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Lite-On SOHW-1673S DVD Burner Review
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Posted by Tor Magne
Posted on 25/04/05 16:29
Number of views 11596
Menu
 Conclusion
 Introduction
 Features and bundle
 Reading performance
 CD-R/RW writing performance
 DVD-Writing performance
 DVD-Writing performance continued
 DVD+R double layer tests
 Advanced tests
Text Size  Text Size
DVD Writing performance continued
 

DVD-R media compatibility and write quality:




Brand:

BenQ - thanks to Daxon for providing it.

Manufacturer:

Daxon

Code:

DAXON016S

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

16x

Write Speed:

16x

Write Time:

6m:23s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

5.69

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.12

No problems with this media, very clean and a nice reading curve.




Brand:

Traxdata - thanks to Conrexx for providing this media

Manufacturer:

Ritek

Code:

RitekF1

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

16x

Write Speed:

16x

Write Time:

6m:21s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

58.70

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

4.17

Seems like Lite-On have some work to do to get this Ritek media to work correctly


Brand:

Verbatim Data Life Plus

Manufacturer:

CMC Magnetics

Code:

MCC03RG20

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

16x

Write Speed:

16x

Write Time:

6m:12s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

25.62

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.02

No problems with this media.


Brand:

Miflop Extreme - thanks to Miflop media for providing it.

Manufacturer:

Taiyo Yuden

Code:

TYG03

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

16x

Write Speed:

16x

Write Time:

6m:10s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

1.58

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.07

As expected with Taiyo Yuden, very good!


Brand:

BenQ - thanks to Daxon for providing it.

Manufacturer:

Daxon

Code:

DAXON008S

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

8x

Write Time:

9m:11s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

13.39

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.12

The reading curve shows a few problems at the end, but nothing to worry about.


 

Brand:

Traxdata - Thanks to Conrexx for providing it.

Manufacturer:

Ritek

Code:

RITEKG05

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

8x

Write Time:

8m:57s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

10.70

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.04

No noticeable problems with this media. But beware of lower grade media that is floating around on the market and sold as A grade.


 

Brand:

Ridisc - thanks to E-Net distribution for providing this media.

Manufacturer:

Ritek

Code:

RITEKG05

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

8x

Write Time:

9m:02s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

17.46

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.15

While not as good as the Traxdata RitekG05 it's still good enough to not cause any problems.


 

Brand:

MiFlop Extreme - thanks to MiFlop for providing it.

Manufacturer:

Taiyo Yuden

Code:

TYG02

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

8x

Write Time:

8m:55s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

18.21

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.01

A good result - but not as perfect as we are used to with Taiyo Yuden.


Brand:

BenQ

Manufacturer:

Daxon - but with Sony ADIP.

Code:

SONY08D1

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

8x

Write Time:

9m:02s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

1.76

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.05

No problems with this media.


Brand:

Datawrite

Manufacturer:

Prodisc - but with Fujifilm technology and ADIP.

Code:

FUJIFILM03

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

8X

Write Speed:

8X

Write Time:

8m:59s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

2.86

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.01

No problems with this media.

 

Brand:

UNIVERSAL

Manufacturer:

Prodisc

Code:

ProdiscF01

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

8x

Write Time:

9m:00s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

33.36

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.12

Better than the SOHW-1653S, but still, room for improvement.


 

Brand:

Samsung

Manufacturer:

Opto disc

Code:

OPTODISCR008

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

8x

Write Time:

8m:57s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

7.07

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.01

A small speed reduction at the end, but still very good - considering that this is very cheap media.

Brand:

Unbranded

Manufacturer:

Gigastorage

Code:

GSC003

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

8x

Write Time:

8m:57s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

499.30

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

69.91

Very poor result, the disc is totally unreadable by the NEC ND-3500AG. Needs improving.

Brand:

Princo

Manufacturer:

Princo

Code:

PRINCO8X02

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

8x

Write Time:

9m:12s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

397.10

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

5.63

Very poor result, the disc is totally unreadable by the NEC ND-3500AG. Needs improving.


Brand:

Datawrite titanium - thanks to E-Net distribution for providing this media.

