Microsoft Windows XP DVD Drives

The Bottom Line: The Plextor PX-608CU portable DVD burner is a great match for users who have a laptop without a built-in DVD burner; we just don't know who that might be.

Specs: DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM, 24x (CD) / 8x (DVD), 24x (CD) / 8x (DVD±R) / 4x (DVD±R DL), 24x (CD) / 6x (DVD-RW) / 8x (DVD+RW) / 5x (DVD-RAM)

The Bottom Line: The LaCie d2 Blu-ray burner offers good performance speeds, but it's still prohibitively expensive. Home users should wait for Blu-ray burners to drop in price and improve in performance.

Specs: BD-RE, 32x (CD) / 8x (DVD) / 2x (BD), 24x (CD) / 8x (DVD±R) / 4x (DVD±R DL) / 2x (BD-R) / 2x (BD-R DL), 16x (CD) / 6x (DVD-RW) / 8x (DVD+RW) / 2x (BD-RE) / 2x (BD-RE DL)

The Bottom Line: The Sony BWU-100A Blu-ray burner is still priced out of range for most users, but if you have $700 to spare, it's a good choice for its range of media support and acceptable task speeds.

Specs: BD-RE, 32x (CD) / 8x (DVD) / 2x (BD), 24x (CD) / 8x (DVD±R) / 4x (DVD±R DL) / 2x (BD-R), 16x (CD) / 6x (DVD-RW) / 8x (DVD+RW) / 5x (DVD-RAM) / 2x (BD-RE)

The Bottom Line: The Plextor PX-740UF is a sturdy drive that performs beautifully, but it's expensive.

Specs: DVD±RW (±R DL), 48x (CD) / 16x (DVD), 48x (CD) / 16x (DVD±R) / 4x (DVD-R DL) / 8x (DVD+R DL), 32x (CD) / 6x (DVD-RW) / 8x (DVD+RW)

The Bottom Line: The LaCie d2 DVD+/-RW FireWire and USB 2.0 (16X/8X/4X/2.4X) with LightScribe is an average external drive at an average price.

Specs: DVD±RW (+R DL), 40x (CD) / 16x (DVD), 40x (CD) / 8x (DVD-R) / 16x (DVD+R) / 2.4x (DVD+R DL), 24x (CD) / 4x (DVD±RW)

The Bottom Line: The Asus DRW-1608P is a steal: good overall performance at a low price.

Specs: DVD±RW (±R DL), 40x (CD) / 16x (DVD), 40x (CD) / 16x (DVD±R) / 6x (DVD±R DL), 24x (CD) / 6x (DVD-RW) / 8x (DVD+RW)

The Bottom Line: The Asus DRW-1608P is a steal: good overall performance at a low price.

Specs: DVD±RW (±R DL), 40x (CD) / 16x (DVD), 40x (CD) / 16x (DVD±R) / 6x (DVD±R DL), 24x (CD) / 6x (DVD-RW) / 8x (DVD+RW)

The Bottom Line: The Asus DRW-1608P is a steal: good overall performance at a low price.

Specs: DVD±RW (±R DL), 40x (CD) / 16x (DVD), 40x (CD) / 16x (DVD±R) / 6x (DVD±R DL), 24x (CD) / 6x (DVD-RW) / 8x (DVD+RW)

The Bottom Line: This double-layer drive is versatile but is easily outpaced by other external DVD drives.

Specs: DVD±RW (+R DL), 40x (CD) / 8x (DVD), 40x (CD) / 8x (DVD-R) / 12x (DVD+R) / 4x (DVD+R DL), 24x (CD) / 4x (DVD±RW)

The Bottom Line: The Asus DRW-1604P's generally slow performance scores overshadow its fast double-layer burning.

Specs: DVD±RW (+R DL), 40x (CD) / 16x (DVD), 32x (CD) / 16x (DVD±R) / 4x (DVD+R DL), 24x (CD) / 4x (DVD±RW)