Lite-On SHW-16H5S DVD Burner Review

Lite-On It B.V. was kind enough to send us their latest DVD Burner, the SHW-16H5S for review, and we will be putting the SHW-16H5S through its paces in this review.

The Lite-On SHW-16H5S supports 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW and 8x/4x DVD+R DL/DVD-R DL writing technology, allowing Double/Dual Layer discs of 8.GB to be written. The Lite-On SHW-16H5S also supports LightScribe label writing technology.

Company information: 

Let us take a look at some of the company information found at the Liteon Website:

Lite-On Technology Corporation’s vision is to become a world-class excellent company. The company will accomplish this not only through leading global R&D and manufacturing technologies, but also through the quality and distinctiveness of its products.

To reach these levels of excellence and become the leading navigator in 3C convergence, Lite-On plans to generate between five and six billion US dollars in annual revenue while establishing itself as a global market-leader by mastering all of its product-line industries. The company’s ability to generate profits will guide the industrial circles in which it competes. While accomplishing these goals, corporate management will continue its policies of absolute financial transparency, independence, and impartiality.

The company’s pursuit of excellence does not end there. To create better lives for people, Lite-On will also continue to develop advanced and integrated digital products while furnishing customers with innovative values that lead to true, beneficial relationships. Lite-On wants to be the best strategic partner for each of its customers.

Led by a professional team with promise and lofty ethics, Lite-On will also strive to be an excellent corporation with peak efficiency. The company will provide shareholders and investors with an appealing return-on-investment. Additionally, Lite-On will supply employees with an optimum work environment that helps them learn new skills and grow professionally for the future. Lite-On seeks to become one of the best corporations that people in greater China can choose for a career.

Facts & Figures:

• Lite-On Technology reported its global consolidated June revenue of NT$13.7B, increasing 4% on a YoY basis.
• Accumulated revenue in 2005 totalled NT$75.6B, growing 2% on a YoY basis.

If you are interested in reading more company information, please visit: Liteon

Drive specifications:

The specifications of the SHW-16H5S were found at the Lite-On webpage:

What’s inside the box?

On this page we will take a look at what the drive came shipped with and take a look at the drive and its technology.

The drive supplied was the retail version, and as we can see, we were supplied with the SHW-16H5S drive, black and beige bezels, Nero OEM suite, PowerDVD, one piece of LightScribe media, audio cable, fixing screws, and instruction booklet.

Box front

Box rear

 
Box left and right

Box top

Now it’s time to take a look at the drive itself:

Black bezel

Beige bezel

The bezel of the Lite-On SHW-16H5S is attractively styled. On the tray we can see the ‘LightScribe” logo, and we can also see an emergency eject hole, a single green coloured LED for read and write (we prefer a different LED colour though for writing) and an eject button.

Top

Label

On the top of the drive we found two labels, and we can see that the drive was made in China, dated October 2005.

On the rear of the drive starting from the left, we can see a diagnostics connector, digital audio connector, analogue audio connector, jumpers for cable select, slave, and master; IDE connector, and finally the power connector.

Software Suite

Now it’s time to take a look at the bundled software suite and comment if needed. Please note: we may not use the supplied software in this review.

Supplied with the Lite-On SHW-16H5S is the powerful Nero OEM suite, and comprises the following applications:

⋅         Nero Express 6.6
⋅         InCD 4
⋅         Nerovision Express 3
⋅         Nero Backitup
⋅         MPEG-2 SVCD/DVD plug-in
⋅         Drive manual
⋅         Adobe Acrobat reader

The screenshot above shows the Nero OEM install screen.

Also supplied with the Lite-On SHW-16H5S is the very good PowerDVD application, allowing the user to play DVD-Movie disc’s on their PC.

With the Nero OEM and PowerDVD software, the user should have everything needed to burn and author recordable media, and view the results on their PC screen. The package is easy to use for the beginner and contains enough features for the advanced user.

Disc Quality Scanning:

The Lite-On SHW-16H5S can also be used for ‘Disc Quality Scanning” using either K-Probe or Nero CD-DVD Speed. In the screenshot below we can see the results of a ‘disc quality scan” in CD-DVD Speed.

But let us continue this review and see how the SHW-16H5S really performs.

On the next page we will take a look at the test machine, the software, and the drive features…………