Advantages: Cheap
Disadvantages: Needs updating, temperamental

...I own a digital camcorder, so I decided to purchase a DVD writer. There seems to be fierce competition at the moment, so prices have at last dropped to the £100 mark and below. MSI, as some of you may know, are a reputable company most commonly known for their motherboards, as well as graphics cards and many other items of computer hardware. They are not as well known for optical storage devices - but I own a MSI motherboard so I decided to give it a go... >Value< The drive was priced well, just under £100. When the drive arrived, first impressions were good. It was well packaged, and intact (parcel force were obviously feeling gentle). Prying open the protective polystyrene revealed the drive, instructions, audio cable, screws, and a software CD. This contains a basic version of Ahead Nero - handy burning software... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Fast, Well-priced, Stable
Disadvantages: none

...Overview ***************** Today I will be reviewing the latest addition to my customized PC setup – MSI’s Geforce FX5900XT-VTD128 graphics card (bit of a mouthful, that one!) The board is manufactured by a company called MSI (Micro-star International) that many of you will have heard of. For those that haven’t, MSI are a massive computer electronics company, and manufacture all kinds of computer-related kit – from a vast range of motherboards and graphics cards, to optical drives such as CD and DVD readers/writers. My DVD writer is made by MSI – as is my motherboard (K7n420Pro, reviewed here on dooyoo). They make decent products at a decent price, and I am very happy with my purchases. This particular graphics card is built using NVIDIA’s Geforce FX5900XT chipset - more about that below… Chipset... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Large memory capacity, durable for its size, very reliable
Disadvantages: None really apart from it being quite small

..., which will allow you to insert your memory card into a PC or any other compatible external device in order to transfer files from the PC onto the card or from the card onto the PC. Nowadays there are many more devices like DVD recorders and TV's which come with memory card slots and will most definitely allow you to insert your SD micro memory card into the provided slots in order to view photos, listen to music or even watch videos stored on your Sandisk Micro SD 8GB memory card. Apart from being able to hold photos, music and video files micro SD cards like the Sandisk Micro SD 8GB can also hold other files e.g. Microsoft Word, excel or even software setup files. Virtually all mobile phone manufacturers (Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola etc.) have at least one phone which is compatible with the micro SD format of memory cards... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Price- 60 GBP
Disadvantages: Won't work with Win98SE

...like this with no bundled software, but this package includes an OEM version of NERO.) I could find no software for playing a DVD, even though it says there is some on the box. However when I had downloaded a free player from the internet, I was able to play DVDs with no problem. The trouble started when I tried to burn a DVD. I inserted ab DVD+R blank, and after a few seconds My Computer showed "Audio CD" with one track 1Gbyte. Same thing with a DVD-R! I contacted MSI as follows: I have just bought this DR4-a DVD writer. I have burnt an audio CD succesfully, I can play a DVD- R but when I insert blank DVD+ or DVD- the media is not recognised. It appears in "My Computer" as if it were an audio CD with 1 track. It attempts to autorun, but generates an error from the CDplayer saying please insert an audio disk.