Product Reviews

These drives offer 8X write speeds and include the ability to create 8.5GB dual-layer DVD+R disks. Each has a 2MB cache, comes with a two-year warranty and can burn a full 8.5GB disc in 45 minutes or less. The LG and Sony drives are internal units with IDE interfaces. The external LaCie connects via USB Hi-Speed (also known as USB 2.0) and FireWire.

The SonyDRU-700A drive we looked at was an OEM drive. It has a black fascia and the same 2MB buffer as the LG drive. Performance was reasonable across all our tests, with the drive providing the

ADVERTISEMENT

best speeds for both DVD+RW and DVD-RW media but the slowest dual-layer DVD+R time. Burning a dual-layer DVD+R took 45 minutes - a minute slower than the LG and two minutes 30 seconds behind LaCie.

The LaCie d2 comes in an attractive and sturdy-looking aluminium case. Roxio's Creator CD and DVD software is included, which is good, although Nero is better. Results in our speed tests were as good as both the internal drives, although its impressive dual-layer DVD+R speed is offset by slow read speeds - a full DVD+R took 10 minutes to read.

The LG drive has the highest specification, supporting single-layer DVD+R burning at 12X speed and writing to cartridge-less DVD-RAM. Unfortunately, due to the scarcity of 12X media we couldn't test its full performance, but results at 8X were impressive. DVD+R reads and authoring are particularly fast, with a single-layer DVD-R creation time of eight minutes 25 seconds.

As the well-priced LG wins our speed tests, it's an obvious winner. Sony's DRU-700A comes a close second with its competitive OEM pricing, while LaCie's d2 performed well and would be ideal for notebook users.