Go for the burn

We've already looked at editing DV home movie footage in our Lights! Camcorder! Action! feature. And soon we'll be focusing on how to burn a DVD as we round off this topic. But what if your computer doesn't have a DVD writer?

If you're handy with a screwdriver, you can open up the PC's case and install a new DVD burner. But if you're not keen to do that, or if you're using a notebook computer, an external DVD drive that hooks up to the computer through the USB or FireWire port is a good alternative.

Whether you're making home movies or have large amounts of data that need to be backed up, DVD burners are becoming increasingly essential for computer users. In this feature we'll be looking at six external DVD writers available on the market today.

At the double
Most recordable DVDs are single-layer discs; in other words, there is only one recordable surface on the disc to which data can be written by the DVD writer.

Dual-layer discs have two writing surfaces available, which effectively doubles the storage capacity. Newer DVD drives, including the Freecom, Iomega, Lite-On and Sony drives in the test below, can create dual-layer discs.

A dual-layer disc will store up to 8.5GB of data (or 240 minutes of high-quality video) compared with the 4.7GB (120 minutes of video) that a standard disc will store.

Bear in mind that blank dual-layer discs are currently much more expensive than standard writeable DVD media. At the time of going to press, a pack of five blank dual-layer DVDs from Dabs.com would have set you back £47, just over £9 per disc.

You should also be aware that some discs may not play back or record in older players or DVD recorders. These are few and far between, however, and most dual-layer discs will play normally in most DVD drives.

Do bear in mind that occasionally a manufacturer will change the drive inside the casing of an external drive, according to their supplies. DVD writing speeds can also change depending on the media used.

We used a selection of manufacturers in our tests to gain an overall picture. All the drives here will, of course, read all types of CD and DVD, and read and write recordable CDs.

LaCie DVD+/-RW Double Layer
www.lacie.com/uk

LaCie proudly proclaims that this drive is "designed by FA Porsche". It certainly is a stylish unit, with a brushed grey exterior and rounded edges. It's pretty chunky though, and the drop-down flap at the front, which exposes the controls on the internal DVD drive, gives it a somewhat plastic feel.

The drive comes with a power supply, a USB 2 cable and a blank DVD-R. You also get a copy of Roxio's Easy CD & DVD Creator, as well as Easy Media Creator.

It's easy to set up: there are just two sockets on the back, one for the power cable and the other for the USB cable. A well-designed set-up booklet guides you through the process of connecting it to a PC. If you're running Windows XP on your computer, the operating system should recognise the drive without the need for any user intervention.

Drivers for Windows 98 are included on a CD in the box. This is a dual-layer drive, which means that, given special discs, it can burn twice as much data onto a disc as a normal drive.

It is an 8-speed drive, which means it can write DVD-Rs and DVD+Rs at eight times the normal speed (or four times the speed for DVD-RW and DVD+RW discs). In theory, it should take just over seven minutes to write a full disc, but in practice it was slightly slower.

The drive burned data at 6.8-speed, taking eight and a half minutes. Writing dual-layer discs was slower, with the drive matching LaCie's claimed 2.4 speed, or 24 minutes, to write a full disc. However, as the cheapest drive on test here, it represents very good value.

Freecom FX-50
www.freecom.com

Freecom's FX-50 drive can use either USB 2 or FireWire to connect to a PC. As with all the other drives here, simply connect it to a PC and Windows XP will automatically recognise it.

It comes with a power adapter, USB cable, two FireWire cables and a copy of Roxio Easy Media Creator, which allows you to burn the dual-layer discs the FX-50 is capable of creating, and DVDMAX software for viewing DVD films. Drivers for Windows 98 are included and you also get a CD-R and a DVD+R (single layer) so you can start burning discs straight away.

The FX-50 has two FireWire ports on the back of the case so you can link more than one burner together. This means that if you have another FireWire device (a video camera, say), and only one FireWire port on the PC, you can plug the drive into the port on the PC and plug the camera into the spare socket on the back of the drive.

It's an 8-speed drive, so it should burn a full DVD+R or DVD-R in around seven minutes. In fact, it is based on the same internal drive as the LaCie, and managed an unspectacular 6.8-speed in testing, taking eight-and-a-half minutes to burn a full disc. Like the LaCie, it took a respectable 24 minutes to write a dual-layer disc.

Its see-through, greenish-grey case may not be to everyone's taste, but it fits in neatly with current PC styling and comes with a two-year warranty and free helpdesk support.

Sony DRX-700UL
www.sony.co.uk

Like the Freecom, Sony's DRX-700UL has both FireWire and USB 2 sockets, to give you a choice of connections. In the box you get a FireWire cable and a USB cable, a power adapter and cable, and a disc containing the Nero software suite.

