Add high-definition reading and writing capabilities to your PC with a Blu-ray drive, or save money with a plain DVD 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.

As well as being the first company to launch EIDE DVD burners into the mainstream IT marketplace, Pioneer is the company behind DVD-R and DVD-RW recordable media formats. In the last couple of years, it has fought hard to stave off competition from Philips' rival standard, DVD+RW, and until recently buying a DVD recorder meant locking yourself into one standard over the other.

Blu-ray takes another tentative step towards the mass market, but is now the time to buy?

Cheaper, rather than cheap, but there’s still no compelling reason to buy yet.

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.

One new drive, three subtle variations, all the optical drive you'll want from the current generation.

Sold as an OEM drive, the NEC ND-1300A lacks packaging, writable media or anything in the way of included software, yet rated quite well in our performance testing and comes in at a reasonable price of $400.

A bargain route to getting HD DVD playback for your PC or Xbox, but there are limitations.

LG’s dual-format drive is ideal for those who invested in HD-DVD before Blu-ray romped to victory in the HD wars.