Pioneer Dual Format DVD Writer

It's done everything I asked it of it (CD DVD+R/-R ,it reads and writes fine ....doesn't make the tea ..yet).Also, with a reputation for reliability I expect many hours of burning pleasure . Nice solid construction , a draw that will close with a push(no more finding athe button under the open draw to close it) and it functions as well as it feels.

One gripe ...there always has to one. The Movie Creation software bundled with with it is truly awful. No worries , it did come free with this outstanding drive.The disc makes a useful mat to put your coffee cup on when your waiting for your CD/DVD to burn !


Great Drive - Rubbish Software   December 1, 2003
Mr. R. Englander (Farnham, Surrey)
24 out of 25 found this review helpful

The drive is great - worked straight off with no drivers to load or anything. The software that came with (pinnicle Studio 8) just crashed constantly. My PC is pretty high spec used for music production etc and therefore works well with other programs that have a stability issue history.

NOTHING had prepared me for the instability of this software. The support forum suggested workarounds which just were not practicle and in the end I bought Magix Video Deluxe (which comparably is a joy to use) and worked faster and better that Studio 8.

Ironically though Magix cannot burn my DVD's so I have to use another part of the pinnicle software (instand DVD) that came with the drive to burn the actual DVD and have now successfuly authored and burnt my DVD's.

Before you buy this I would recommend that you check out the Pinnicle web site and go to the support forum. It is not just me who has had problems....

Also - be prepared to invest quite a few hours before you burn your first DVD. It really isn't as straight forward as it should be.


An ace for Second Generation Writers   October 1, 2003
35 out of 39 found this review helpful

Well the first of the mainstream 2nd Generation DVD writers, and what a package it is. DVD copy and backup speeds are OK, the big feature of this product is the +/- support, which enabls you to create DVD discs that can be read in virtually any DVD player on the market. This may lack the DVD-RAM support that will be on some other 2nd gen drives but this is no drawback. it comes bundeled with Pinnacle Studio and Instant CD+DVD suite, fully functional and easy to use if your serious about DVD's this is the drive to get carrying on Pioneer's excellent series this is the best they have produced yet. Easy to install and get running with, under windows XP and Win 2000 there is no need to install drivers with an excellent firware on the drive takes care of that. So what are you waiting for?


It does what it says on the box   September 30, 2003
A. Wilkinson (Dublin, Ireland)
28 out of 28 found this review helpful

After searching for a decent DVD R/W I finally came across the Pioneer on Amazon.co.uk. A dual-format writer that is a reasonable price. I had purchased other writers in ignorance but this is the first to actually be compatable with all the current formats available. Installing the drive was simplicity and it was picked up straight away in Windows 2000. Including a copy of DVD-R and DVD-RW media was a big bonus as that saved a few quid, but to also have the pinnacle software just made this whole package a must have. If you are into RPV-1 format drives, there are no drivers available as I write this so beware. However as with all good things I am sure they will be here any day soon!