On the disc you'll find Nero BackItUp and InCD for backing up files and specialist writing tasks, and Nero Burning ROM SE for general CD and DVD burning. There is also ShowTime, MediaPlayer and Vision Express for playing and creating DVDs.

The drive is automatically recognised by Windows XP as soon as you plug it into the computer but there are no drivers available for Windows 98. The USB interface provides slightly faster data transfer than the FireWire but because both are faster than the speed at which the DVD burner can actually create the discs, you won't notice a performance difference between the two types of connection.

The drive was fairly fast, taking slightly over eight minutes to create a full DVD, an equivalent speed of 7.2-speed. It burned a dual-layer disc in 24-and-a-half minutes, which is similar to the other drives on test.

As for its appearance, the brushed metal case is smart and appealing and the drive can work standing on its side. Sony has provided a clear plastic stand with the drive to make it safer to balance.

HP DVD420e
www.hp.co.uk

The DVD420e from HP is another drive with USB and FireWire connections. Unlike the others, this one has a switch on the back so that either the USB port or the FireWire port is covered. Although it makes sense, because you can?t connect the drive to a PC using both types of socket at once, this is a slightly annoying feature. It does keep the unused port dust-free, though.

As with the other FireWire drives, it has two FireWire sockets so you can connect more than one FireWire device to the computer even if there is only one socket on the PC.

The DVD420e comes with software and manuals, a USB 2 cable, a FireWire cable and a blank DVD. The bundled software is ArcSoft Showbiz, for video editing and burning videos to disc, PhotoBase for picture organising and editing, PowerDVD for watching DVD films, and Sonic RecordNow, which lets you burn all kinds of discs.

But the drive's performance was underwhelming, creating a disc at 6.8-speed, (eight and a half minutes). This is a single-layer burner, which means it will only burn standard 4.7GB DVDs. Beware that there are no drivers for Windows 98.

Iomega Super DVD Writer 12x
www.iomega-europe.com

The Iomega Super DVD Writer 12x is another dual-layer drive, which connects to the PC via a USB port. It is a bit chunkier than the other drives here, but the rounded styling looks better than the angular edges of some of the other drives.

In the box you get a power adapter and USB cable, and a software package that includes Iomega?s own HotBurn Pro, Automatic Backup and DVD Wizard programs. It also comes with MyDVD, KinePlayer, MusicMatch and Adobe Photoshop Album, for image editing and archiving.

A manual is included, with a quick install guide. This is the fastest drive on test, rated at 12-speed, meaning it should burn a full disc in just under five minutes. With discs rated to burn at 8-speed, it managed a very competent 7.8-speed, taking just under seven and a half minutes to burn a full DVD.

With the harder-to-find 12-speed discs, it flies along. It is on the expensive side, but it is a good overall performer.

Lite-On SOHW-832SX
www.liteon.com

Lite-On's SOHW-832SX is another dual-layer drive. It has a relatively small footprint, which may be appealing if you are short of space, but its boxy, functional design is nothing to write home about. On the back panel there's just a USB 2 port and the power socket. You don't have the option to connect it to a PC using FireWire.

There is a plastic stand in the box so you can stand the drive on its side. Again, the Lite-On is an 8-speed drive, so it should burn a full disc in just over seven minutes. In testing, it was close to that speed when writing DVD-Rs, managing 7.6-speed and creating a full disc in just under eight minutes.

With DVD-R media it was slower, only managing 6.8-speed, which meant that it took around eight-and-a-half minutes to burn a full disc. When burning dual-layer discs, the drive was just a tiny bit slower than the quoted speed of 2.4, taking just under 25 minutes to burn the full 8.5GB disc.

Inside the box you get a USB cable and power supply, a quick install guide, and DVD creation and playback software. It also comes with a floppy disk with the Windows 98 USB driver on it and a CD with the drivers, which is a thoughtful gesture for those that aren't using Windows XP and don't already have an optical drive on their computer.

The write stuff
A DVD burner will increase your computer's storage capacity almost without limit; the only question is how many discs you want to buy. External drives open up these possibilities to those of us who can't or don't want to open up our computer's case.

If you're using a notebook computer, external drives represent almost the only upgrade option as far as disc creation is concerned, unless you are happy to stick with the notebook computer manufacturer's standard replacement drive, if one is available.

Of the drives we have looked at, the Lite-On offers the best combination of value and features. It is one of the cheaper drives and, as well as being compact, made fast work of writing data to disc in our tests.

Admittedly, it is boxy and chunky-looking compared to some of the others here, but unless it's going to be located in a prominent place in your home that shouldn't be a big problem.

The Iomega drive is also an excellent performer but isn't cheap, whereas the LaCie, although slower, is a bargain if you're not worried about having the fastest speeds.