The computer I have now is not the computer I had five years ago. Sure, it looks the same...but inside is a different story. Among other things I've changed the processor to the maximum compatible with my motherboard, added more memory, installed a new hard drive, and went from an ordinary CD-ROM drive to a CD-RW drive.

Suffice it to say that moving from a CD-RW drive to a DVD burner was the next logical step for me. I was just laying in wait for the right time to come. Well, the right time finally came when I could get a DVD burner for under $100.

So, I ordered this particular model from Tigerdirect.com (which is by the way, the place I get most of my stuff from) not knowing anything about DVD burners at all. I figured 'what's there to know...you buy it, replace an old drive with this new one, install the software, and making DVDs is as easy as it is burning CDs, right? ... Yeah, not so much.

First of all there's this war going on between the mathematical symbols. Yes, pluses and minuses are fighting it out. There's DVD-R and DVD-RW on one side and DVD+R and DVD+RW on the other side. Now you can get what's called a combo drive (one that burns DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW) but they're still basically over $250, so that's out of the question. Don't ask me what the difference is between '+' and '-' outside they're mathematical symbolisms, because I don't have a clue. The only thing I do know with respect to this DVD burner is that you can only burn DVD+R, and DVD+RW media, but it will read the enemy formats as well.

Okay, enough of that. I buy this thing at Tigerdirect.com and in the box was the drive, and the software....that's it. No instructions, no nothing! Oh well, I'm just taking out one and putting the other in....whatever!

After putting it in and installing the software (DVD X-COPY ($29 with supplied coupon), and ULEAD DVD STUDIO SUITE - included) the first thing I had to do was to enable DMA (direct memory access) in Windows 98. If you don't, be prepared for buffer underrun errors and lots of coasters around your home that look just like blank DVD media. But anyway, just like I thought...the drive went in without a hitch. It replaced my CD-RW drive flawlessly. But, because that worked well, I just knew something wouldn't be so easy...and was I ever right.

The first thing I wanted to try was to copy a Movie DVD that I had on hand. I grabbed one out of my cabinet and a blank DVD+R disk and fired up DVD X-COPY. Simple enough software, it reads your DVD Movie, you click copy, and in about an hour you got a duplicate copy of your Movie DVD with one really huge difference.

Seems store bought DVD Movies are on Dual-Layered disks...meaning they hold about 9.2 giga-bytes of data. Blank DVD media is single layered and will only hold 4.7 giga-bytes of data. What this boils down to is that for some DVD's you want to copy, you'll need 2 blanks for every 1 movie. Who knew?

Anyway, my first two attempts at copying the DVD movie were not successful. Because 'insert notification' was on (that's the option that starts a program automatically when you insert a CD or DVD), it kinda messed up DVD X-COPY. Don't ask me how, I don't know. All I know is that when I turned off 'insert notification' on both my drives DVD X-COPY successfully copied my DVD movie. Or so I thought.

Excited, I popped my first attempt at a DVD copy into my home DVD player. Which brings me to another thing you need to know BEFORE you buy this or any other DVD burner. Be sure your home DVD player can play DVD media burned on a computer. Go here to find out more info ...

http://www.dvdrhelp.com/dvdplayers.php

Now, even though my player was on the list my newly burned DVD wouldn't play all the way through. Why? A little research into the matter at the aforementioned website revealed that this particular burner is extremely picky about the type and brand of media you use. So far, I have been only able to sucessfully burn using the more expensive DVD+RW media.

Now when I say sucessfully burn, I mean to clarify that by stating a sucessful burn is one that will play on my home DVD player. Sure, I've made burns using media that NERO BURNING ROM indicated were successful, only to find out later that they won't play in my home DVD player.

Anyway, here's a list of good and bad media from what I've been able to ascertain:

FUJI DVD+R - NG
TDK DVD+R - NG
COMP USA DVD+R - NG
PHILIPS DVD+RW - GOOD
MEMOREX DVD+RW - GOOD
KHYPERMEDIA DVD+RW - GOOD
HP DVD+RW - GOOD

MEDIA OF CHOICE: KHYPERMEDIA DVD+RW for consistent good burns and price per unit.

CONCLUSION: This DVD burner works extremely well with (again, movies that I can play on my home DVD player) DVD+RW and not DVD-R. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Well, it all depends on the way you look at it. Yes, DVD+RW blank media is more expensive but you can write over it in the event of an error. Yes, DVD+R is less expensive and easier to find in bulk but, once it's written ... it's written.

Here's a bit of advice if you have this player or are thinking about buying it... You can get Khypermedia DVD+RW at a lot of different e-stores for about $15 for a spindle of 10. Sometimes Tigerdirect.com has a pack of 10 with double jewel boxes for the same price.

Now, some added information if you decide to use DVD X-COPY is that I totally bypass the burn feature of this program. Even though in DVD X-COPY there's an advanced button that activates the NERO BURNING ROM engine. Clicking on it and activating the option to burn the DVD using the NERO BURNING ENGINE with UDF Compatibility may work. But I basically use DVD X-COPY as a means to split the DVD movie so that it will fit on two disks and rip the files to my hard drive. I then use NERO BURNING ROM to do the actual burn from the files that DVD X-COPY places on my hard drive. Cumbersome? Yes, but at least I'm getting usable output.

Now this little tidbit of info brings me to the last thing. Although you get some neat software with this bundle of joy, there's one thing missing...utilities. Erasing a DVD+RW, making a data disk, etc. - those kinds of utilities. Listen, go out and buy NERO BURNING ROM (I've been mentioning it throughout this review). I got mine at Costco for $69.99. You'll get all the utilities you can possibly stand, plus you'll get the all important NERO burning engine/or means to burn your DVDs if you're using DVD X-COPY.

By the way, it also works well with burning CDs using MusicMatch. It works just like my old CD-RW drive - no kidding.

Conclusion:

Would I recommend it?
YES, but only if you're technically savvy...if not buy a full retail package. I would have like to have known what media type/brands NEC recommended for this drive.

Is it easy to install?
YES, but be prepared...there's NO instructions should anything go wrong. If you're replacing a drive with this one, just make sure the jumpers on the back of both units match.

Does it work well?
YES, but only after a month of trying different stuff and research, which by the way you now don't have to do; I've done it for you.

Be prepared to invest a little more $$$ into some decent DVD burning software.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 99
Operating System: Windows