HP Dvd640i
The inventor of LightScribe, HP is offering ever more of its own PC packages with this technology integrated. Built around the same Nexperia chip, they provide essentially the same features as both Philips and BenQ.
Recording performance is basically similar as well. There is a slight but noticeable slowdown in the HP model but only of the order of a few seconds. Recording a DVD+R takes a little more than 6 minutes, while for DVD-R, we clocked 5 minutes 58 seconds. Recording on re-recordable DVDs is limited, as always, to 4X; about a quarter of an hour will get you a full DVD+RW. Just like other models, double layer recording is where things get slow, with 45 minutes 59 seconds needed to wrap up an 8.5 GB DVD. That's a really long time compared to non-LightScribe products.
For the LightScribe labeling portion, the time required is roughly equal to that of the BenQ, taking a little less than 28 minutes for the highest quality setting. On the other hand, different software is provided: ArcSoft ShowBiz for video editing, Sonic RecordNow for file backup, CyberLink PowerDVD for DVD video playback and SureThing for LightScribe labeling. It's a different suite, but just as good.
