HP DVD300i

Firmware: 1.25

Technically, the DVD3009i is the same device that does the job in the 300e - that's why the technical specifications are the same. However, in practice there are a few small but important differences in the area of minimum performance and compatibility of burned DVD+Rs.

The internal version handles disc support minimally better, because unlike the DVD300e, the 300i can read our DVD-RW from Verbatim - but not the DVD-R from Imation. Regrettably, it sometimes takes a very long time to detect minus discs and access them in Windows Explorer.

The 300i cannot rip the scratched 5th Element DVD either; otherwise it overcame all hurdles and showed the same performance as the 300e. The movie we burned onto a DVD+R was detected and played back on all nine hi-fi DVD players without a problem, unlike with the DVD 300i.