detail information

Positive:

• Solid retail bundle with multiple software packages.
• 12x DVD+R and 12x DVD-R reading speeds.
• Perfect DAE quality.
• Supports reading CD Text and Subchannel data.
• Good write quality on a variety of DVD+R/RW discs.
• Good write quality on a variety of DVD-R/RW discs.
• Able to burn many types of 8x DVD±R media at 12x or 16x.
• Automatically sets the Book Type for DVD+R DL media to DVD-ROM.
• Supports DAO-RAW writing.
• 8x reading on DVD+R Double Layer media.
• Good 4x DVD+R Double Layer writing performance.
• Low Price

Negative:

• Slower CD-ROM/R/RW reading speeds compared to the competition.
• High seek times.
• Does not support reading from the Leadin or Leadout.
• 5x DVD riplock on DVD-ROM Video discs.
• CD-R writing quality needs some improvement.
• Z-CLV (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) writing technique is slower than CAV & P-CAV used by the competition.
• 16x DVD writing is only 2-5 seconds faster than 12x DVD writing.
• Does not support bitsetting ( Book Type modification ) on DVD+R/RW discs.
• Only 12x support on some very popular 16x media types.
• Only a "1 sheep" writer.

Conclusion:

ASUS has managed to put together an impressive offering with the DRW-1604P DVD Writer. As with any DVD writer, it has some positive aspects as well as some negative ones. Here we will discuss what we feel are the most important points of this drive.

The main positive points: We enjoyed the concrete retail package that ASUS has put together with this writer. The package contains almost everything you could want from a DVD writer bundle, including software suites from Nero and Ulead Systems. The 12x reading speed on DVD+R and DVD-R media is faster than many other drives can handle and allows for speedy data transfer from recordable DVD discs. The DAE quality is perfect and the drive can also read CD Text and Subchannel data. But what about the DVD writing performance? This is a DVD writer afterall. For the most part we were impressed with the DVD writing of the ASUS DRW-1604P. A good amount of our 8x DVD±R discs were able to be written at 12x or 16x, which is very beneficial. Writing quality performance is also a very crucial factor to measure on a DVD writer. Fortunately, the writing quality of the ASUS DRW-1604 was good on most of the DVD±R/RW discs that we tested with. This should help to ensure minimal problems with the playback and use of recorded DVD media. The DVD+R Double Layer features worked as advertised. The ASUS DRW-1604P was able to write to Verbatim Double Layer media at 4x without any problems. We found the resulting Double Layer discs to be ok quality and the ASUS DRW-1604P was even able to read back this media at 8x. To ensure maximum compatibility, the drive will automatically set the Book Type to DVD-ROM on the DVD+R Double Layer discs that it burns. This is a positive feature and will prevent some disc recognition problems that could otherwise occur with Double Layer media.

The main negative points : The CD-ROM, CD-R and CD-RW reading speeds are slower than the competition and the seek times are high. The drive does not support the advanced reading features of reading from the Leadin or Leadout. For DVD-ROM Video discs, there is a limitation of 5x maximum reading. This limitation will definitely annoy some users who will want the ability to backup their DVD Video discs at full speed. Other drives offer 16x reading speed for SL DVD Video discs. The CD-R writing quality needs improvement on some popular disc types such as Ritek and CMC. The drive uses a Z-CLV (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) technique to write DVD±R discs at 16x. This Z-CLV technique is slower than some others that competing drives utilize, such as CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) and P-CAV (Partial-Constant Angular Velocity) writing technologies. We also miss bitsetting support for DVD+R and DVD+RW discs. The inability to alter the Book Type of DVD+R discs could lead to compatibility problems in older standalone players. The 16x media support was also disappointing for us. 16x certified DVD+R discs from Ritek, Fujifilm and Verbatim were only supported at 12x even though they have been available for quite some time already. The drive only qualified as a '1 sheep" writer, which means that it will not be good for backing up copy-protected discs.

The drive is available starting as low as $ 75.00 USD from some online retailers (Price from http://cdfreaks.pricegrabber.com per 02.02.2005).

To sum it all up, the best we could say is; 'A good quality DVD writer that can burn many 8x DVD±R discs at 12x, but CD-R writing quality needs improvement and it is not the fastest burner on the block". Hopefully ASUS can address a few of the negative points listed in this review with their next firmware release, which would make their drive an outstanding choice for a DVD writer.

You may discuss and comment on this review in this forum thread. This forum thread may also be used to ask questions about this drive or request additional tests.

Thanks to:

 For providing the Memorex media used in this review. Memorex is one of the largest providers of all types of media for larger parts of the world.

 For providing the Verbatim media used in this review. Verbatim provides high quality media all over the world and strives to be the standard for DVD hardware reviewing.

Advanced Media/Ritek-USA for providing some of the RiDATA media used in this review. RiDATA is an official Ritek brand and thus you are guaranteed to get quality Ritek manufactured discs when buying RiData media.

 For providing the Fujifilm media used in this review. Fujifilm makes high-performance media for video and storage applications.