Teac DV-W50DK

Rather than take sides in the DVD format war, Teac has decided to keep a foot in both camps with the DV-W50DK. Capable of burning data to both plus and minus formats, it will instantly appeal to those who don't want to be restricted to just one format.

The drive itself doesn't try anything complicated in terms of its design - a single button to open and close the drive along with an indicator LED is all you get. A decent-sized manual is also on hand to aid installation,

When it comes to write speed, the Teac DV-W50DK lags behind the front-runners a little by offering four-speed +R, while others are capable of eight-speed DVD+R. That said, even the faster drives can still only write DVD-R discs at four-speed, just like this drive. The +RW and -RW speeds of the DV-W50DK are a little disappointing with ratings of 2.4-speed and two-speed respectively. As with most other DVD writers, it has a data buffer of 2MB.

In our tests, the DV-W50DK surprised us a little by taking a whopping 43 minutes to burn 4.7GB to a DVD+RW, while spending 22 minutes to write the same amount of data to a DVD+R. When compared to similar rated drives, it really doesn't compare too well.

As far as the package contents go, you get a good selection of software, including Nero 5.5, Intervideo WinDVD 4 and the digital video-editing package, Pinnacle Studio 8. You also get two discs in the form of a four-speed DVD-R and a CD-R.

If you're after high-speed DVD burning, then you might as well go for one of the eight-speed DVD+R drives that are currently available. However, if you're after a multiformat drive and writing speed doesn't concern you too much, the rather sluggish Teac DV-W50DK is a versatile drive with a decent price.

Contact: Microwarehouse 020 8906 9111
www.teac.co.uk

Specifications:

• 4x DVD+R, 4x DVD-R, 2.4x DVD+RW, 2x DVD-RW
• 16x CD-R, 10x CD-RW
• 12x DVD-Rom, 32x CD-Rom
• 2MB buffer
• Nero 5.5, Intervideo WinDVD 4, Pinnacle Studio 8 SE