - the program landed on my doormat the very next day. So it looked like Freecom had excellent customer service also. Since then I have upgraded my system to ... Read review

Advantages: Read/Write/Erase-CD-R/CD-RW/DVD+R/DVD+RW
Disadvantages: None

The LG GSA 4167B Super-Multi is very good because it can read,write and erase data on all media formats.I own one and I don't have problems with it.Mine is three years old and but still works very good.The first years after I bought it the CD's/DVD's inserted in the LG drive were written and read with no scratch on the CD's/DVD's.Now,when it's three years old it leaves a few scratches in comparison to other products.It's easy to install and the product ... Read review

Advantages: Great at its job, quick, easy to use, easy to install
Disadvantages: Not fully reliable, not easy to fix

Ahh, i have a very mixed opinion on this product. This drive came pre installed on my desktop and was very faithful to me! It always worked and got the job done very well when i needed it! It burnt DVD's with ease and CD's even quicker! However i had one fateful day when i had to recover my PC and completely reset it! I re-installed all the drivers for all of my hardware and everything worked except... Lite-On SOHW-832S DVD/RW Combo drive i tried ...
...but it wasn't!!! It didn't recognise when a DVD or a CD was inserted and it would no longer burn! I uninstalled it and re-installed it countless times but nope! Nothing worked, so now my main desktop computer is without a CD Writing drive! I do not wish to put others off buying it though as when it worked it was very good! I'm sure mine is just a one off! ... Read review

Advantages: Quick, Easy, Reliable, Small, Fits into any pocket or bag
Disadvantages: Faded out use lately

I originally bought this external floppy drive a few years ago after the standard for laptops was not to have an inbuilt floppy drive already in them however at the time floppy disks were still in use from time to time. It doesn't mean that this can't be used for desktop computers that don't have internal floppy drives. Power ********* Usually when having an external device like an external hard drive or optical drive you would usually need more ...
...the power into a power socket in the wall and a separate cable to send and receive data between the device and the computer however with this external floppy drive it has completely changed. Now all that is need with this floppy drive is simply just one USB cable with a mini USB connected to the drive making it quick and easy to use when your on the move as well as easy to fit and store on the move with no extra cabling which could possibly get tangled ... Read review