A manufacturer to be reckoned with in this marketplace, Philips was one of the first to offer a recorder equipped with LightScribe technology. The latest product in their lineup is the DVD-16LS; the core of this recorder is powered by Philips' own components, notably the LighScribe-compatible PNX7860E chip.

Even though the DVDR-16LS has the latest generation chipset, it still doesn't deliver the highest performance. DVD+R disks are recorded effectively at 16X while DVD+RW performance only manages 4X. On the DVD-R and DVD-RW side, the effective speeds are 8X and 4X, respectively. Like the other units, double layer recording is even more of a problem at 2.4X; we have to say that 45 minutes to record 8.5 GB is verging on unacceptable. For data backups it's better to use two 4.5G DVD+R disks, at 12 minutes total. DVD-RW and DVD+RW are quicker but compatible media are still in short supply. At 4X, you're looking at 14 minutes 30 seconds for a DVD+RW and a little over 15 minutes for DVD-RW.

This Philips model ships with a series of recording optimization techniques that help avoid write errors. Among these are Seamless Link (which prevents buffer underflows) and TBW (Thermo-Balanced Writing). This latter technology analyzes disk quality and adapts the recording speed to reduce the number of write errors.

With this product, Philips nudges ahead of the competition. The DVDR-16LS also comes with three blank LightScribe-compatible CDs, so you can have the pleasure of silk-screen labeling straight away, without having to run back to the shop for a box of blanks. Labeling at full contrast takes a little over 28 minutes and the results are excellent. Formatting the label uses the bundled Nero Burning ROM. In addition, Philips also provides Nero Vision Express 2, Nero Showtime and Nero Recode.