HP DVD640i

While CD burning has come a long way since its introduction in the mid-1990s, CD labelling hasn't really got any better. Most of us still use stick-on labels, or the trusty felt-tipped pen, while the lucky ones have CD label printers that will, with a bit of hassle, create a label on to the surface of the disc.

The ideal answer would be to use the same laser that burns data information to the disc's surface to etch a label on to the other side, which is exactly what HP's Lightscribe technology does.

HP has licensed it to other manufacturers but, fittingly, HP's own internal drive is first out of the blocks.

You need to use special Lightscribe media, which is a little more expensive than normal discs. We found compatible CDs and DVDs on sale for around £1 each.

It's not very fast, taking just over 30 minutes to inscribe a graphic onto the top of the disc. Then you have to eject the disc and flip it over when you want to burn the data.

It's not as bright as a stick-on or printed label, but it does look professional. As updated models come out, we hope the speed will improve.

Using HP's own software, which verified the discs after burning, it took 25 minutes to burn a 4x disc and 15 minutes for a 16x disc.

However, using the third-party Nero software, it burned a 16x disc in a reasonable six minutes. It will burn all non-Lightscribe media apart from DVD-RAM.