Test machine

For this review we will be using a computer with the following configuration:

Hardware:

·         Motherboard: ASUSTeK P5K (Intel P35 chipset)

·         Processor: Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 4×2.4GHz (G0 Stepping)

·         RAM: 2048 MB DDR2 800 Corsair XMS2

·         GFX: Leadtek GeForce 8500GT (512MB DDR2)

·         Sound: Onboard Realtek ALC882 HD audio controller

·         Hard disk: 1X 500GB Seagate ST3500630AS 500GB SATAII

·         Case: Thermaltake Armor Big Tower Black

·         PSU: BeQuiet Straight Power 600W

·         Display: 20 inch Gericom LCD

·         Operating System: Windows Professional SP2

System setup:

The HP dvd1040e was connected as an USB device. However, the drive has been identified as a HP DVD Writer 1040d.

And another screenshot from Nero InfoTool:

From the screenshot from Nero InfoTool above, we can see the HP dvd1040e supports reading and writing to of all nowadays standard non- HiDef formats and that the drive also supports the LightScribe Disc Labeling Technology.

Installed software:

For conducting our various tests, we will be using the following applications.

• Nero Burning Rom 8
• Nero CD/DVD Speed
• Nero InfoTool
• Slysoft CloneCD
• Exact Audio Copy

Our review PC has Windows XP Professional SP2 installed.

Features and techniques

BookType (Bitsetting):

The HP DVD1040e supports automatic bit-setting and supports Bit-Setting on DVD+R, DVD+RW and DVD+R DL media.

DVD+R DL with BookType DVD-ROM

An quick test is to start Nero CD-Speed and look at the disc information:

Writing technique

Now it’s time to take a closer look at the write technology used by the HP DVD1040e:

For these tests we used CD-Speed and wrote a full disc at the drives maximum speed.

CD Recordable:

According to the specifications of the HP DVD1040e, it should be able to write CD-R media at a maximum speed of 48x.

The HP DVD1040e uses CAV, (Constant Angular Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 48X. This gives an average speed of 37.29x and a total writing time of 2 minutes and 36 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

As we can see, the HP DVD1040e was one of the fastest drives when writing CD-R media.

CD Re-writable:

According to the specifications of the HP DVD1040e, it should be able to write CD-RW media at a maximum speed of 32x.

The HP DVD1040e uses Z-CLV, (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 32X. This gives an average speed of 25.01x and a total writing time of 3 minutes and 40 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

As we can see, the HP DVD-1040e was one of the slowest drives when writing CD-RW media.

20x DVD+R/-R writing speed:

According to the specifications of the HP DVD-1040e, it should be able to write DVD+R/-R media at a maximum speed of 20x.

DVD+R

The HP DVD-1040e uses CAV, (Constant Angular Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 20X. This gives an average speed of 13.95x and a total writing time of 5 minutes and 26 seconds. Anyway, the drive wasn’t able to reach 20x.

DVD-R

The HP DVD-1040e uses CAV, (Constant Angular Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 20X. This gives an average speed of 14.04x and a total writing time of 5 minutes and 10 seconds. Again the drive wasn’t able to burn the disc at full 20x speed.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

As we can see from our table, the HP DVD-1040e was one of the fastest drives when writing DVD-R media and one of the slower drives when writing DVD+R media.

8X DVD+RW writing speed:

According to the specifications of the HP DVD-1040e, it should be able to write DVD+RW at a maximum speed of 8x.

The HP DVD-1040e uses Z-CLV, (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 8X. This gives an average speed of 7.24x and a total writing time of 8 minutes and 15 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

The HP DVD-1040e was one of the slowest drives when writing our test DVD+RW media.

6x DVD-RW writing speed:

According to the specifications of the HP DVD-1040e, it should be able to write DVD-RW at a maximum speed of 6x.

The HP DVD-1040e uses Z-CLV, (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 6X. This gives an average speed of 5.76x and a total writing time of 10 minutes and 41 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

The HP DVD-1040e was among average when writing DVD-RW media.

8x DVD+R DL writing speed:

According to the specifications of the HP DVD-1040e, it should be able to write DVD+R DL at a maximum speed of 8x.

The HP DVD-1040e uses Z-CLV, (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 8X. This gives an average speed of 6.82x and a total writing time of 17 minutes and 47 seconds.

8x DVD-R DL writing speed:

According to the specifications of the HP DVD-1040e, it should be able to write DVD-R DL at a maximum speed of 8x.

The HP DVD-1040e uses Z-CLV, (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 8X. This gives an average speed of 6.82x and a total writing time of 18 minutes and 20 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

The HP DVD-1040e was among average when writing double layer media.

Summary:

The HP DVD-1040e is an average performing drive when it comes to write on the most common media these days. It is also not able to meet with the specs when it comes to write onto DVD+/-R media (20x couldn’t be reached)

Let’s head on to the next page where we will check reading performance….