We build a tower of cup coasters so that you can make an informed purchase: Join us as we take a closer look at four dual-layer DVD burners to compare their performance, features, bundled software, and overall value. With Toshiba's new HD-DVD player feeling like a late beta release with a scant list of available titles including such hits as Swordfish and Training Day, maybe you're not quite ready to jump on the bandwagon for your next-generation DVD format of choice just yet. HD-DVD and Blu-Ray burners are even more distant on the horizon, and that's not including the time it'll take for drive and media prices to come down from the stratosphere.

For now, your best bet for burning optical media to share and store movies, music, photos, and data is still our old friend, the garden-variety digital versatile disc. The new crop of burners are capable of writing dual-layer DVD+R discs at 8x for well under $100 and 10x for a bit more. With abundant choices in blank media (DVD+/-R, DVD+/-RW, DVD-RAM, CD-R, CD-RW, etc.), you'll have plenty of options for your specific application and budget.

Today we're going to look at four dual-layer DVD burners from HP, Lite-On, and Plextor. We'll be using the same testing methodology as Loyd's roundup of six dual-layer burners from early last year when 4x dual-layer burners were just starting to trickle in.

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