Lite On SOHW-832S DVD Writer

Testing:

For my testing, I used the drive testing tool that comes with Nero 6. I ran three tests each and took the middle rest. The DVD9 disk was tested first:

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The speed was very good for this drive. I know that the speed for the disk is supposed to be 2.4X but I was pulling almost over 4X for the disc. The Random Access time is better than the promoted 160ms time. I have seen other brands promote 130 to 135ms, but they might have the same kind of increase on this bench test. The burst rate is alright, I have seen better promoted on other drives.

I next put in a 4X DVD-R disc and compared the speeds to my NU burner.

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The NU stayed on target with the tests, unfortunately I was unable to pull CPU or seeks times with this test version of DVD Speed.

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The Lite On kept pace with the NU drive.

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For an extra test, I ran Sandra to bench mark the read ability of the drives.

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The Lite-On blew the NU drive away. Both had a 16X read speeds but the Lite-On performed quite a bit faster with a random access time of 1/2 that of the NU.

Conclusion:

A big thank you to Lite On for providing the SOHW-832S DVD+9 Writer for review.

If you are looking for a DVD writer, get one that supports DVD9. It might be $30-50 more, but it will be worth it in the future. In a couple of months the DVD9 blank discs will hit the shelves and you will want that extra storage. If you are looking for a solid, inexpensive DVD writer, check out the Lite On SOHW-832S. I like this drive for the software and the smaller size. It also works with all the standard software.

Pros:

• Supports DVD9 formats
• 8x speed is fast
• Inexpensive
• Comes with great software
• Smaller size

• No digital audio cable

Rating:

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