Nero 7 Premium Reloaded adds mostly esoteric features to regular disc burning.

Refocusing on disc-related features makes Nero the top choice for optical disc authoring.

A convenient all-in-one media package, but many of the applications can be had for nothing elsewhere

Nero's backup solution combines simplicity with more advanced features, though rival products offer more for less

Combines simplicity with more advanced backup features, but rival products offer more for less.

Some substantial new abilities, including support for the new wave of high definition optical discs.

Always the enthusiasts favourite optical drive, Lite-On delivers as expected with its new range.

A little slower than its 12x and 16x counterparts, this is another DVD-RAM supportive drive and it ships with three RAM discs and a copy of Nero Express to have you up and burning right out of the box.

The future of storage is expensive, for now. That aside, how do Blu Ray drives compare to DVD drives?

Much more efficient at reading CDs than writing them, Optorite took second place in our read tests, pipped by the Imation by a mere three seconds.

Samsung’s claim to fame with this drive is it’s slightly above average value for money score; priced at just $199 it represents good value and was only beaten by both award winners the Mitsubishi and Optorite for cost.

The AOpen DRW4410 performed on average in both performance and features, dropping a few positions given its rather expensive price tag for a single format writer.

Every once in a while, we receive a PC for review thats an absolute pleasure to use, offering stunning quality and bucketloads of performance. XENONs Atomic 625 is all this and more.

The WAITEC Clipp represents an interesting fusion of technology, and has the distinction of being the first portable MP3 player that also doubles as a 4x CD writer.

Lite-On’s DVD writer was our A-List choice for almost a year. At the time we said it was practically perfect – offering compatibility with every format, plus Lightscribe, for a bargain price. But Asus has managed to trump it.

Despite sitting in third place for write speeds and fourth overall for the read portion of our testing, this drive has a couple of trump cards up its sleeves.

AVCHD support and some useful new effects keep this as the leading entry-level video editor.

Although lacking the additional functions of some of the more expensive burners such as the ability to write at the faster 16-speed, burn DVD-RAM or pack 8.5GB onto a single dual layer disc - what the Optorite does is provide all the basic DVD plus and minus burning you’re likely to need without having to fork over a sizable fistful of cash to do it.

One of the plainer drives, it lacks a front audio adjustment dial or headphone socket, but does deliver on fast CD writing without too much damage to your wallet.

Making it into the sub $500 price category, Pioneer offers a very competitive unit in its DVR-A06P DVD writer, supplied with a single -R and -RW disc and an excellent software package.