Advantages: Works non-mains connected
Disadvantages: poor documentation, bus powered is a cheat

...Some Techie Stuff --------------- Firstly yes this review is a bit techie so to try and explain some stuff.. skip this if you know your stuff already: USB means Universal Serial Bus - those connectors on every PC now that can connect all sorts of external devices. bus powered means a USB device that takes all the power it requires from the USB lead and doesn't need to be plugged in separately to the mains. mA means thousandths of an Amp. An Amp is a measure of electric current, batteries can only supply so much, each USB port has a maximum current supply of 500mA (half an Amp) Lightscribe - a superb new technology. The CD (or DVD) has a special coating, if you want to label it you don't need to print something out and stick it on, you turn the disk over, put it in a lightscribe drive and your labeling software (Nero Cover Designer... Read review

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Advantages: fast at cd/dvd writing, prints cd's/dvd's, dual layer so up to 8.5 gb
Disadvantages: Difficult to find lightscribe disks at high street stores.

...Prior to upgrading my desktop pc to an all-singing-all-dancing dual processor unit I had a more humble little Desktop model. However it had something my new machine didn't, a lightscribe dvd writer. I used this all the time for my cd's and sorely missed it within days of using my new machine. So I had a dilemma, I could add to the two provided DVD writers or replace one of them. I did the former although I opted to add to it via the external route rather than add to an already cluttered (but neat) front. So I went to PC World and found the Philips SPD3200. This is a stylish looking black machine which is currently sitting comfortably on top of my desktop PC. I don't think there is a format (other than Blueray) that this machine won't read or write. It does + or - DVD's and is a dual layer writer so it can potentially write up to 8... Read review

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Advantages: Permanent disc labelling
Disadvantages: Monochrome and media is hard to find

...LG Super Multi DVD Rewriter GSA-E60N These days most new PCs come supplied with a built-in DVD writer, indeed the last PC I bought more than a year ago provided one in the standard price. So with a perfectly good writer already in my tower case why do I need this rather blocky external one taking up space on my desk? Well this writer comes with the nifty bonus of being a LightScribe drive, a permanent disc labelling system that provides a high quality finishing touch to my home made DVDs, but more of that later. Why do you need a DVD writer? Storing data is the obvious answer. And with 4.7GB available on standard DVDs (8.5GB on dual layer) you can pack a lot of data on each disc. This makes them essential tools for backing up those memory hungry and irreplaceable photos and videos. They can also be used for creating DVDs that can... Read review

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Advantages: Lightweight, small, portable and has lightsribe technology.
Disadvantages: Quite expensive £70, not the fastest drive around

...Quite recently I decided I was going to start to upgrade my computer get a few extra components, a couple of toys etc. So I looked at my bank account decided what I had to spend and went shopping. At the top of my list was a new CD/DVD RW drive that I could use in both my pc and laptop and could carry about with me easily with my laptop. So I wanted a lightweight, small, USB external drive. I started looking and found just what I was looking for and as an added bonus it had one very cool extra feature. It was the Liteon SSM-85H5SX. The added extra was the Lightscribe technology meaning I can design an image and then burn it onto the top side of a specially made disk. SPECIFICATIONS This is just a list of read, write and rewrite speeds. The complicated way to explain this is to say that the first CD drive read a 150 Kbps (kilobits per... Read review

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Advantages: cheap products, fast delivery, secure
Disadvantages: NONE

...other option for printable CD or non printable. They have a variety of CD tubs. They have 100, 50, 10 with some photos printed on them or with black bottom. As for DVD collection they have much bigger variety than CDs. They sell DVD+R Non-printable, DVD+R Printable, DVD+RW (Rewritable), DVD-R Non-printable, DVD-R Printable, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW (Rewriteable), Double Layer, Labelflash DVDR, Lightscribe DVDR, Small (8cm) DVDR Discs. As you can see you have a really great option to select your DVD just don't get confused! You can guess from the list that they have everything you may want for DVD or CD. The variety gives everyone the option to find what he/she wants. I already mention the CD and DVD collection now let's tell you something about INKS. There are inks for the most popular companies. Canon, Epson and HP. Under each page you can find... Read review

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Advantages: excellent TFT screen and touchsmart ability
Disadvantages: dodgy keyboard

