Today CDRLabs brings you a review of OptoRite's new 8x DVD±RW drive, the DD0401. While affordably priced, this new drive features some of the fastest reading and writing speeds available. The DD0401 is capable of 8x DVD+R, 4x DVD-R/DVD+R and 2x DVD-RW writing speeds and has a maximum DVD read speed of 12x. Of course, fast DVD writing speeds aren't the only thing OptoRite's new drive offers. The DD0401 also has features like 40x CD reading and writing speeds as well as support for technologies like BURN-Proof and HD-Burn. Here's a snippet from the review:

When writing to DVD-R, DVD+RW and DVD-RW media, the DD0401's performance was on par with the other 8x DVD±RW drives we've tested. In most cases, the writing times differed by only a few seconds. Unfortunately, it wasn't as fast as some of the others when writing to DVD+R media at 8x. While the DD0401 was a few seconds faster than the Sony, it trailed the Lite-On by almost a minute and the Plextor by a good 1:40.

For the most part, the DD0401 performed as expected. While not the fastest DVD writer we've tested, it had no problems holding its own in most of our tests. Like the drive from Sony, it was not as fast as some of the others when writing to DVD+R media at 8x. However, it did very well when writing to DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD+RW media. OptoRite's new drive was also pretty quick when reading DVD's. It was able to read single layer discs at speeds near 12x and recordable media at a respectable 8.5x.