See Also
DVD burner links
The main alternatives to DVD burners are CD burners, external hard drives, portable hard drives and USB flash drives.
A 4.7 GB DVD has about 6.7 times the storage capacity of a 700 MB CD. CD burners cost as little as $20, but many are as expensive as DVD burners. If you're an audiophile, you'll prefer the playback and recording quality from a dedicated CD burner that can burn at 1x or 2x. See our report on
For storage,
If you are deciding between a DVD burner for your computer or a DVD recorder for your home entertainment system, consider what you want to do. Computer-based DVD burners are better if you want to edit and record footage from your camcorder to DVD. If you don't really need or want a DVD burner for your computer, but want to convert analog VHS tapes to DVD or record TV programs, you should consider a DVD recorder rather than a DVD burner. DVD recorders use the same format types as DVD burners, but instead of connecting to your computer, they connect to your TV and A/V system. See our separate report on
BurnWorld.com is one of the best sources of information on the Internet for DVD burners. The site offers everything related to burning discs except detailed reviews of burners. It does have product information, software reviews and how-to guides.
DigitalFAQ.com has an exhaustive, regularly updated guide to DVD blank media, ranking different brands and manufacturers of discs. DVD burner owners should be aware that not all media are reliable, since a burner is only as good as the discs it uses.
Many of the sites listed in Our Sources provide up-to-date information about DVD burners as well as good general information.
Manufacturers' websites have detailed specs and product information:



