DH Review: Liteon SOHW-812S

Zardon · Jun 20, 2004, 11:32 AM

Frank "Dom" De Jesus has put together an exceptionally comprehensive look at Liteons x8 multiformat DVD burner, its a great read indeed. He compares the drive to an older "classic" drive and its a good indication of whether its worth upgrading that older drive you may still have in your possession.

"In this review I’m going to take a look at Lite-On’s SOHW-812S DVD±RW drive, which features DVD Plus (+) and Minus (-) burning of DVD Recordable discs at 8x and DVD Rewritable discs at 4x.
For comparison; I will be testing the SHOW-812S against NEC’s ND-1100A DVD+RW drive. Using several programs including: Nero Burning ROM and Easy CD-DA Extractor."

read his review here

kinetic · Jun 20, 2004, 01:26 PM

Nice review Dom, very thorough!

Dom · Jun 20, 2004, 01:34 PM

Thanks.

I enjoyed reviewing it, it is a great drive. Lite-On's PR is just as good as their products, and that's saying a lot.

Most other companies I contacted wouldn't even give me the time of day, but I'll mention no names.

fireball · Jun 20, 2004, 01:37 PM

Nice Review Dom.

Danhill · Jun 20, 2004, 02:14 PM

Very good review Dom.

I also have the same drive and I'm very happy with it.

dipstick · Jun 20, 2004, 09:39 PM

Nice review bud, I picked up the same drive not long ago myself and it's awesome. Don't forget later on down the road you can turn this bad boy into the Dual Layer capable 832s very easily. Hardware-wise they are identical

Also if I might add I got PowerDVD 5 with mine so maybe they messed up with the package they sent you

Dom · Jun 20, 2004, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by kakarot
Nice review bud, I picked up the same drive not long ago myself and it's awesome. Don't forget later on down the road you can turn this bad boy into the Dual Layer capable 832s very easily. Hardware-wise they are identical

Really? Via a firmware flash?

dipstick · Jun 20, 2004, 09:49 PM

Yeah. I haven't done it yet myself since it would be useless without media but you can check it cdrinfo
http://www.cdrinfo.com/forum/tm.asp?m=67600

Btw, wouldn't DVDDecrypter be a better test for ripping DVD movies? I think it's a better test(using the 'file' rip method) seeing as the DVDxCopy is no longer available and you're not adding any compression to it. Just a thought

Dom · Jun 20, 2004, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by kakarot
Yeah. I haven't done it yet myself since it would be useless without media but you can check it cdrinfo
http://www.cdrinfo.com/forum/tm.asp?m=67600

Btw, wouldn't DVDDecrypter be a better test for ripping DVD movies? I think it's a better test(using the 'file' rip method) seeing as the DVDxCopy is no longer available and you're not adding any compression to it. Just a thought

Thanks.

I'll consider it for the next DVD rewriter review.

Jarka Ruus · Jun 20, 2004, 11:24 PM

I know on Newegg.com right now you can pick up an NEC dual-layer DVD burner for under a 100 bucks.

Judas · Jun 21, 2004, 04:30 AM

i like lite-on just as much as Yamaha.... terribly though.. i can't get any retail here... let alone find somone that can get any in...

... Liteon should get on Futureshops List of products.... they got sony and LG... (terrible)...

mikeycooly · Jun 21, 2004, 11:11 PM

I believe putting it up aganist the 1100 was kinda unfair a more even match would of been the 2500 in my opinion. Very Nice review though.

Dom · Jun 21, 2004, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mikeycooly
I believe putting it up aganist the 1100 was kinda unfair a more even match would of been the 2500 in my opinion. Very Nice review though.

It was for comparison purposes only, so people can get a general idea of the speed of the SOHW-812S.

~~werty316~~ · Jun 22, 2004, 01:47 AM

LiteON is good in my book. I use and old 16X CDRW and it works great.

Ronox · Jun 23, 2004, 01:50 PM

If you have a Lite-On DVD writer then use OmniPatcher at http://codeguys.rpc1.org/patchers.html

"A very easy-to-use graphical do-it-all tool to increase the burning speed of low-speed media, increase the reading speed of burnt DVD media, enable auto-bitsetting, speed up and fine-tune high-speed burns, fix the blinking orange light problem, and enable crossflashing. Make a custom patched firmware tailored for your own needs with this tool!"

dipstick · Jun 30, 2004, 05:03 AM

Just wanted to let everyone know that I had a successful flash to an 832s

I have tested quite a few DVDRs and CDRs with no issues and I have also burned one successful dual layer disk....YAY!!! I thought I was getting 10 DL disks in the package but it was only one lol. Worth a try I think...

Dom · Jun 30, 2004, 05:06 AM

Cool.

Danhill · Jun 30, 2004, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dipstick
Just wanted to let everyone know that I had a successful flash to an 832s I have tested quite a few DVDRs and CDRs with no issues and I have also burned one successful dual layer disk....YAY!!! I thought I was getting 10 DL disks in the package but it was only one lol. Worth a try I think...

