SH-S223 DVD-RW (Black)

Samsung's SH-S223 is the first internal SATA DVD writer to claim a 22X write speed for single-layer DVDs.

Although it couldn't reach this speed in our tests, it was still one of the fastestDVD writers we've seen, filling a DVD-R at a little less than 12X on average and a DVD+R at just under 11X. It was also one of the fastest writers we've seen at burning two-layer DVDs, reaching nearly 8X in our tests.

The SH-S223 comes with Nero Recode, which can compress an 8.5GB DVDmovie so it fits on to cheaper 4.7GB discs. Black, silver and white bezels are included, so the drive should match the colour of your PC.

The SH-S223's great speed and useful extras are especially impressive given its low price. It isn't dramatically faster than 20X DVD writers, but it should be your first choice if you need to replace an older optical drive or you're building a new PC