Hewlett-Packard DVD840E

User Reviews for Hewlett-Packard DVD840E

• Reviewed by: jes1831

  Duration of ownership: 2 Months

  Strengths: Great and easy to use, performs well

  Weaknesses: Lightscribe is S L O W

  Overall Evaluation: Excellent price where most of other drives are.
• Reviewed by: sparksongs

  Duration of ownership:

  Strengths: "Sure Thing" Lightscribe software

  Weaknesses: Lightscribe takes a while (although it's faster than I thought it would be)

  Overall Evaluation: I purchased this item primarily for the Lightscribe feature, in order to make CD's I send out to look more professional. Loading the software was a breeze; in fact, after designing a label in "Sure Thing", I went to "print" the CD-R, the software sent me to the Sure Thing website for an upgrade, which included a desktop icon with detailed instructions on how to print with Lightscribe onto a disc (was nice to have since it would have been trial and error without it). The Lightscribe feature does take a while, but not as long as I thought it would based on other reviews I've read (e.g., I had 3 text boxes and a 1.5" x 1.5" picture and it took 19 minutes to print at "Best " quality). I wanted to try the indexing feature, so I put the disc in again and printed the same label, and it lined-up perfectly and (after another 19 minutes) came out much more detailed. You can do other things on the computer while waiting (I read/sent various e-mails and typed a number of documents during both burns without affecting the Lightscribe printing). I have also burned a couple of CD-R data discs with the Nero software, and it worked fine. Haven't used any DVD-Rs as of yet, as my primary use for this item is CD-Rs. Most of the HP items I have purchased have always worked fine and this is no exception.