Nice, what firware did you have when you flashed it to a 832??

dipstick · Jun 30, 2004, 02:24 PM

I was running the latest US0N and updated to the latest VS04 for the 832s. You can get the prepatched firmware to flash the 812 to 832 in the VS04 package from the link below. Also once you flash you can use the regular 832 firmware without any special pre-patching. Please do this at your own risk, tho I think LIteOns can recover from bad flashes..
http://codeguys.rpc1.org/firmwares.html

Jun 20, 2004, 11:32 AM	#1
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 177	DH Review: Liteon SOHW-812S Frank "Dom" De Jesus has put together an exceptionally comprehensive look at Liteons x8 multiformat DVD burner, its a great read indeed. He compares the drive to an older "classic" drive and its a good indication of whether its worth upgrading that older drive you may still have in your possession. "In this review I’m going to take a look at Lite-On’s SOHW-812S DVD±RW drive, which features DVD Plus (+) and Minus (-) burning of DVD Recordable discs at 8x and DVD Rewritable discs at 4x. For comparison; I will be testing the SHOW-812S against NEC’s ND-1100A DVD+RW drive. Using several programs including: Nero Burning ROM and Easy CD-DA Extractor." read his review here

Jun 20, 2004, 01:37 PM	#4
fireball DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 2,899 Rep Power: 0	Nice Review Dom. __________________ [color=gray][/color]

Jun 20, 2004, 02:14 PM	#5
Danhill DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Sweden Posts: 4,112 Rep Power: 0	Very good review Dom. I also have the same drive and I'm very happy with it. __________________ MOBO: [color=white]ASUS A8N-SLI Premium[/color] CPU: AMD 64 3200+ (Venice) @ 2,50 Ghz MEM: 2 x 512 DDR 466, VGA: 2 x 6600 GT in SLI, HDD1: WD Raptor HDD2: Maxtor Diamond Plus 9, Case: Antec Plus View 1080, PSU: ThermalTake PurePower 500W, MX 1000, Dell 2001 FP, Aud. 2 SZ

Jun 20, 2004, 09:49 PM	#8
dipstick HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: USA Posts: 3,609 Rep Power: 70 System Specs	Yeah. I haven't done it yet myself since it would be useless without media but you can check it cdrinfo http://www.cdrinfo.com/forum/tm.asp?m=67600 Btw, wouldn't DVDDecrypter be a better test for ripping DVD movies? I think it's a better test(using the 'file' rip method) seeing as the DVDxCopy is no longer available and you're not adding any compression to it. Just a thought Last edited by dipstick; Jun 20, 2004 at 10:17 PM.

Jun 20, 2004, 01:26 PM	#2
kinetic DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Manchester England Posts: 2,559 Rep Power: 0	Nice review Dom, very thorough!

Jun 20, 2004, 01:34 PM	#3
Dom DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 12,940 Rep Power: 0	Thanks. I enjoyed reviewing it, it is a great drive. Lite-On's PR is just as good as their products, and that's saying a lot. Most other companies I contacted wouldn't even give me the time of day, but I'll mention no names.

Jun 20, 2004, 09:39 PM	#6
dipstick HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: USA Posts: 3,609 Rep Power: 70 System Specs	Nice review bud, I picked up the same drive not long ago myself and it's awesome. Don't forget later on down the road you can turn this bad boy into the Dual Layer capable 832s very easily. Hardware-wise they are identical Also if I might add I got PowerDVD 5 with mine so maybe they messed up with the package they sent you

Jun 20, 2004, 11:24 PM	#10
Jarka Ruus DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 11 Rep Power: 0	I know on Newegg.com right now you can pick up an NEC dual-layer DVD burner for under a 100 bucks.

Jun 21, 2004, 11:11 PM	#12
mikeycooly DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 99 Rep Power: 0	I believe putting it up aganist the 1100 was kinda unfair a more even match would of been the 2500 in my opinion. Very Nice review though.

Jun 22, 2004, 01:47 AM	#14
~~werty316~~ BANNED Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 604 Rep Power: 0	LiteON is good in my book. I use and old 16X CDRW and it works great.

Jun 23, 2004, 01:50 PM	#15
Ronox DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 16 Rep Power: 0	If you have a Lite-On DVD writer then use OmniPatcher at http://codeguys.rpc1.org/patchers.html "A very easy-to-use graphical do-it-all tool to increase the burning speed of low-speed media, increase the reading speed of burnt DVD media, enable auto-bitsetting, speed up and fine-tune high-speed burns, fix the blinking orange light problem, and enable crossflashing. Make a custom patched firmware tailored for your own needs with this tool!"

Jun 30, 2004, 05:03 AM	#16
dipstick HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: USA Posts: 3,609 Rep Power: 70 System Specs	Just wanted to let everyone know that I had a successful flash to an 832s I have tested quite a few DVDRs and CDRs with no issues and I have also burned one successful dual layer disk....YAY!!! I thought I was getting 10 DL disks in the package but it was only one lol. Worth a try I think...

Jun 30, 2004, 05:06 AM	#17
Dom DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 12,940 Rep Power: 0	Cool.

Jun 30, 2004, 02:24 PM	#19
dipstick HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: USA Posts: 3,609 Rep Power: 70 System Specs	I was running the latest US0N and updated to the latest VS04 for the 832s. You can get the prepatched firmware to flash the 812 to 832 in the VS04 package from the link below. Also once you flash you can use the regular 832 firmware without any special pre-patching. Please do this at your own risk, tho I think LIteOns can recover from bad flashes.. http://codeguys.rpc1.org/firmwares.html