Introduction

A few months ago, many consumers were skeptical with investing on a drive that only supports one DVD format. Not when it's still unclear whether the DVD-R/RW or the DVD+R/RW will become the industry standard format. To counter this, many vendors have decided to hop onto the dual format bandwagon. Being able to support both format means that consumers will now be able to use either DVD format at their whim. Less confusion, lesser worries.

So it's no surprise that many optical storage drive vendors have already, or going to, launch their own range of dual format DVD writers - including TDK, Sony, Plextor, Iomega and more. We've already reviewed the top performing TDK Dual Format DVW+A040212N 4x DVD±R, and hot on the heels of this writer comes the TEAC DV-W50D, which also looks set to create a bit of a buzz in our community forums. That's not a surprise, considering that TEAC have always been considered one of the forefront leaders in the optical storage industry, especially with their CD-RW drives. And now with DVD becoming a rising trend in the consumer market, it's easy to see why TEAC wants a slice of this market too.

Anyway, all said and done, let's take a look at this little baby that TEAC have sent to us all the way from the US of A. As with many of our hardware, the TEAC DV-W50D arrived in a bare package instead of the usual retail box. But the major accessories are unchanged (ours didn't come with the standard cable, manual, etc, though), and included in the box is a piece of DVD-R media and Ahead Software's new Nero Express 6.0.


Looking at the drive's faceplate, it's hard to not associate it with another dual format writer, the Pioneer DVR-A06. But beyond that, there's the blue TEAC logo as well as the standard DVD-R/RW, DVD+ReWritable and High Speed CD-RW logos molded into the drive's tray. And like the TDK, the TEAC drive does not come with a headphone jack too. But depending on how you look at it, most people are able to live without one anyway. We also have no qualms with the drive's button, which was way better than the tacky button on the TDK drive.


Before we move on to the next page, let's take a look at what the Teac drive is really capable of doing in the specifications table below.