Today we are proud to present a review of an external HP DVD writer, the HP DVD-1040e, which Lite-On kindly sent us for review.  This drive features 20x DVD±R, 8x/6x DVD+RW/-RW and 8x DVD±R DL write performance as well as up to 12x write performance with DVD-RAM media.  For CD writing, it supports up to 48x CD-R and 32x CD-RW write performance.  It also supports direct disc labelling with LightScribe media.  The drive comes with a vertical stand, USB cable, the Nero 7 Essentials suite and documentation.

Our senior reviewer Herbert has carried out an extensive review of this product covering write, read and disc quality tests of a wide range of writable and rewritable CD and DVD media as well as LightScribe tests.  The Author's page includes the "Sheep Test", over-burning CD-R media and testing the read-back of a full 900MB / 100 minute CD.  To see how this external drive handles in its testing, please head over to the full review here.  If you have any comments or questions about the review, feel free to post them as a reaction to the review or in this dedicated thread for the review on our forum.