detail information

Positive:

• Multiple software packages.
• 12x DVD+R and 12x DVD-R reading speeds.
• Able to read DVD-RAM media.
• 16x/16x/6x/6x/8x/6x DVD+R/DVD-R/+R DL/-R DL/+RW/-RW writing 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 overspeed burn some 8x DVD±R media at 12x.
• 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 6x DVD+R Double Layer writing performance.

Negative:

• Slower CD-R/RW reading and writing speeds compared to the competition.
• Poor documentation compared to previous models.
• No support for reading CD+G (Karaoke) discs.
• Poor DVD+R/RW media support/compatibility.
• Does not support reading from the Leadin or Leadout.
• 5x DVD riplock on DVD-ROM Video discs.
• Does not support bitsetting ( Book Type modification ) on DVD+R/RW discs.
• Only 12x writing supported on some very popular 16x media types.
• Qualifies as a "0 sheep" writer.
• No PI/PIF/PO (Disc Quality) scanning support.

Conclusion:

ASUS has brought an impressive offering to the market with the DRW-1608P 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: Once again ASUS has put together a nice retail package, this time with the ASUS DRW-1608P DVD Writer. The package includes software suites from both Nero Software and Ulead Systems. The 12x reading speed on DVD±R media is ahead of many other drives on the market and will help you to read your DVD recordable media with ease. This also makes the ASUS DRW-1608P a good drive to use as a source for copy on-the-fly burning at 12x or less. The DAE quality is perfect and the drive can also read CD Text and Subchannel data. But the real area that the ASUS DRW-1608P shines in is the writing quality department. This drive can write to a variety of media from various manufacturers and achieve good quality results. This should help to ensure minimal problems with the playback and use of recorded DVD media. DVD-RW support is excellent. 6x DVD-RW media from Ritek and Verbatim can both be written at 6x with good quality. 2.4x DVD+R DL media from Verbatim was able to be written at 6x on the DRW-1608P. We found the resulting Double Layer discs to be of acceptable quality. The ASUS DRW-1608P is able to read back DVD+R DL media at 8x. To ensure maximum compatibility, the drive will automatically set the Book Type to DVD-ROM on the Double Layer media that it burns. This is a positive feature and will prevent some disc recognition problems that could otherwise occur if the DVD+R DL Book Type was used.

The main negative points: One of the first things we noticed is that this drive is missing a comprehensive instruction guide that previous ASUS models contained. Instead we only have the Quick Installation Guide for documentation. The CD-ROM, CD-R and CD-RW reading speeds are slower than the competition. For DVD-ROM Video discs, there is a limitation of 5x maximum reading & ripping. 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. 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 drive also disappointed us in the field of DVD+R/RW media support & compatibility. 16x media from RICOH, RITEK, CMC and Optodisc was only supported at 12x maximum, even though this media has been available for many months. The 8x DVD+RW media support was also very disappointing. 8x DVD+RW media from both Verbatim and Ritek are not supported correctly. Lastly, we would like to point out that this drive qualifies as a zero sheep writer, which means that it will have trouble backing up some copy protected discs.

The OEM version of this drive is available starting as low as $ 44.99 USD from some online retailers (Price from http://cdfreaks.pricegrabber.com in August 2005).

To sum it all up, the best we could say is; 'An impressive CD and DVD writer with excellent writing quality, however the media support/compatibility needs to be improved."

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

For providing the SONY media used in this review. SONY is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, communications, and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets.

For providing the Optodisc media used in this review. Optodisc Technology Corporation excels at the manufacturing and selling of High-Density Optical Storage Media DVDs.