The release of the Pioneer 108 is a milestone in DVD writing.

The features of the drive will leave you full of anticipation.

While DVDR recording speeds have previously edged slowly up, the Pioneer 108 brings us a giant leap with a drive being capable of 16x DVD writing to both the DVD-R and DVD+R formats. It also is capable of writing to CDR at 32x. DVDRW and CDRW writing is naturally also supported.

Compatibility with 8.5GB Double Layer media is included. This is the first Pioneer DVD writer that can write to Double Layer media.

Pioneer have added a number of new technologies to this new drive to make it write with greater accuracy and precision giving our customers the highest possible success rate in writing DVDR discs. The drive has been designed to cope better with media which may be slightly warped or unbalanced so whether you are writing at 2x or 16x you are less likely to run into any problems.

Until such time as 16x media is available (expected October 2004) Pioneer tell us that16x write speeds can be achieved on selected 8x speed DVD-R/+R media. We are awaiting their advice on this matter. All of our current range of DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW and CDR/RW media should function perfectly with this DVD writer.

4x Double Layer media is not expected to be available until January 2005. Until then Pioneer tell us that 4x write speeds can be achieved on selected +R 2.4x Double Layer media. We are awaiting their advice on this matter.

This item is sold as a bare drive. No cables, installation screws or software is included.

This drive is very new technology (only being released in August 2004), so you may need to update your DVDR writing software to include compatibility with your new drive.

We offer some options for software below.

ahem, my comments merely reflect the quality of the 105, and the consistant review scores.

Your enjoyment may not reflect spud, his subsiduries, or share holders

@ohgo, philips make good burners? I've never bothered to look at them because they always struck me as an average hardware maker... which burner were you holding out for?

you have to know that the DVR-108 is really a 12x burner that only got stamped 16x because Pioneer marketing insisted on it. In all, the drive must burn less than 300 MB of data at 16x

NEC are always on the forefront of DVD Writing technology.

As well as being a 16x DVD+R/DVD-R writer it is also capable of writing CDR at 48x. DVDRW at 4x and CDRW at 24x is also supported.

Compatibility with 8.5GB Double Layer media is included at 4x

NEC have maximized the speed of this drive by using a write strategy that maintains the highest writing speed possible for longer. (Known as CAV) This means that this 16x DVD writer is actually faster than some other 16x DVD writers!

Speed is no good without accuracy so you will be pleased to know that initial reviews show that the NEC writer produces good accurate DVD and CD writing results on a wide range of different brands of media.

The previous DVD writers from NEC have been award winners (the 2500 and 2510 models) and have been responsible for converting many customers who had previously used other brands over to NEC. NEC are aiming to build on this by offering a machine that they claim is as fast and accurate as any drive available at a price that they believe makes this drive irresistible.

Until such time as 16x media is available (expected October 2004) NEC tell us that 16x write speeds can be achieved on selected 8x/12x speed DVD-R/+R media. We are awaiting their advice on this matter.

All of our current range of DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW and CDR/RW media should function perfectly with this DVD writer.

4x Double Layer media is not expected to be available until January 2005. Until then NEC tell us that 4x write speeds can be achieved on Verbatim +R 2.4x Double Layer media.