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Check your burners with LightScribe Diagnostic Utility

LightScribe's technology burns customized labels directly onto specially treated DVDs and CDs. To use it, you must have a LightScribe-enabled disk burner. LightScribe Diagnostics Utility is a free tool that can check your system's LightScribe compatibility as well as its readiness to run the software without problems. It also scans for conflicts, suggesting changes that you can accept, reject, or modify. After you've checked out whether your system is ready to run LightScribe, you can uninstall the diagnostic tool or keep it in case you make any hardware or software changes. If you're not sure your … Read more

New HP display and desktop have a thing for green

Hewlett-Packard is throwing its hat into the expanding ring of companies with a thing for green. If you're serious about doing your part to protect the environment or you just want a stylish-looking monitor and desktop, the company has some new options for you.

On Monday, HP announced two new desktops and one new display. According to the company, all three have been designed to have a reduced impact on the environment.

The HP Pavilion Verde Special Edition a6645f and HP Pavilion Phoenix Special Edition a6655f are the two new eco PCs, and the 25.5-inch HP w2558hc is the new eco-friendly display.

According to HP, both PCs are Energy Star qualified and meet the standards for "silver" registration in the Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT). Each PC features a power management tool that purportedly provides up to 45 percent energy savings compared with PCs without power management enabled. … Read more

HP's newest multifunction printer includes a built-in DVD drive

The HP Photosmart C8180 isn't cheap, so we wouldn't recommend you throwing down $400 for this multifunction unless you're an amateur photographer who needs a top-notch printer and won't mind waiting more than a minute for each photo.

We just finished testing the C8180 (full review), and we were impressed by its built-in LightScribe drive. LightScribe is a direct disc-labeling system that uses lasers to burn an image directly onto the disc. The LightScribe system is meant to eliminate the smudges and peeling that inevitably happens with sticker labels, and the fact that Hewlett-Packard decided to … Read more

Burn CDs, DVDs, and labels with Samsung LightScribe drive, $26.99 shipped

The day I bought myself a LightScribe DVD drive was the day I put away my Sharpie marker forever. Sure, it takes upwards of 20 minutes to burn a custom label on a LightScribe disc, but the results are vastly superior to my chicken scratch.

Newegg has the Samsung SH-S202N 20X internal DVD burner with LightScribe technology for just $26.99. It's a new unit with no rebates, free shipping, and mostly positive reviews.

If you've never done it before, swapping out an optical drive is a piece of cake. Unplug the power and interface connectors, slide out … Read more