They're doing it to us again!

When industry first gave birth to recordable DVDs, we ---- the consumers --- were hit with a list of incompatible standards (DVD-RAM, +R, -R, etc., etc. etc.) from various manufacturers, all proclaiming their dominance in the industry.

Well, guess what? We're in for another bumpy ride down the multiple standard highway.

This time it's double layer (+R) and dual layer (-R).

Each allow you to record 8.4 gigabytes of data on one DVD, both will work in most DVD players and both have their loyal following. But, just as the previous morass of confusion was overcome with the advent of multi-standard DVD recorders, this battle has become moot due to the actions of at least one hardware manufacturer.

The folks at Sony have introduced a DVD writer that can record to --- and read from --- both dual formats in addition to all of the other DVD and CD standards.

The recently upgraded Sony DRX810UL DVD/CD Rewritable Drive ($199.99) handles all of these formats without complaining. There is also an internal model, the DRU-810A ($150).

The only distinction it makes is in its ability to write faster to double layer discs than those that are dual-layered.

Other features of the drive include:

• The ability to connect to your computer using I-Link (more affectionately known as firewire) or the faster USB 2.0 ports on your computer.
• An extensive suite of software from Nero, including Nero Burning ROM 6 SE, Nero Vision Express 2, Nero InCD 4, Nero ShowTime, Nero PhotoSnap, Nero MediaHome, Nero BackItUp, Nero Recode3, Nero MediaPlayer/Wave Editor, Nero Cover Designer, and the Nero Toolkit.
• The ability to read from and write to every CD and DVD format known to mankind.
• Compatibility with Windows 2000 and Windows XP.
• The ability to record to writeable CDs at 48X and rewritable media at 32X.
• Speed capabilities of up to 16X when recording standard +R or -R DVDs, 8x for DVD+RW and 6X for DVD-RW.
• Discs with 8.5 gigabytes of storage capacity that can hold up to four hours of MPEG-2 video, 17,000 digital images, or 2,000 songs.
• Sony Power Burn technology and a 2 megabyte buffer pretty that much guarantee error-free recording.

The only thing that's missing is the ability to use LightScribe technology, which allows you to write labels directly to the discs.

For more information check out www.sony.com.

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