As most PC users are aware, there are two main formats for burning DVDs: DVD-R and DVD+R. These are used by different manufacturers, and use slightly different technology.

Apart from causing confusion for customers, there hasn't been a great deal of difference between the two, and most capable drives will burn and read both kinds of disc.

Until now, however, the faster 16x burners would only work at that speed with DVD+R media. Sony's DRU-720A is one of the first to work at 16x with DVD-R discs.

The drive will also burn DVD-RW and DVD+RW as well as DVD+R dual-layer discs (which can store 8.5Gb compared with 4.7Gb on normal discs), and CD-R and CD-RW discs.

As you might expect from Sony, the drive is distinctive looking, with a clear plastic half-front plate mounted on the bezel on the front of the drive tray. There is a black bezel in the box for those who want to colour coordinate their PCs.

It's also a bit shorter than most drives, making for easier fitting in small PCs. This doesn't make much difference to the drive's performance, which is good. It burned 16x versions of both types of disc in around six minutes, which is a little bit slower than we were expecting, but is still a good performance.

Contact:
Sony 0870 160 9503
www.sony.co.uk