ASUS HD DVD-ROM HR-0205T Review

To review archive

Author

MegaDETH
Senior Moderator and Senior Reviewer
Article posted 07 Mar 08 16:52

Features & Technology

 

Drive Specifications

Let us take a look at the detailed specifications of the ASUS HR-0205T HD DVD-ROM Drive:

What’s inside the box?

The drive we received was a retail package that comes with all you need for an easy and quick installation.  The retail package includes the following:

  • ASUS HR-0205T HD DVD-Rom Drive
  • CyberLink Power DVD HD Edition
  • Quick installation guide
  • PATA to SATA Adaptor
  • Mounting screws

 

Retail Package Contents

Moving right along, let’s take a closer look at the Package Details.

Box Front

Box Rear

Box Left

Box Right

 

Now let’s take a closer look at the drive itself:

Drive Front

Drive Rear

Drive Left

Drive Right

Drive Bottom

Drive Top

Drive Sticker

Test machine

For this review we are testing the ASUS HR-0205T mounted inside of our Nvidia based system with the following components:

Review PC #1:

  •          Motherboard: eVGA / Jetway 939GT4-SLI
  •          Processor: AMD Opteron(tm) Processor 165 @ 2.7GHz
  •          Memory: 2x 1Gb G.Skill Extreme Series 2GBZX @ 250MHz
  •          Video: ATI X600
  •          Display: Samsung SyncMaster 710N 17” LCD
  •          Sound: Onboard AC97
  •          Hard disks: 320GB Seagate SATA-II
  •          Operating System: Windows Vista Ultimate x86 is installed on this machine.

For our video playback testing the ASUS HR-0205 we will be using this configuration:

Review PC #2:

  •          Motherboard: Asus P5K Deluxe WI-FI/AP
  •          Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe @3.70 GHz
  •          Memory: 4x 2GB A-DATA PC2-6400 DDR2
  •          Video: eVGA  8800GT Superclocked
  •          Display: Hanns·G HG-216DPO 21.6" 5ms Widescreen HDMI LCD
  •          Sound: SoundMAX Digital HD Audio (Onboard)
  •          Hard Disks: 2x 320GB – 1x 750GB Seagate SATA-II
  •          Operating System: Windows Vista Ultimate x64 is installed on this machine.
  •          External Enclosure: Plumax PM-525U2-PCB V5 USB 2.0

 

System set-up:

The drive identifies itself as: ASUS HR-0205T and is installed as a SATA device (with the included SATA adapter), with firmware AS00 factory installed.

As you can see by the burst rate of 25 MB/s and the Nero Info Tool readout the drive is running in UDMA 2 mode.

 

Software

Windows Vista Ultimate x86 is installed on our test system; we will also be using the following software for this review:

  • Nero CD-DVD Speed
  • Nero InfoTool
  • EAC (Exact Audio Copy)

Included Software with the Drive

 

The ASUS HR-0205T is shipped with CyberLink Power DVD 7.3 HD Edition. The disc also contains the online ASUS drive firmware updater; no newer firmware was available at the time of this review.

An Introduction to HD DVD:

The HD DVD disc builds on the experience gained from the conventional DVD format and is derived from the same fundamental technology.

In the following illustrations, multiple laser beams are shown for convenience, both above and below the disc. In actual HD DVD drives there is a single laser beam, which illuminates the disc from below.

Although the data density is much greater in HD DVD discs, the structure is very similar to existing DVDs. Discs may be single or double-sided, giving a total storage potential of 60GB on a single disc.

Alternative architectures include the ‘Combination’ disc, in which one side may be a conventional DVD-9 and the other a dual layer HD DVD. This offers a single inventory product for retailers and a future-proof acquisition for consumers. There is also a technology proposal, approved by the DVD Forum as a format option in HD DVD-ROM version 1.2, for a ‘Twin format’ disc, in which the layer closest to the pick-up head is reflective to red and transparent to blue-violet light. With this structure, a conventional DVD video player ‘sees’ the disc as a normal DVD-5, while the blue laser penetrates the first layer to read the HD DVD data behind.

Family of HD DVD discs:

  • HD DVD-ROM is a 12cm disc, 1.2mm thick, replicated as either single or dual layer, with a storage capacity of 15GB for a single layer and 30GB for a dual layer disc. Double sided versions increase capacity to 30GB and 60GB respectively.
  • 3X DVD-ROM Brings the higher data rate of HD DVD to the conventional format, enabling 135 minutes of HD content to be placed on a DVD-ROM, using AVC or VC-1 codecs.
  • 8 cm mini HD DVD offers 4.7GB in single layer form and 9.4GB as dual layer. A double-sided disc is part of the standard.
  • HD DVD-R write once discs can hold 15 GB per side, 30GB total.
  • HD DVD-RW re-writable discs store 20GB on each side, 40GB total.

