Quantcast

Forum Login

feed image
Directory Reviews Storage Reviews

Liteon 160P6S DVD-R/W Review PDF Print E-mail
Article Index
Liteon 160P6S DVD-R/W Review
Specifications
What You Get
Test Configuration and CD Tests
DVD Burning Tests
Conclusions
Page 3 of 6
What You Get

box

One first impression you get with this Liteon is from the box itself. The packaging is rather cheap, just a basic cardboard box with cardboard inserts to support the drive. Still this drive is very inexpensive and I guess fancy packaging is a bit wasted for an under $40 drive.


In the box you get a 20 page Users Manual in four languages, a "Thank You"thumb_inbox pamphlet which is thankfully (me and puns, got to love it) short and sweet, and two fold out posters. One is instructions for replacing the bezel (the drive comes with a black bezel installed, and a cream/white bezel) to match your case and the other is a simple newbie "how-to" for installing a ROM drive. Someone who's never installed a drive in their life should do just fine with these posters/guides. Also included is an analog audio cable (though god knows why, as we've had direct digital audio over IDE for forever practically), an IDE ribbon cable, and a basic 2 CD set of software consisting of PowerDVD6 and Nero 7SE.

 

topThe drive itself is typically Liteon small, certainly compared to my monster-long Aopen PDC1640 Slot-Load DVD-ROM drive. From the top barcode sticker, you can see this drive was manufactured in April of 2006.
On the back, well there's not allot to see beyond the usual labeled pin layouts forthumb_back digital and analog audio, Master/Slave/CS jumpers, the IDE header, and the 4 pin power connector

The included software bundle is basic, but acceptable in this price range. Nero7 OEM Edition is certainly a good burning suite, though I've grown a bit weary personally of Nero's increasing "girth" as an application suite. PowerDVD6 is a very good DVD playing application, just one I don't particularly prefer. I have my Bluetooth PC remote set up to work with VLC and KMPlayer myself, and those are what I prefer for playing back all of my video media. Regardless of my own personal quirks however, the included software bundle is basic, but acceptable. 

blackbezelFor an experienced builder, installing a ROM drive is about as complicated as breathing. For a first timer, installing a ROM drive is only marginally more complicated (you don’t need to know how to handle a screwdriver to breathe). Needless to say, installation wasn't a massive chore. I installed this burner in my now rather aged XP1500 wanna-be Frankenstein Home Theatre PC for a couple of reasons. First, it's DVD burner died fairly recently (A Gigabyte GO-0804a that's burned more discs and had more firmware flashes and hacks than I've had hot dinners), secondly because it's the crappiest box I have and I wanted to put it through the ringer with a few CPU load and buffer underrun situations.

Nero InfoTool is a tool I usually rely on to give me an accurate representation of ainfotool drive's capabilities. But, I think the tool's author and this drive have an issue or three. If you take a careful look at the tool's indicated formats, there are some weird issues. First it says the drive can write +R DL discs but can't read them. It also indicated I can somehow magically support Blue Ray BD discs! Until I get an answer from Nero Infotool's author, I guess we should just ignore this. The only formats of note that this drive doesn’t support are DVD-RAM and Mount Rainier, which Liteon drives usually never support, and Lightscribe which I personally just don't have the patience for even if it's a really neat feature.

 On to the tests!
 
© 2003-2008 Fastsilicon Media. All Rights Reserved