.... I have not as yet got onto HP about this problem but will definitely do so in the near future. I am also very happy with the touchscreen performance, it is very useful after spending a long time either using the mouse or keyboard to be able to just sit back and touch the screen. Make sure that you use the stylus provided otherwise you will end up with lots of finger marks on the screen. At the back of the pc there is a HP photo printer docking station to enable you to print direct from your pc either with a media card or from the hard drive, this accounts for the weight of the pc, which is quite hefty. It also comes with lightscribe DVD/CD drive which enables you to print direct to the dvd/cd, of course you must have the lightscribe dvd/cds but these are quite readily available. I find the lightscribe a real boon, no more... Read review

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Advantages: Everything, AMD Dual Core, Graphics, Looks, Performance, Specs
Disadvantages: None

.... The Specs: AMD Turion 64 X2 2.0 Ghz Dual-Core Processor Nvidia 8400M GS Graphics 2 x 160GB HDDs (320GB) 2GB of DDR2 Ram Memory Card Reader DVD-RW with Lightscribe Firewire, USB 2.0, S-Video, VGA HDMI Out Altec Lansing Speakers 17" Widescreen Brightview Display Two Remote Controls (Push In and Large External) DVB-T Television Tuner Built in Web-Cam As you can see, the specs are pretty impressive, For a laptop that costs around £700 you are getting what you pay for. - AMD Turion 64X2 The Dual-Core processor in this laptop is second to none, everything runs very quickly, smoothly and the whole Vista OS is VERY responsive. Compared to a Single Core Centrino (which I had peviously) this is more than a step-up, it's definately in a different league. Video encoding times have been sliced by more than half, Graphics editing programs such as Photoshop... Read review

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Advantages: High spec, good price. Very easy and quick to fit
Disadvantages: None found so far.

...work of copying CD's and copying a DVD I'd recorded on my domestic DVD Recorder wasn't a slouch either. Equally, it will handle and burn stuff already on my hard drive pretty fast too. So far, I've had no coasters or any other problem. And the Lightscribe facilty is pretty good too, although it takes around 25 mins to draw a label on the 'best' setting, using Sure Thing Label Maker, So yep, I'm well please with the thing. As a sort of postscript, about a week later, I installed the Nero suite and other bundled software and fiddled about with it for a few days. I still don't like the basic Nero burning suite, but a handy little program on there was the Live Update of the firmware facilty, where you can go online, and download the latest frimware update, direct from Samsung's website and sit back while it upgrades automatically (shades... Read review

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Advantages: Great Value for money and reasonably fast as well.
Disadvantages: Can perform slowly on rewrites

...I have had problems with internal DVD drives in the past but this one sorted it all out. The Asus DRW1608P is a lovely grey machine and looks just like it does in the picture. the speeds are as follows: 5 x DVD-RAM 8 x DVD+RW 6 x DVD-RW 8 x DVD +/-R (DL) 40 x CD-R 32 x CD-RW Does not lightscribe. As i mentioned this machine can under perform slightly on RW but on the whole its fast and reliable. The best thing about this is it's price - mine cost £35 from a local shop but is available on line from £39. The reason why I chose this model is that it was the most recommended from Computer Shopper coming top of their polls. I have burned quite a few DVDs with this and they have all worked perfectly. It comes with firmware update and Nero Startsmart - although a license is required for full DVD burning capabilities. I would... Read review

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Advantages: Pentium D processor, large hard disk drive, Lightscribe
Disadvantages: Noisier than some PCs

...home movies to dvd. It could take upto 3 hours with my last computer, but with the Pavilion T3155 it took around an hour. The most impressive thing was that I could continue using the pc while encoding/burning films without it becoming slow. Also very good was the 200GB hard drive, which felt like luxury after the 80GB that I'd been used to. This was great for storing all my movies on as with my old computer I'd had to keep deleting them to make room for new ones. One of the reasons I chose this particular computer was the dvd writer which supported Lightscribe. I have lots of disks that are written on in marker, so I was looking forward to labelling them properly. The only thing I didn't consider was the fact that you have to buy special blank dvds to use Lightscribe. These are still quite expensive at the moment (£15 for 10), although... Read review

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