Drives > Hewlett-Packard Drives > Less than 30 GBP > by Price

Advantages: Fairly simple to install (sorta)...
Disadvantages: Be careful why you want a burner.

...reason I went with the HP is that is what my computer is, an HP. I am a very firm believer that like brands work better with like parts. O.K. I got the burner. Now what?? Well if you knew me you would think I know an awful lot about computers. You would be wrong! I put up a good front but I know enough about computers to get me in trouble! When I opened the box I was .. oh what’s the word?... INTIMIDATED!!!! Yup that’s the word. I had no clue what ...
...but in case there wasn’t, HP included another IDE cable with an extra connector to replace one in computers with only the one connector. On with the burning. WHAT DO YOU MEAN I NEED ANOTHER PROGRAM TO COPY DVDS????? ARGHHHHHH!!!! Yes although the burner included three different programs to play the DVDs, copying them required me purchasing a copy of DVD xcopy express. Which I had to buy used as the ones on store shelves have been stripped of the ... Read review

Advantages: Cheap and reliable.
Disadvantages: Not the fastest drive on the market

...don’t work – only that HP haven’t decided that 80 minute discs are reliable enough to be officially endorsed. The first disc I wrote was an 80 minute disc and it worked fine. This particular model comes with the ability to “clone” a CD. That means that you can make an exact duplicate of a disc, meaning that so called “copy-protected” discs can be copied and music CDs that have tracks that run into each other ...
...Another feature of this drive is that it can make use of re-writable discs, something I have not been able to test - I will update the opinion if and when I do! Re-writable discs (CD-RW) are more expensive than normal CD-Rs and have certain issues regarding compatibility with other computers. My Experience: The first CD I created with my freshly installed CD writer was an audio CD created from some mp3s (I know, very naughty). In all there were ... 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

Advantages: faster optical drive with 2MB buffer size.
Disadvantages: --

Asus optical drive is more then stable product. With fast reading, fast writing, it make everybody like Asus optical drive. With IDE/ATAPI interface, ASUS DRW 1608P make it always support at all pc. At max operating, this optical drive temperature always stable, and not make a big noise. Make reading faster with 2MB buffer size. If you see with front side at this ASUS DRW 1608P, it look a strong optical drive. Dual compatibility feature make your ... Read review

Advantages: Very, very cheap; SATA; Fast; Reads/Writes most DVD formats
Disadvantages: Only comes in beige; No DVD-RAM writing (Read Only)

...REVIEW I bought my Pioneer DVR-212D, a few days ago for just £11 inc. VAT, BRAND NEW, from eBuyer.com. I hope you agree that's an incredible price for a S-ATA DVD rewriter. I only really needed the Pioneer drive to aid in testing the functionality of another more current P-ATA DVD-RW drive that was exhibiting some very odd behaviour that I wasn't absolutely certain was the drive's fault, so I wasn't too fussy about it being highly specified. Having ...
...the drive vertically. Being Pioneer I imagine longevity is a given, at least here in my household they have an enviable reputation for reliability. I have never managed to break anything I have bought from them in the past. It doesn't seem to matter what quality of disc you present it with either, it just accepts any old tat. Even the really nasty 8x reject DVDs my local computer emporium tries to pass of as quality gear work in this drive, a welcome ... Read review