detail information

Positive:

• Supports DVD±R/+R DL/-R DL writing at 16x/8x/4x
• Supports CD-R/RW writing at 48x
• Can write DVD±R/+R DL certified media at higher speed
• Good media support and compatibility on DVD±R
• Supports Bitsetting for DVD+R/RW/DL
• Supports disc quality scanning
• Can overburn CDs up to 99 min
• Can read 99min CD-R
• Reads DVD-Video SL at 16x
• Can copy/rip copy-protected Audio-CDs
• 'Two sheep" writer (incl. Safedisc 2.90)
• Supports DAO-RAW writing
• Good community support and 3^rd party programs that works with the drive
• Very good support
• Good retail and software package

Negative:

• Does not support Mt. Rainier
• Writes CD-RW only at 24x
• Writes DVD-R DL only at 4x 
• Green LED for both reading and writing
• Reads only 16x certified media at 16x
• Full 16x DVD±R read support and 12x DVD+R DL reading only available via test firmware  

Conclusion:

Let us summarize the most important positive and negative points below:

The main positive points: The Lite-On SHM-165P6S being a so called 'Super Allwrite recorder" and supports recording on currently available media formats (CD-R/RW, DVD±R/±RW/±R DL and DVD-RAM).

The Lite-On SHM-165P6S can write CD-R/RW media with excellent/very good quality and can write those media types at high speed. DVD±R/RW writing quality is good with most media, and once again the Lite-On SHM-165P6S is one of the fastest CD burners around.

DVD±R/RW media compatibility was also excellent with the Lite-On SHM-165P6S, with all our tested media burning at its rated speed and by using the HT/OS functions which are available via the SmartBurn tool also faster than its rated speed.

Also, DVD-RAM is well implemented on the Lite-On SHM-165P6S, Not only can the drive write at 5x using a P-CAV writing method, it can also read DVD-RAM media, regardless of the disc's rated speed at 5x, again using a P-CAV reading method.

During our tests the Lite-On SHM-165P6S excelled at ripping audio CD's. The reading performance is excellent, and the DAE quality is also excellent, making the drive an excellent choice for audio ripping.

The support for this drive in our forum is also very good, not only from the community but also from some Lite-On engineers (which is highly appreciated by our members).

The main negative points: There are not too many negative things to say about the Lite-On SHM-165P6S. But we did note a few things we would like to see improved.

We know that 12x reading for DVD+R DL and full 16x reading support for DVD+/-R is possible for this drive and we would really like to see this implemented with the next official firmware.

Although writing quality with DVD±R/RW media was overall good, the writing quality with some media (especially DVD+RW) could be improved.

We would also like to see a dual coloured LED, with one colour used for read and a different colour used for writing, instead of the present single coloured green LED.

To sum it all up, this is what we would say: 'The Lite-On SHM-165P6S is a well specified drive with good overall performance. With a few little improvements, and with each new test firmware better working HyperTuning and OverSpeed functions, could make a good drive into an outstanding drive". Anyway, it's good to see how Lite-On now listens to the customer wishes and tries to improve the drives performance.

By using our price grabber feature cdfreaks.pricegrabber we can find this drive starting from $35.99 and at getprice the drive is listed at 41.32 €. (May 2006).

You may comment on this review below or in this forum thread.

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