ASUS DRW-1608P3S DVD Burner Review


 


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Review:
ASUS DRW-1608P3S
Reviewed by: zevia
Provided by: ASUS -
USA

Firmware:
1.06
Manufactured: March
2006



ASUS USA was kind
enough to send us their latest Multi Function (X Multi) DVD Burner: the ASUS
DRW-1608P3S. ASUS' newest DVD burner incorporates DVD-RAM recording, creating a
true DVD Multi drive. Single layer 4.7GB DVD burning is supported at 16X max.
Double Layer and Dual Layer Recording speed is 8X max. DVD Rewriteable speeds
are 8X max for DVD+RW and 6X max for DVD-RW respectively. DVD-RAM recording is
supported at 5X max. Very fast 40X max CD-R burning and 32X max CD-RW means you
no longer need a separate CD Burner for high performance CD
burning.

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In this article we
will show the performance of the DRW-1608P3S by
running the drive through many tests on a considerable amount of various CD/DVD
media.


 


Corporate
Information:






We took a quick look at
the company information found at ASUS web pages:



ASUS, a technology-oriented
company blessed with one of the world's top R&D teams, is well known for
high-quality and innovative technology. As a leading provider of 3C (computers,
communications and consumer electronics) total solutions, ASUS offers a complete
product portfolio to compete in the new millennium.


In 2005, ASUS shipped 52 million
motherboards, which means one out of every 3 desktop PCs sold last year was
powered by an ASUS motherboard. If we line them up side by side, the length will
be longer than the distance from New York to San Francisco.


ASUS products' top quality stems
from product development. It's like learning Chinese Kung-Fu; one must begin
with cultivating the "Chi" and inner strength. Besides innovating cutting-edge
features, ASUS engineers also pay special attention to EMI (electromagnetic
interference), thermal, acoustics and details that usually go unnoticed to
achieve complete customer satisfaction. ASUS notebooks are the first
TCO'99-certified notebooks worldwide. The requirements for this honour include
radiation emission control, energy (battery consumption), ecology (environment
friendly) and ergonomics.


To succeed in this
ultra-competitive industry, great products need to be complimented by
speed-to-market, cost and service. That's why all 58,000 employees of ASUS
strive for the "ASUS Way of Total Quality Management" to offer the best quality
without compromising cost and time-to-market while providing maximum value to
all customers through world-class services.


ASUS won 1706 awards in 2005 from
the world's most respected IT media and organizations. Business Week ranked ASUS
amongst its "InfoTech 100" for the eight straight year. The readers of Tom's
Hardware Guide, the world's largest IT website, selected ASUS as the best maker
of motherboards (4 consecutive years) and graphics cards (two consecutive
years). Furthermore, the company took home the prestigious "National Award of
Excellence" presented by the Ministry of Economics Affairs and Germany's
Industrie Forum (iF) Gold Award for industrial design excellence.



 


Drive
Overview:






 




 


The ASUS
DRW-1608P3S is X Multi DVD±R/RW drive capable of reading data from and writing
data on DVD+R/RW/DVD-R/RW/ DVD-RAM formats. The dual compatibility feature of
the DRW-1608P3S allows you to create DVDs that can be played or read by most
DVD-ROM drives and DVD players. This function provides you with flexibility and
efficiency in terms of multimedia data storage and sharing.


 


¨ Multi Function: (X
Multi)




  • Max.
    16X DVD±R / 8X DVD+RW / 6X DVD-RW / 8X DVD±R (DL)


  • Max. 40X CD-R / 32X
    CD-RW


  • Max.
    16X DVD-ROM / 40X CD-ROM


  • Max:
    5X DVD-RAM Write / Read

 


 



 


¨ Over-Speed
Burning




  • Burn
    2.4X DVD±R (Double Layer) Disc at 4X / 6X / 8X Speed


  • Burn
    8X DVD±R Disc at 16X Speed

 


¨ Liquid Crystal Tilt Technology '“
Precision on Uneven Discs


LCT
(Liquid Crystal Tilt) technology provides enhanced pick up head accuracy during
recording and playback on discs with uneven curvature and thickness.


¨ FlextraLink™ Buffer Underrun
Errors Prevention Technology


Built-in
FlextraLink™ prevents users from buffer underrun problems and eliminates the
creation of unusable discs. Throughout the recording process, FlextraLink™
consistently monitors the data buffer status to ensure best recording quality
under high-speed operation.


¨ FlextraSpeed™ Optimal Writing
Speed Adjustment Technology


Built-in
FlextraSpeed™ and AI Auto Speed Adjustment Tech. enhance accuracy and
reliability when reading/writing/re-writing across a broad range of certified
media in different formats. FlextraSpeed™ continuously monitors the recording
media and sets the optimal writing speeds to ensure best recording quality. The
ASUS proprietary FlextraSpeed™ occupies minimal system resources so the PC
remains full operational and available for other applications even during
recording process.


¨ Superior Stability with
DDSSII


The
DDSSII technology is designed to minimize the vibration caused by the spindle
motor and resonance between components as well as the drive and PC cases. The
ASUS patented DDSSII stabilizes, both horizontally and vertically, the pick-up
head, achieving more precise tracking and focusing, while reducing vibration and
noise caused by high-revolution spindle motors.


 



 


Drive
specifications:






Now let us take a look at the
specifications of the ASUS DRW-1608P3S.


 



 


What's inside the
box?






The drive we received was
a retail package and comes with everything you need for quick and easy
installation. The retail package includes the following items:




  • The internal DRW-1608P3S drive
    itself



  • Quick Installation Guide



  • Nero OEM Suite 2 software disc



  • DVD MovieFactory 4 SE software
    disc



  • 4 Screws


 



Retail
package


Now let's take a look at
the details on the retail box:



Box
Front



Box
Rear


 
Box Left and
Right



Box
Top



Box
Bottom


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



Drive with black bezel


With the black front
panel, the drive tray has a nice appearance with lines and contour. In the left
of the bezel there is an emergency eject hole, to the right there is a X Multi
logo (Multi Function), LED indicator, and from left to right we have DVD Multi
Recorder logo, a DVD Alliance (DVD+R DL) logo, and a
Compact Disc Ultra Speed ReWriteable logo. Finally at the far right is the eject
button.


 
Top



Drive
Sticker


On the top of the drive
we found a sticker that shows it was made in China and has a production date of
March 2006.



Bottom



Drive
Right



Drive
Left


 
Rear


Now, let us connect the
drive and check out the features, program bundle and writing technology on the
next page…


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