Digital Journal — Today you can add just about any function to your desktop or notebook PC simply by connecting a new device through a USB port; almost every digital camera, external hard disk and DVD burner uses high-speed USB 2.0 connections (now the standard for data transfer).
With the ability to plug-in and go, the PC is now far more versatile and powerful than the old days. Remember when you had to spend an eternity reading through poorly-written instruction manuals just to install a file off of CD before completely disassembling the computer to find IDE cables to plug in a CD drive? Then you had to play with jumpers and master/slave drives before reassembling. After fiddling with the tiny screws that hold the PC’s case together, you power up the unit just to find out you did something wrong.
But with the advent of high-speed USB, we can now all celebrate the ease of connecting new hard disks and burners. And finally, we have reached a point where external burners can sometimes outperform most pre-installed drives. The HP dvd740e is one such example.
The clumsily named “HP dvd740e DVD R/RW 16x Double-Layer LightScribe Drive” might not sound like anything too cool, but once you’ve taken it for a spin you will likely find this unit has many great features. And its mission is actually very simple: It allows you to burn CDs at speeds of up to 40x, DVDs at up to 16x, then print labels directly onto those discs. No more fiddling with sticky printer labels.
What will likely attract many people to this drive is its relatively new technology called “LightScribe.” Developed by HP, the drive physically burns text and graphics directly onto the surface of a specially coated LightScribe CD or DVD — no adhesive labels needed. In one machine, therefore, you have both a disc burner and labeller.
With the HP dvd740e, simply insert the disc one way to write data, then flip it over and when you’re ready to let the laser write the label. (There’s no required order of events: you can just as easily label a disc first before writing data to it.) The drive comes bundled with Nero software for both burning and labelling.
Although it’s not listed on the box, a sample LightScribe CD was included in the package we got. Because the technology is still new, you might find it difficult to purchase the discs in some smaller retail stores, as many still aren’t carrying the specially-coated discs.
If you manage to find a store with CDs in stock, get ready to shell out a few more bucks than a typical blank CD. Some online retailers in the US and Canada offer 25-packs for about $18 and $39 for a pack of 30 (“>www.bestbuy.com). Prices are a little higher than traditional CDs or DVDs, but LightScribe technology does let you save a couple bucks on ink and labels because you won’t need to use your inkjet printer anymore.
Using the labelling component of the software, we easily applied a background for the disc (using a 3-megapixel photo), added a title and subtitle, then let the drive do its stuff in “Normal” mode. The software also lets you apply an assortment of special effects, but we decided to keep it simple. Once the label is created, the disc is ready to burn.
With the semi-detailed graphics we burned onto the disc, the final burning time was 27 minutes. Indeed, LightScribe drives take an eternity to print compared to regular adhesive labels printed in minutes on an inkjet printer. Also, before you start dreaming of printing fancy colourful masterpieces, note the HP dvd740e only produces monochrome labels. The booklet that shipped with our burner hints that colour is in the works, but for the moment you’re stuck with black and white.
Despite the huge amount of time needed to print a disc, the HP dvd740e does burn very nice images onto the disc. And with the convenience of being able to burn and label discs with one device, the burn time is almost an acceptable compromise.
Users who want to make a good (and non-fading) impression will appreciate the sharp and professional look of these labels. In addition, labels produced on the using LightScribe technology are waterproof — an important advantage over systems using inkjet technology. Printing the label right onto disc can also be safer, as attaching adhesive printed labels onto discs can cause problems on high-speed drives; some CD/DVD burners and players have difficulties with sticker labels because the label causes the disc to spin uncontrollably, thus preventing the PC from being able to read info on the disc.
The dvd740e works pretty much as advertised, and if you’re running Windows XP your system will automatically recognize the HP dvd740e once you plug it in. Insert a CD or DVD, and the bundled Nero software and you will be up and running in no time. Using the Nero software and a 40x CD, we burned a music CD in just over 3 minutes, while a video CD took about 11 minutes.
Indeed, the HP dvd740e is a neat product, but the issue of how much LightScribe and double-layer media will cost (and it’s availability in retail stores) is still outstanding. If you’re interested in double-layer DVDs for extra storage, prepare to pay much more. Staples.com and Staples.ca both offer a Verbatim 10-pack of 2.4x discs for $30 and C$69 respectively.
The HP DVD740e drive retails for about $140 ($189 CDN), and an internal model goes for about $90 ($122 CDN).
