HP DVD840E Super Multi DVD Writer

Features of the HP DVD840E Super Multi DVD Writer

The biggest feature of the HP DVD840E Super Multi DVD Writer is its ability to burn to all the major DVD and CD formats available.

Write Speeds
• DVD+R up to 16X (CAV)
• DVD+RW up to 8X (ZCLV)
• DVD-R up to 16X (CAV)
• DVD-RW up to 6X (ZCLV)
• DVD+R Double Layer up to 8X (ZCLV)
• DVD-R Dual Layer up to 4X (CLV)
• CD-R up to 40x (CAV)
• CD-RW up to 32x (ZCAV)

Rewrite Speed
• 8x DVD+RW
• 6x DVD-RW
• 32x CD-RW

Read Speed
• CD-ROM up to 40x
• DVD-ROM up to 16x

Media Compatibility
• CD-R
• CD-RW
• DVD+R
• DVD+R DL
• DVD+RW
• DVD-R
• DVD-R DL
• DVD-RW
• LightScribe CD-R
• LightScribe DVD+R media
• 4.7 GB single-sided/9.4 GB double-sided DVD-RAM (2.6 GB single-sided/5.2 GB double-sided media not supported)

Device Read Media Compatibility:
• DVD-ROM
• DVD+R
• DVD+R DL
• DVD+RW
• DVD-R
• DVD-R DL
• DVD-RW
• DVD-Video
• 4.7 GB single-sided /9.4 GB double-sided DVD-RAM (2.6 GB single-sided/5.2 GB double-sided media not supported)
• CD-R
• CD-RW
• CD-DA
• CD Extra
• CD-ROM (Mode 1 - Yellow Book)
• CD-ROM/XA & CD-I Ready (Mode 2/Form 2 ? Green Book)
• Photo-CD (single and multi-session)
• VCD
• CD-Text

HP also includes a nice software suite with the HP DVD840E Super Multi DVD Writer. The suite is the Nero Software Suite containing software for DVD authoring, writing and editing as well as backup. Since the HP drive is Lightscribe capable, SureThing is included for design and set up of the Lightscribe labels. CyberLink PowerDVD is included as well for movie playback.

System Requirements:
• Windows XP/2000 Professional SP4
• Windows Professional x64 edition
• Windows Server 2003
• 800MHz Pentium III processor or equivalent
• 1.6GHz Intel Pentium IV processor or equivalent recommended
• 128MB RAM (256 MB recommended for video editing)
• Hard disk space: 1GB free for included software, 10GB for DVD creation (18GB free for double layer)
• 1024 x 768 video resolution with a minimum of 16-bit color required for DVD authoring and editing
• USB 2.0 interface and available port on PC

HP DVD840E Super Multi DVD Writer in Use

I tested the HP DVD840E Super Multi DVD Writer on my test system with the following specs:

• CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+
• Mainboard: M2N32-SLI Deluxe
• RAM: OCZ PC5300 DDR2 2x 1GB
• Graphics Card: XFX 7950 GX2 XXX
• PSU: PC Power & Cooling 1KW
• OS: Windows XP Pro SP2

Installation of the HP DVD840E Super Multi DVD Writer was very easy as was the initial set up. Setting up the drive required simply placing it into the vertical stand, plugging in the power cord to the drive and the wall and finding a vacant USB port on the mainboard. No drivers were required and Windows XP recognized the drive without issue.

HP used a smaller case than some of the external DVD drives around, which is great. It requires less room than the LaCie D2 drive I reviewed previously. The case is an attractive grey-black color. While the drive is recognized in the device manager as an HP drive, the power brick is labeled Light-on so it appears HP merely used their own case and Light-on's drive for the HP DVD840E Super Multi DVD Writer. Nothing wrong with that, Lite-On makes some of the best drives around for certain.

For the hands on testing with the drive I used Memorex media and burned one of each compatible disk format the HP could handle and recorded the time. The test files were the same for each disk, but had more content for the DVD drives. File types were assorted form Jpeg images to Word documents and programs. The burning application I used was Nero 7 Ultra.

The test results were as follows:

• CD-R: 584MB file in 2:53 at 40x
• CD-RW: 584MB file in 3:37 at 24x
• Lightscribe Label: Text Only Date and Label at best quality in 2:54
• DVD+RW: file size 3.5GB at 8x in 8:56 with format of disk
• DVD+R: 3.5GB file at 12x in 5:53
• DVD-R: 3.5GB at 4x in 13:08
• DVD-RW: 3.5GB file at 2x in 24:00
• DVD+R DL: 7.3GB file at 2.4x in 41:15

None of the disks had any problems with the HP DVD840E Super Multi DVD Writer. Everything was flawless and all disks turned out with no errors and playback was perfect. Overall, the HP drive is an excellent DVD/CD burner that will be great for backing up data as well as making movie and music disks. The only real problem I had with the drive was the short USB cable. The included cable is only about three feet long, a nice six foot cable would have been welcome. Otherwise, no problems were noted with the HP drive.