As DVD starts gaining ground on CD burning as the optical storage method of choice, 4.7GB DVD has some competition at the hands of the newer 8.5GB dual layer format.

But it's going to take some time as DL is still limited by the high cost of media, slow burn times and more expensive drives. The DVR-A08XL is Pioneer's attempt to get the ball rolling, which features a 4x DVD+DL burn speed (on supported media).

This is also the first burner we've had through our Labs to write both flavours of plus and minus DVD writable media at 16x. Pioneer's ZoneCLV technology however means you'll only write a third of the disc at 16x, as media is stabilised before notching up to the next speed increment.

As well as the standard Nero 6 OEM software, the bundle includes Ulead's DVD MovieFactory 3.5 SE, DVD Workshop 2 SE and a single DVD-R and DVD-RW - everything you'll need to burn right out of the box. The software bundle also includes the AC3 audio encoder as well as video tutorials on the included applications showing you how to use all the features.

Pioneer has kept it attractive and functional, employing a unique honeycomb style pattern on the top of the chassis, giving it greater structural integrity and reducing the amount of vibration noise produced while in operation. Also changed is the optical pickup structure, allowing for better writing of non-standard, inconsistently thick or thin media.

We were able to write a full single layer DVD disc at 16x (22,160KB/s) in just over seven minutes - about 10 seconds faster than the 12x drives currently available due to the ZoneCLV writing method. The DRV-A08 shines when it comes to dual layer, burning a sample disc in just 26 minutes, which is nearly half the time of other DL drives we've tested.

Overall, the cracking software bundle, easy firmware upgradeability and faster DVD burning make this an impressive drive. Those users after bulk storage and features need look no further, but at this early stage you might find supported media a challenge to track down.