Pioneer DVR-112

Pioneer can be called a Pioneer for optical drives, as the firm has always rapidly come to market with new technologies. Examples include Blu-Ray burners BDR-101A and 101ABK (black), which the firm has been offering for a while.

The DVR-112 comes with an UltraATA interface, and it offers up to 18X write speeds for DVD-R and DVD+R, up to 10X write speeds for DVD-R dual-layer discs and fast 18X speeds for DVD+R dual layer. Rewriteables can be written at up to 8X speeds for either standard. DVD-RAM is supported at up to 12X speeds.

The drive isn't as quiet as the LG, but the difference is tolerable. It was the fastest drive to rip an entire 7.52 GB DVD; the process was completed in as little as 10 minutes and 40 seconds. DVD creation time was quick, but the drive took almost 13 seconds to load, spin-up and recognize a disc. LightScribe is not supported, either.