Formac devideon superdrive 16x DL

Advantages: Excellent value for money
Disadvantages: Quirky with DL disks

...All in all a decent writer but I'd recommend anyone buying this drive to search on google / nec for the latest firmware. The original firmware was very picky about the speed at which it would burn and typically did not go above 8x irrespective of the brand or type of disc used. Since flashing the new firmware I am now happily burning normal DVD-R / DVD+R at around 16x without much trouble on most brands. DL recording is however still quite quirky and many of the cheaper branded DL disks have ended us as bird scarers! I'd recommend Maxell if you need to burn to DL discs. For the price this is an excellent buy - the new ND3540 offers some slight speed enhancements but with the price of this drive falling I'd stick with it for the time being.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average not helpful

Advantages: great image quality, design and clarity
Disadvantages: none found yet

...I had been looking for a new monitor for quite a well, reading reviews and lookng in shops. I was very concerned about spending my money on the right item as I am a graphic artist and web designer. I previously owned a 17\" Formac but it had been with me since 1997 and was getting a little tired to say the least! Well, eventually I plucked up the courage to spend my hard earned cash on the Formac Gallery 2010 Xtreme-5. All, I can say is wowweee! it is absolutely fantastic the styling is sleek and it does what it says - gives you excellent colour and image display. I really like the fact that it has two usb points on the back of the monitor this allows me to quickly plug in my camera and other bits and bobs such as my Ipod. I would highly recommend this monitor if you are looking for a professional standard, you won\'t be disappointed.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Extremely fast, Dual Layer, multi formats
Disadvantages: Needs firmware upgrade for some DL discs

...I have used a NEC 1100, then a NEC 1300, and now have the NEC 3500, and have found them all to offer excellent value for money and good reliability. I paid only £41 at www.ebuyer.co.uk and have found the drive to burn to all formats (plus and minus, r and rw : once and re-writeable). It burns some discs faster than what it says on the disc, for example some 8x discs will burn at 16x. However I have had some discs that are 8x that only burn at 4x speed. It depends on the media, not all are supported at the claimed speeds, but some do exceed the stated. I was eager to try out the Dual Layer (DL) recording facility and had purchased some Datawrite DVD+R DL discs for just under £4 each, which is still expensive compared to the approx £0.25ea for DVD+R single layer discs but competitive at the time of writing. The disc was not recognised... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful