Lite-On SHW-1635S review

Test machine:

For this review we will be using a computer with the following configuration:

Hardware:

• Motherboard: Abit IC-7 MAX3 i875P
• Processor: Intel Pentium 4 3,2GHz 800MHz FSB Prescott with Hyper Threading support.
• RAM: 1Gb PC4300 DDR
• GFX: Asus GeForce 6800
• Sound: SB Audigy 2
• Hard disk: 400Gb Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 S-ATA connected to the Intel i875P S-ATA controller.

System set-up:

The Lite-On SHW-1635S was connected as Secondary Master and identified itself as LITE-ON DVDRW SHW-1635S. DMA (Direct Memory Access) was enabled for all devices where it was possible.

Software:

Windows XP Professional is installed on the computer along with Service Pack 2 for Windows XP. We will be using the following software in this review:

• Nero Burning ROM version 7
• Nero CD-DVD Speed v4.07
• Nero InfoTool v3.0.7
• DVD-Identifier 4.0.1
• K-Probe v2.5.1

Installation and supported features:

We quickly installed the drive without any problems and here is a screenshot from Nero InfoTool:

Our drive came shipped with firmware YS0G, we updated the firmware to version YS0P/YS0Q for this review. Later we got YS0R to address some issues we pointed out and thus some tests are re-done with YS0R. The drawbacks we could see are the inability to read and write DVD-RAM discs as well as missing Mt. Rainier support along with a slightly small buffer. A larger buffer would at least smooth up the data transfer to the drive a bit on stressed systems. Lite-On will release a super-multi drive later that also supports DVD-RAM.

Book type changing:

To see if the Lite-On SHW-1635S supports bitsetting we tried with Lite-On’s official tool:

As we could see, it supports bitsetting. The write now button is for directly changing the booktype on a DVD+RW disc. It is also possible to change and save the booktype wanted in the EEPROM. You could also use the bitsetting feature in KProbe under the tools menu. Or you could use Nero CD-DVD Speed to change the bitsetting:

Notice that changing the booktype in Nero CD-DVD speed will not be permanent, so you have to change it again when you restart your computer. Let us see if booktype changing actually works:

Yes it sure does, we could see that book type is listed as DVD-ROM.

Error scanning of written discs:

The Lite-On SHW-1635S supports error reporting just like earlier drives from Lite-On. Here are two examples of programs you may use for checking your written discs for errors.

KProbe is developed by a Lite-On employee, but it’s not an official Lite-On program. This is what we use in our reviews. But you may also use Nero CD-DVD-speed:

Nero CD-Speed is just as good and also gives you an indication of the quality by giving a score. Higher score is better; a good result should at least be over 80 in quality score. Nero CD-DVD speed is included with newer Nero 6.x and 7.x versions or available as a separate download from www.cdspeed2000.com.

Included software:

Now it’s time to look at the included software, and comment if needed. Notice that we may not use the included software in our performance testing part of the review.

Power DVD 5:

The drive includes Power DVD 5 to play DVD and VCD movies. PowerDVD is among our favourites so Lite-On made a good choice including it.

Nero 6.6 OEM Suite:

The well-known Nero suite is also included and covers all tasks from creating the movie to writing it to the disc. This is one of our favourite programs.

Now that we have finished examining the drive and bundled programs ‘“ let us head on to the next page, which is reading performance test…