Computer graphic in movie

HP DVD drive more than just show business: the Movie Writer includes great software, but it is more ideal as an IDE alternative. The drive is also suitable

I am sure a lot of struggling IT managers and resellers fancy themselves to be the next Steven Spielberg and with Hewlett-Packard's latest DVD drive--the Movie Writer--they can.

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And while they can legally reproduce the next Casablanca they can also solve a lot of the company's archival and back-up issues affordably.

The HP DVD Movie Writer, housed in a cool-looking silver case, quickly transfers home videos directly to DVD/R or DVD/RW. But the product can do more, such as store photos, and company data on long-lasting DVDs.

It is this application that really makes sense to businesses in the creative or design field, where some files take up huge amounts of hard disk space. Those files can easily be transferred on to DVD disks and can be quickly retrieved with the HP Movie Writer.

The key feature with this product is its double-layer recording technology. It enables users to record almost twice as much video and data as a regular singlelayer DVD. This, again, can be helpful to graphic arts professionals in need of storage for digital art or advertising projects.

The DVD Movie Writer drive comes with several pieces of software for various tasks such as creating a movie or storing data. The video capture feature is very convenient for converting video tape movies to DVD. It also has a neat onepush hot button that does all of this for you. Now you can throw out your old, thick VHS tapes and use the shelf space for DVDs.

There are only two negatives with this product. It only supports the DVD/R format unlike other devices, which support different formats. The device supports USB 1.0 and 2.0, but was designed to take advantage of USB 2.0. This can sometimes degrade the performance and create bandwidth issues causing errors during long copying tests.

Before you buy, you should consult with a reseller. He can help you figure out if your PC has enough computing speed, RAM and hard disk space. The Movie Writer requires a lot of CPU resources, RAM and disk capacity.

It took approximately 30 minutes to install all the drivers and the software. There are specific instructions you must follow for proper configuration. This along with the quick step guide enables you to start archiving data and video right away.

For $229, the price tag may be a bit high for what it does. The software included was great, but this device would be ideal as an IDE alternative.

The HP DVD Movie Writer comes with a one-year limited hardware and software warranty.