Manufacturer:

CMC Magnetics

Code:

CMC.MAG.AE1

Disc Type:

DVD-R

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

8x

Write Time:

9m:08s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

60.92

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.32

Not very good, but the result could be due to low grade media, as we have found these Datawrite Titanium discs to be less than perfect.

Overall thoughts: It's clearly a step forward compared to the SOHW-1653S, but there is still many steps to go to reach the quality of BenQ/Pioneer/NEC and LG.

Re-Writing data:

The Lite-On SOHW-1673S supports rewriting DVD-RW at 6x and DVD+RW at 8x speed, let us write two discs in Nero CD/DVD speed and Nero Burning ROM to see how fast it is.

Here are the writing results for writing the 6x DVD-RW disc:


 

Lite-On SOHW-1673S uses CLV writing technology to write the DVD-RW disc at 6x. Total recording time is just over 10 minutes.

And here are the results with 8x DVD+RW writing:

The 8x DVD+RW disc was written using Z-CLV writing technology and the total writing time is around 8 minutes.

Writing Quality with DVD Re-Writable discs:

Due to request from our readers we will add a few write quality tests with ReWritable media. Settings and testing procedures are the same as used earlier in this review so you may want to go back and read them if unsure. All discs used for these tests have been written to before, but none have been written to more than 25 times.

DVD+ReWritable media:


Brand:

Unbranded - thanks to LG for providing this media.

Manufacturer:

Mitsubishi Kagaku Media/CMC Magnetics

Code:

MKMA03

Disc Type:

DVD+RW

Capacity:

4483MB

Certified Speed:

8x

Write Speed:

8x

Write Time:

8m:14s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

8.10

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.05

No problems with this media.


 

Brand:

RiData - thanks to RiData for providing it.

Manufacturer:

Ritek

Code:

RITEK004

Disc Type:

DVD+RW

Capacity:

4483MB

Certified Speed:

4x

Write Speed:

4x

Write Time:

14m:24s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

4.04

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.53

A very good result with this media.


 

Brand:

Daxon - thanks to Daxon for providing it.

Manufacturer:

Daxon

Code:

Daxon.D42

Disc Type:

DVD+RW

Capacity:

4483MB

Certified Speed:

4x

Write Speed:

4x

Write Time:

14m:27s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

3.69

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.02

Very low amount of errors and an excellent result.

DVD-ReWritable media:


 

Brand:

Unbranded - thanks to LG for providing this media.

Manufacturer:

Mitsubishi

Code:

MCC01RW6X01

Disc Type:

DVD-RW

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

6x

Write Speed:

4x

Write Time:

14m:41s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

5.74

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.01

Surprisingly only supported at 4x, but otherwise the results are very good.


 

Brand:

Traxdata - thanks to Conrexx for providing this media.

Manufacturer:

Ritek

Code:

RITEKW06

Disc Type:

DVD-RW

Capacity:

4489MB

Certified Speed:

6x

Write Speed:

6x

Write Time:

10m:26s

PI-8 errors Average/Sec:

1.84

PI-8 uncorrectable errors(PO) Avg/Sec:

0.09

Simply excellent.

To sum it up: The Lite-On SOHW-1673 shows very good DVD-ReWriting speeds and quality, the only problem found is that Mitsubishi 6x DVD-RW does not work at 6x.

But let us now look at the most interesting aspect of this drive; Double Layer DVD+R writing…
DVD-Writing performance
DVD+R double layer tests
Want to submit your own review? Click here
Posted by johnny k on Sunday 24 April 2005 21:54
Whew! lucky, it was a toss up between this drive and the LG GSA-4163B I,m glad I got the LG, bloody good drive and a better price by $30 my way,
Nice review
Posted by lui_gough on Monday 25 April 2005 04:10
I brought a liteon - and I think it's gonna have to be NO MORE LITEON purchases in the future - i think BENQ is my preference .... just not satisfied wid how picky the liteon is wid media
Posted by Kogarah on Thursday 28 April 2005 04:09
I've had a SOHW-1673s for around five weeks & am surprised by the negative comments but there again how does one know if the writing is bad? I haven't had problems (that I am aware of). :+

There again there have been two firmware updates (which don't explain the changes) so this could have improved things I guess? :S

I'm happy with the drive & have prefered Liye-On for years - they have never let me down. maybe the SOWH-1693 will be better?
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