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I must admit that I felt like the coolest kid on the block when Panasonic's DVD-RAM/R combo drive ("DVDBurner") arrived at my house through the mail. Since most of the people that I know are just now starting to get into watching DVD-much less start burning their own-having a DVD burner puts me in an enviable position. Of course, when I mention the fact that the drive also supports DVD-RAM, their faces inevitably display a quizzical look as if I'm making up the technology simply to give myself more bragging rights. While the drive is not much to look at-simply a standard white internal ATAPI drive-just knowing that I could, in theory, create DVDs with this device made me excited as I unpacked the box. Emblazoned simply with the DVD logo, plus a small "RAM/R" nota-- tion, as well as "4.7GB," indicating its capacity (for both formats), I knew that the true power of this device wasn't its aesthetic appeal.
Panasonic's DVD-RAM/R drive, model LF-D310, supports both DVD-RAM (cartridge and bare-disc) and DVD-R for General use recording. Apparently targeted at high-end hobbyists and up, the review unit I received included a nice collection of software. Sonic's MyDVD 3.0 and DVDit! LE for DVD authoring and recording, Veritas' Stomp Backup MyPC for data archiving, InterVideo's WinDVD for DVD-Video playback, and Panasonic's MotionDV Studio and DVD-- MovieAlbumSE for video editing were all included with the drive, as well as a disc containing the necessary Windows drivers. Although I was hoping that an Easy CD Creator-type application for burning data to DVD-R (PrimoDVD might be a likely candidate) would be included, no such program was anywhere to be seen. Within the bundle I found two blank DVD-R General discs and one bare-- disc, 4.7GB single-sided DVD-RAM disc. I can't think of any good reason why a DVD-RAM disc outside of its cartridge would be advantageous, considering how unlikely it is you'd be using the disc anywhere but in the recording drive, and since DVD-RAM is all about storing a lot of data safely, you might as well protect it physically. But ft was a sticking point for a lot of potential users early in DVD-RAM's lifespan--getting the discs...