detail information

Positive:

• Impressive retail package.
•  Includes one empty 4X DVD+RW disc and one empty 4X DVD+R disc.
• Includes Sonic MyDVD, RecordNow DX and Sonic DLA software - a good choice for everything you need
• High CD reading and writing/rewriting speeds compared to the competition.
• 4X DVD+RW ReWriting speed that sets it aside from the competition.
• Very good packet writing performance.
• Supports DAO-RAW writing.
• Supports reading and writing of CD-Text information.
• Supports reading and writing of full SubChannel Data.
• Can read and write 99 minutes discs.
• Supports 'Correct EFM encoding of regular bit patterns".
• Outstanding write quality and compatibility with CD-R media.
• Good write quality with many types of DVD-/+R/RW media.
• Supports reading all types of protected audio discs.
• Extracts audio fast and error free.
• Affordably priced.

Negative:

• Documentation could be better.
• Media compatibility and write quality with some DVD-Media could be improved.
• Reading of recordable DVD media is limited to 6X.
• Do not support Mt. Rainier.
• Slightly slower at writing DVD-R/RW than the competition.

Conclusion:

The out-of-the-box performance of this drive was not very good as there were a few serious DVD-R/RW writing issues present. But thankfully Lite-On released firmware FS0F that cured these problems and made the drive become a strong competitor to most other DVD-Writers. So if you have not already upgraded the firmware to version FS0F (or newer) we suggest that you do that to get the best experience with the drive.

For reading it is very good and offers a CD-reading speed of 40X and thus is faster than most competitors which is limited to 32X reading, audio reading is also done at full 40X speed and without any errors. The DVD reading speed is 12X for pressed single layer discs and 8X for pressed dual layer discs, and according to our test this is just the same as most competitors is offering as well. While the reading speed of 6X for DVD-/+R/RW discs may seem low it's actually the same as most of the competitors is offering, only a few allows 8X reading.

But it's when it comes to CD-Writing/ReWriting that the drive really shines. CD-Writing is done at 40X and CD-ReWriting is done at 24X, nearly no direct competitors are able to deliver such high speeds. But the high speed is not everything; the quality of the writing is so excellent that we had problems believing our own eyes when we saw the test results. The results are insane! It really laughs at the competition, and the competitors should look at Lite-On and learn! Not a single drive, regardless of write speed have been able to deliver results anywhere near this. We don't know how to praise the drive enough for the CD-R media compatibility and write quality as it wrote every single disc we threw in it at 40X with superb results. If you consider buying a CD-Writer and want the best write quality possible and is maybe only thinking about a DVD-Writer? Then definitively get this drive!

But after all it's a DVD-Writer, so let's look at DVD-Writing as well; The DVD writing is done at 4X for both DVD+R and DVD-R, for the most part it's very good and provides good write quality on most types of media. Notice that in our opinion about 50% of the DVD-R media available on the market is simply to low quality and should be avoided. There is also a few media types that it do not support, even if this is mostly low quality unknown brands we think and hope that Lite-On will update the firmware to support these discs as well. The general media support is just as good as most other drives and there is few that is better, the write quality is also very good on good discs compared to the competition. It even writes some low quality discs like CMC Magnetics and Princo with outstanding quality. All in all there are no big problems with DVD-Writing according to our tests.

The DVD-ReWriting performance is also outstanding and it supports 4X DVD+RW speed which most drives do not support. 4X DVD+RW media is still hard to find most places, but Lite-On have been thinking about this and included a 4X DVD+RW disc with the drives. DVD-RW writing speed is 2X like most other competitors. And with good packet writing programs like the included Sonic DLA or B's Clip the UDF packet writing performance is excellent as well. We have no complaints about the ReWriting performance at all.

The drive is also a good drive for backing up your protected games as it supports 'correct EFM encoding of regular bit patterns", a feature that makes it easier for the drive to backup safedisc protected games. It do also supports all available reading features in CloneCD, and it do not create any unwanted errors while reading like some other drives do, speed wise it's better than many drives but not the best we have seen. It do also support reading protected audio discs, but it had a few problems and got some timing issues while reading, so we recommend that you try the Secure mode in Exact Audio Copy to try to avoid these.

Are there no real drawbacks with this drive? Hardware wise - very few. And software wise - None. The bundle is also very good compared to most competitors as it includes a 4X DVD+RW and a 4X DVD+R disc, some other drives comes without any bundled media to save cost. The fact that there is no printed manual or IDE cable is just a minor drawback when you consider what you actually gets.

There is only 1 reason not to buy this drive as we see it, and that is if you insist on using low quality DVD-Media that is unsupported by this drive. Else: go get it!

Conclusion this time will be: 'Excellent CD writing and bundle as well as good DVD-Writing, plus better specifications than most competitors at a lower price - what more do you want?"

We feel that the drive offers so much more at a much lower cost than the competitors that it deserves a 'Best value award", but the performance, specifications, bundle and definitively also price is so much better when we compare it to most other drives in the same generation that it actually is over qualified for the 'Best value award" and thus we give it the 'Editors choice award" instead.

The drive is available for $ 126 USD (Price from Pricewatch per 19.11.2003 ). You may discuss/comment this review below or in this forum thread .

Introduction