DVD+RW CDRW COMBO DRIVE 2.5X8 DVD+RW 12X10X32 CDRW 4.7GB DVDR review

The DVDRW208 is a DVD+RW (rewritable) drive from Philips, which means it can burn movies or data to DVD+RW media, as well as CD-Rs and CD-RWs. Many standard DVD players will read the DVD+RWs that you can create with this drive, but the Philips DVDRW208 does not support any DVD write-once media, such as the less expensive DVD-Rs or the new DVD+R media. And because Philips plans on releasing a DVD+R-capable drive soon, this otherwise versatile device is doomed. The DVDRW208 is a DVD+RW (rewritable) drive from Philips, which means it can burn movies or data to DVD+RW media, as well as CD-Rs and CD-RWs. Many standard DVD players will read the DVD+RWs that you can create with this drive, but the Philips DVDRW208 does not support any DVD write-once media, such as the less expensive DVD-Rs or the new DVD+R media. And because Philips plans on releasing a DVD+R-capable drive soon, this otherwise versatile device is doomed.

Installation walk-through on CD
Because the printed documentation for the $500 DVDRW208 is astonishingly brief, installation looks a little intimidating at first. But if you pop the included CD into a functioning optical drive on your computer before connecting the DVD+RW drive, everything becomes clear. The CD leads you through the entire process--and includes a video describing how to connect the drive--so even novices should feel comfortable with the process. More printed material would be nice, but the CD contains a detailed manual and other materials that should be sufficient for most users.

Software supply
The Philips drive is compatible with Windows 98, NT 4.0, 2000, Me, and XP, and its software bundle is appropriate for the drive's mission, with one notable exception. You get Sonic Solution's MyDVD, a simple DVD-authoring program, as well as the easy Ahead Nero Burning ROM 5, which is good for both DVD- and CD-writing tasks. You also get CyberLink PowerDVD decoder software for watching DVD movies on your computer. The one hole in the package is the lack of a backup utility; you can use Nero 5 for backups, but it doesn't compare to a full-fledged backup application.

In CNET Labs' tests, the Philips DVDRW208 was faster than the Panasonic LF-D321U DVD burner in our movie-write test and one of our read tests, but it was a bit slower in the other write and read benchmarks. The differences weren't significant enough to give either drive an advantage, though.

Two roads diverged in a wood
The Philips and Panasonic drives diverge in terms of the media they support. The Philips DVDRW208 reads all common CD formats, and unlike the Panasonic drive, it can also write to inexpensive CD-Rs and CD-RWs. If you need more capacity than CDs offer, you can use the 4.7GB DVD+RWs--at a pricey $15 each--to archive large chunks of the multigigabyte hard drives that are common on most computer systems these days. And because the media is rewritable, you can easily write over the old data when it changes.