By the time I finish this review, I'm sure a DVR-112D will be announced! That's the nature of DVD writers. And since the DVR-111 series was announced in January 2006, a DVR-112 is sure to be waiting in the wings.

The DVR-111DBK produced stable burns on not only single-layer but DVD+R DL media as well. Some people avoid Pioneer because they do not support booktyping. I really don't find this to be an issue, and it may come as a suprise to some, but most DVD players sold these days are manufactured to accept DVD media that is not "booktyped". Bitsetting was more popular several years ago when most DVD players were not created for DVD multi-media. Today, you just don't have that problem, so I'm still scratching my head on why booktyping is still preferred. In my opinion, if the DVD drive supports it, then great. If it does not, then well, that's great too. This will probably sound familiar from my LG GSA-5169 Review when talking about Mt. Rainier. Mt. Rainier and Booktyping are the last of the "necessary" features in my book.

Overall, I must give the Pioneer DVR-111DBK, a

Since this is just an OEM drive with no additional software to review, the HR+ rating has everything to do with the hardware and functionality of the unit. And of course, the hardware performed just fine. I did seem to notice the drive is just a tad bit quieter than the DVR-109D I own. Unfortunately, I don't own a DVR-110D (or maybe some of us say fortunately since the DVR-110D had some major issues with burning) so I can't say if it's any difference. However, I suspect many own DVR-109 and previous models. Is upgrading to a DVR-111 worth it? Absolutely.