Plextor PX-716UF

As recordable DVD drives go, this is probably the most whizzbang external device around. It can copy any kind of DVD disc worth worrying about and do it fast - just over 20 minutes at 16-speed in this case.

It can write to single-layer recordable and rewritable DVDs in both plus (+) and minus (-) formats as well as the new DVD+R dual-layer discs, which can hold 8.5Gb of data. This capacity is twice as much as normal DVD discs but will take twice as long to burn, at around 40 mins.

The drive can connect to a PC using either FireWire or USB 2. Both are about as quick as each other, so don't worry that much about choosing which socket to use. Either way, set-up simply requires plugging your preferred cable into the PC and letting Windows XP do the rest.

The drive comes with all the software you need for making, playing and burning DVDs. The downside is the price and most internal drives are much cheaper.

Contact:
Plextor (no UK number)
www.plextor.be