DH Review: Lite-On SOHW-1633S 16x Dual Layer DVD±RW

Zardon · Sep 27, 2004, 06:32 PM

Our optical wizz Frank "Dom" De Jesus has taken the new Liteon 1633s drive through its paces.

"Retailing at a mere $89USD (at time of review; 09/26/04), Lite-On is practically giving this drive away. It is the ideal drive for both CD and DVD burning. It’s extremely fast, inexpensive, durable and provides an incredible bang-for-the-buck."

read here

dipstick · Sep 28, 2004, 01:39 AM

Nice review Dom, well done. I must admit this drive looks sweet and probably has the best bundle I have seen yet. LiteOn is on a roll

hjs · Sep 28, 2004, 05:28 AM

What about burn quality? nice it's fast but how well is the dvd burned

Danhill · Sep 28, 2004, 06:41 AM

Very good review Dom as always, that burner sure looks good.

mainman · Sep 28, 2004, 06:58 AM

Very nice review Frank, that drive really sounds like a awsome buy.

~~HawK~~ · Sep 28, 2004, 08:23 AM

Good review, wonder myself to buy a new DVD burner..
The LG 4081b isnt as good as I hoped it would be
pondering wether to buy the Plextor PX-712A or the new Asus DRW-1608A
Any advise on those?

Dom · Sep 28, 2004, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hjs

What about burn quality? nice it's fast but how well is the dvd burned

Burn quality is excellent. If you'd like some additional info on that, let me know.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HawK

Good review, wonder myself to buy a new DVD burner..
The LG 4081b isnt as good as I hoped it would be
pondering wether to buy the Plextor PX-712A or the new Asus DRW-1608A
Any advise on those?

Personally I wouldn't buy a non-Lite-On drive. I did a review of the 712A, here. It's a good drive but I found its exclusive features useless. Not sure of the Asus.

hjs · Sep 28, 2004, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dom

Burn quality is excellent. If you'd like some additional info on that, let me know.

No thnx, i don't need some info, because i already have the benq 16x dvd burner (with some of the best burn-quality on +R media), but i think some other might like the extra info.

Matth · Sep 28, 2004, 01:18 PM

Better than the 1213S, in burn quality, but maybe still not up to the standard of an original or tweaked 832S, and CDfreaks still seem to favour the NEC 3500A or the Pioneer 108.

The current 1633S firmware is getting more positive reports, but it comes as those who actually bother testing are close to losing patience and faith in Liteon.

Liteon are beginning to get there, and perhaps (though some are a bit miffed) abandoning the 8x media @ 12x of the 1213S (which can't make a 12x burn to save it's life anyway) - there is only one reason to get a 1213S, that is to flashhack it to a 1633S - not so you can go faster, but because there is NOT a good 1213S firmare at all!

NB. The 1633S uses CAV/P-CAV strategy on DVD+R, as well as on CD-R - all other media is CLV or Z-CLV.

Some OEM's (Sony DRU710) and mixed reports for others (Memorex F16) also support Ultra-66 (UDMA 4) mode, though ypou must have an 80 wire IDE cable.

Reading - not as good as the 832S, but better than many others - the NEC's, in particular, have tended to be rather weak readers.

Safedisk 2 backup/accurate EFM encoding: Better than most other DVDs, but not a patch on the best CD writers.

Error scanning (DVD PI/PIF errors) - somewhat variable compared to the 812/832.

I'll say the same as I said to my friend - after buying a 1213S before seeing all the negatives.

The 1213S (and 1633S) show promise, but they need better firmware - the 812S/832S are still Liteon's best drives at the moment, but if you want a straight DVD writer with no tricks, the Pioneer or NEC is better.

NEC also uses a rather dated Z-CLV approach to CD burning (the 2500, anyway), which gave it slower, but better CD burns than practically anything else ever tested at CDRINFO.COM

PS. One bizarre thing....
This drive series has a memory of the last four burns, and it appears it may tune itself to the media.

Sep 27, 2004, 06:32 PM	#1
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	DH Review: Lite-On SOHW-1633S 16x Dual Layer DVD±RW Our optical wizz Frank "Dom" De Jesus has taken the new Liteon 1633s drive through its paces. "Retailing at a mere $89USD (at time of review; 09/26/04), Lite-On is practically giving this drive away. It is the ideal drive for both CD and DVD burning. It’s extremely fast, inexpensive, durable and provides an incredible bang-for-the-buck." read here

Sep 28, 2004, 05:28 AM	#3
hjs DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 60 Rep Power: 0	What about burn quality? nice it's fast but how well is the dvd burned __________________ My PC

Sep 28, 2004, 06:41 AM	#4
Danhill DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Sweden Posts: 4,112 Rep Power: 0	Very good review Dom as always, that burner sure looks good. __________________ 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

Sep 28, 2004, 06:58 AM	#5
mainman Mr. Nobody Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: OmniPresent Nightwatcher Posts: 5,961 Rep Power: 71	Very nice review Frank, that drive really sounds like a awsome buy. __________________

Sep 28, 2004, 01:18 PM	#9
Matth Flash Banner Hater Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: UK Posts: 3,426 Rep Power: 93 System Specs	Better than the 1213S, in burn quality, but maybe still not up to the standard of an original or tweaked 832S, and CDfreaks still seem to favour the NEC 3500A or the Pioneer 108. The current 1633S firmware is getting more positive reports, but it comes as those who actually bother testing are close to losing patience and faith in Liteon. Liteon are beginning to get there, and perhaps (though some are a bit miffed) abandoning the 8x media @ 12x of the 1213S (which can't make a 12x burn to save it's life anyway) - there is only one reason to get a 1213S, that is to flashhack it to a 1633S - not so you can go faster, but because there is NOT a good 1213S firmare at all! NB. The 1633S uses CAV/P-CAV strategy on DVD+R, as well as on CD-R - all other media is CLV or Z-CLV. Some OEM's (Sony DRU710) and mixed reports for others (Memorex F16) also support Ultra-66 (UDMA 4) mode, though ypou must have an 80 wire IDE cable. Reading - not as good as the 832S, but better than many others - the NEC's, in particular, have tended to be rather weak readers. Safedisk 2 backup/accurate EFM encoding: Better than most other DVDs, but not a patch on the best CD writers. Error scanning (DVD PI/PIF errors) - somewhat variable compared to the 812/832. I'll say the same as I said to my friend - after buying a 1213S before seeing all the negatives. The 1213S (and 1633S) show promise, but they need better firmware - the 812S/832S are still Liteon's best drives at the moment, but if you want a straight DVD writer with no tricks, the Pioneer or NEC is better. NEC also uses a rather dated Z-CLV approach to CD burning (the 2500, anyway), which gave it slower, but better CD burns than practically anything else ever tested at CDRINFO.COM PS. One bizarre thing.... This drive series has a memory of the last four burns, and it appears it may tune itself to the media. Last edited by Matth; Sep 28, 2004 at 01:23 PM.

Sep 28, 2004, 01:39 AM	#2
dipstick HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: USA Posts: 3,609 Rep Power: 71 System Specs	Nice review Dom, well done. I must admit this drive looks sweet and probably has the best bundle I have seen yet. LiteOn is on a roll

Sep 28, 2004, 08:23 AM	#6
~~HawK~~ Banned Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 2,092 Rep Power: 0	Good review, wonder myself to buy a new DVD burner.. The LG 4081b isnt as good as I hoped it would be pondering wether to buy the Plextor PX-712A or the new Asus DRW-1608A Any advise on those?