Comparison of Blu-ray Disc, HD DVD and DVD formats:

We include a table of both high-definition formats and including DVD format for comparison.

On the next page we will take a look at the drives Reading Performance…

10 Comments

guest
Posts: 15284
Posted on: 09 Mar 08 00:49
Why bother with this drive at all,HD DVD is now dead in the water as blueray has now won the format war.
FidelC
Posts: 987
Posted on: 09 Mar 08 01:58
Because it may be about time to get one for those who bought some HD-DVDs and want to make sure they will play at all times on an HTPC
Some Random Guy
Posts: 633
Posted on: 09 Mar 08 05:10
If you want an HD-DVD reader, get the xbox 360 add-on drive from bestbuy.com or amazon.com. $50.
guest
Posts: 15284
Posted on: 09 Mar 08 09:16
HD-DVD is dead!!! No point trying to resusitate because there's no life left in the old dog.
FidelC
Posts: 987
Posted on: 10 Mar 08 06:04
Who cares. Try to find a 360 add-on or a Toshiba player in here. They are all sold out because people decided they needed one. On HD-DVD you can find lots of movies for less and they use the same or better codecs than blue rays. Now if you can get the same movie experience for less why on earth would you buy some bd DRM infested crap for $500+ ? I hope some independent studios or Bollywood will chip in and buy all the HD patents and then make decent movies ppl will want to watch at DVD prices. We will see then who won what.
guest
Posts: 15284
Posted on: 10 Mar 08 21:05
@FidelC...people who bought HD-DVD`s would have a drive already,dont you think?or else why buy them,just to sit on the shelf..noooooo dont think so.i think you are sounding off a bit upset because you have one and are now gutted that they are no longer being supported,oh well you can always put your coffee mug on them. :B
SciFer
Posts: 249
Posted on: 11 Mar 08 01:49
These would make sense to buy only if they made HD-DVD burners and these players could playback our hi-def recordings, DVR or data backup (not to mention Divx HD). [Ad edited out] It would be nice to have a HD-DVD recorder with a buit-in ATSC tuner that could record our favorite shows and transfer them to HD-DVD-R media. Also the ability to digitally capture hi-def camcorder recordings, tranfer them to a built-in hard drive, edit, create menus and finally burn it to HD-DVD-R media.
This message was edited at: 11-03-2008 01:53
MegaDETH
Posts: 4873
Posted on: 11 Mar 08 02:06
Yes HD DVD is dead but you must realize we get review drives a month or so before it is posted so we had been working on this drive review before HD DVD was officially dead. For what it's worth if you can pick up one of these cheap and have a need for it in a HTPC you won't find a more silent drive
FidelC
Posts: 987
Posted on: 11 Mar 08 19:33
the only reason I'm rooting (still) for HD DVD is it's an amazing display of modern tech and it was brought to consumer for much less then the competing camp. All things equal, I would have bought an HDdvd rom first and start renting movies waiting for the burners to come along. Now it is pointless as no rental will carry hd-dvd. I will sit back and wait for the most sinister of two evils to drop (dead) or in price. :B
webs
Posts: 7
Posted on: 09 Apr 08 17:43
Details of a controversial plan to make money from music piracy are beginning to emerge. Spearheaded by Warner Music Group, the plan aims to get internet service providers to pay a few dollars per user per month into a fund that would then be divided among rights holders. The scheme would essentially give P2P users a get-out-of-jail-free card for file sharing activity. It has been learned by industry consultant Jim Griffin, hired by Warner to implement the idea, has already set up an independent company to act as a digital-rights clearinghouse. Griffin's company would be like an ASCAP for the internet, collecting fees from ISPs and divvying them up among rights holders. In addition, BigChampagne, a company that measures digital-media consumption, would be one of the major sources supplying the necessary data to track file sharing activity. ?The hoped-for result: a truce in the music wars. ? "The music industry has no choice," says Bob Kohn, a music-licensing expert and CEO of RoyaltyShare, which manages digital revenues for both majors and indies. "It's significantly weaker than it was in 2000. And the longer this drags on, the more difficult it will be to succeed." In the last 10 years, sales of CDs have plummeted as digital downloads have exploded, and the U.S. music business has shrunk from about $15 billion to $10 billion. The idea of charging a flat fee for 'all-you-can-eat' downloads is beginning to take off. Posted by webs at 12:21 PM see my blog for more information; www.yuwie.com/webs

Post a comment

Hello guest,
default
To benefit from all extra features you need to log in or sign up.
signup log in