detail information

Test machine:

For this review we will be using a computer with the following configuration:

CPU: AMD Athlon XP 1533 MHz
Bus Speed: 133 MHz
Motherboard: KT400-8235
BIOS: Phoenix 6.00 PG
Memory: 768 MB (60ns)
Sound: Avance AC97 Audio
Video: NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS/GeForce2 Pro
Hard disk: Western Digital WD1600JB-00EVA0 160GB.

System set-up:

The ASUS DRW-1604P was connected as Secondary Master and identified as ASUS DRW-1604P. DMA (Direct Memory Access) and autorun was enabled for all devices.

Software:

Windows XP Professional SP1 is installed on this computer. We will be using the following software in this review:

⋅         DVDIdentifier 4.0.1
⋅         Nero Burning ROM version 6.6.0.12
⋅         Nero CD/DVD Speed v4.00
⋅         Nero InfoTool v2.27
⋅         Slysoft CloneCD v5.0.2.2
⋅          K-Probe v2.4.2

Installation and supported features:

Our drive came shipped with firmware 1.14. We quickly installed the drive without any problems. For this review we updated to the latest available firmware version, 1.50.

After rebooting, we captured a screenshot from Nero Info Tool:

It is nice to see that this drive supports DVD-RAM reading, because many other drives do not. It does not support Mt. Rainier, but very few drives support this feature. The buffer size is listed as 2MB, however some other drives are built with an 8MB buffer. A larger buffer is preferred, but this is a minor complaint. We are also disappointed to find that support for reading CD+G is not included.

Here is another shot from Nero Burning ROM:

We notice that the Book Type Settings dialog is missing from Nero. Further tests indicated that this drive does not support bitsetting, which is a negative and could lead to DVD+R compatibility issues in older standalone players.  (DVD+R DL discs are set with the DVD-ROM booktype automatically on this drive).

Included software:

Here we will take a look at the software that is included with the drive. Please take note that we may not use the included software in the performance testing part of the review.

The Nero program suite is owned and developed by Nero Software; it contains programs for creating most types of CD/DVD discs, a packet writing program, a media player etc. This is one of our preferred writing program suites, and we give ASUS a thumbs up for including this in their retail package.

Here we have a screenshot of the included ASUSDVD software. This software is a custom version of Cyberlinks' PowerDVD, which is one of the most popular software DVD players available.

Uleads' DVD MovieFactory 3.5 Suite is included on the other CD-ROM. MovieFactory 3.5 allows you to easily create CD and DVD projects as well as burn them to disc. Ulead DVD Player software is also included, which can also be used to playback your DVD Videos. Another thumbs up to ASUS for including multiple software solutions.

Now it's time to take a look at the reading performance! Head on over to the next page…