While I've had a DVD burner for quite some time now, it was only recently when backing up some of large home videos files did I realize just how useful they are. As I was finishing off the 7th DVD+R disc (with more to burn still) I realized that if I were using regular CD-R's, I would have gone through about 50 discs at that point. Quite a difference, and I'm sure no one in their right mind would want to lug around fifty odd CD's if they didn't have to.

The DVD-R drive I used is now old technology, dual layer DVD burners are now starting to appear on the market, and with compatible media they can store up to 8.5GB of data on one disc! That's enough space for you to back up an entire DVD movie! Just think of the possibilities...

PCstats is testing out the brand new LG GSA-4120B 12x Super Multi DVD Rewriter in this review. The LG GSA-4120B writes to dual layer DVD+R discs at 2.4x, single layer DVD+R media at 12x, DVD-R at 8x, DVD-/+RW discs at 4x, DVD-RAM discs at 5x, CD-R's at up to 40x and CD-RW up to 24x. For reading, the LG GSA-4120B can handle DVD's up to 16x, dual layer DVD+R discs at 8x and CD's at 40x speed.

Despite all that compatibility, the LG GSA-4120B is still an extremely economical purchase, retailing for about $100 CDN ($77 US)! Talk about value! Since the drive we're reviewing is retail, it also comes with PowerDVD, PowerProducer Gold and Nero Burning ROM software.

LG GSA-4120B DVD Writer Includes: Owners Manual, CD Software, CD Software Guide, Ultra/33 IDE cable, Analog audio cable, drive screws.

The face of the LG GSA-4120B is snow white, with a grey bottom that adds to the character of the drive. The eject button is large and easy to spot, and when the LED shines, you'll certainly see it. The unit measures 19cm in length, and thanks to the clips on the drive tray, can be mounted both horizontal or vertically. The drive has a small 2MB buffer as well as BURN proof technology for CD-R burning.

The LG GSA-4120B supports all the usual writing methods such as: TAO (Track at Once), DAO (Disc at Once), SAO (Session at Once) and Packet Write. DVD writing formats are Disc at Once, Incremental Recording, Restricted Overwrite (DVD+RW only), Random Write and Sequential Recording.

At the rear we find connectors for Digital Audio Out, Analog Audio Out, Master/Slave/Cable Select jumpers, IDE connector and of course the molex power connector. LG ship the drive with a 40-pin IDE cable, the 4-pin analog audio cable, some mounting screws, instructions, and the CD/DVD recording software we've already mentioned. Unlike the LG GSA-4082B PCstats reviewed earlier, the LG GSA-4120B dual layer DVD recorder is quite quiet during operation. I highly doubt you'll hear it operating, even with a disc spinning at full speeds when reading DVD media.