LightScribe Drives Comparison

Review Pages

1. Introduction
2. The media
3. The burners
4. Benefits and Limitations
5. BenQ DW1625 - Page 1
6. BenQ DW1625 - Page 2
7. HP dvd640i - Page 1
8. HP dvd640i - Page 2
9. Philips DVDR16LS - Page 1
10. Philips DVDR16LS - Page 2
11. Writing Quality
12. Conclusion

Hewlett-Packard was founded back in 1939 by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard. HP is one of the leading manufacturers of complete Personal Computers systems, imaging and printing solutions (scanners and printers), test/measurement equipment and last but not least, optical storage devices such as DVD/CD burners.

Hewlett-Packard is actually the inventor of LightScribe technology. As already mentioned, LightScribe was conceived by an HP engineer in Corvallis, Oregon, and brought to market through the joint design efforts of HP's imaging and optical storage divisions.

- Features

You might notice a lot of similarities between the HP burner and the BenQ burner. WOPC advance writing technology is again prominent, offering higher quality when burning discs. You can see a more detailed description of the WOPC II feature by clicking here.

- Specifications

Drive Performance	•Write: CD-R: up to 40x (CAV or P-CAV); CD-RW up to 24x (Z-CLV); DVD+R up to 16x (CAV); DVD+R DL 2.4x (CLV); DVD+RW up to 4x (CLV); DVD-R up to 8x (Z-CLV); DVD-RW up to 4X (CLV) •Read: CD-ROM up to 40x (CAV); DVD-ROM up to 16x (CAV) •LightScribe labeling approximate times: Setting Title Only Title & content Full label (w/ graphics) Best <4 min. <9 min. <36 min. Normal <3 min. <7 min. <28 min. Draft <2 min. <4 min. <20 min. •Sustained transfer: 1x CD = 150 KB/s (data mode 1); 1x DVD = 1353 KB/s •Burst transfer rate: 33 MB/sec •Access time: 160 ms avg random access (CD-ROM, DVD-ROM) •Disc finalization time: DVD: <2 minutes at 4x (DVD+R single-layer disc); CD: <1 minute typical •Spin up time: 6 Seconds •RIP speed: Extract a 4-minute audio track in less than 15 seconds, 16x minimum •Mean time between failures (MTBF): 70,000 POH at 25ºC •Reliability: Audio, Data Mode 2, and Mode 2 Form 2: < 1 uncorrectable frame in 10-9 bits read; Data Mode 1 and Mode 2 Form 1: < 1 uncorrected frame in 10-12 bits read.
System Requirements	•Operating system compatibility: Microsoft Windows XP, 2000 Professional SP3 (Latest service packs recommended) •Minimum system requirements: 800 MHz Intel Pentium III processor or equivalent, 1.6 GHz Intel Pentium IV processor or equivalent recommended (Actual drive performance depends on PC configuration); 128 MB RAM (256 MB recommended for video editing); 1024x768 video resolution with a minimum of 16-bit color required for ArcSoft Showbiz DVD; Minimum hard disk space requirements: 650 MB free for included software installation, 10 GB free for DVD video disc creation (18 GB free for double-layer). Internet connectivity recommended for software updates •Video capture: IEEE 1394 interface or analog video capture device device required
Compatibility	•Device write media compatibility: CD-R, CD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD+R, DVD+R DL, DVD-R, DVD-RW media •Device read media compatibility: DVD-ROM, DVD+R, DVD+R DL, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-Video, CD-R, CD-RW, CD-DA, CD Extra, CD-ROM (Mode 1 – Yellow Book), CD-ROM XA & CD-I (Mode 2/Form 2 – Green Book), Photo-CD (single and multi-session), VCD, CD-Text
Regulatory	•Safety: IEC 950 compliant; USA – UL, CDRH Radiation Control Standards 21; CFR 1010 and 1020-1 0.50; Canada – CSA or CUL; Europe – LVD 73/23/EEC 93/68/EC; IEC 60950 plus amendments, EN60825 plus amendments, EMCD 89/336/EEC plus amendments
Environment	•Operating temperature: 5° to 45° C (41° to 113° F) •Storage temperature: -30° to 60° C (-22° to 140° F) •Transportation temperature: -30° to 60° C (-22° to 140° F) •Operating humidity: 10%-80% RH •Storage humidity: 10%-95% RH •Operating shock: 1G, 11 ms 1/2 sine (Write) (DVD); 2G, 11 ms 1/2 sine (Write) (CD) •Non-operating shock: 50G 11 ms 1/2 sine, power off, without disc •Operating vibration: 0.2G RMS •Non-operating vibration: 2G RMS •Acoustics: 55 dB @ 50 cm distance (reading unbalanced media) •Power requirements: 5V +/- 5%; 12V +/- 5% •Power consumption: 25 watts maximum
Methods, Standards, Formats	•Supported Video formats: MPEG-1, MPEG-2, AVI, QuickTime, WMV (requires Media Player 9) •Video standards: NTSC, PAL •Audio formats: WAV, MP3, WMA •Logical recording format: UDF, ISO 9660, CD-DA, DVD-Video, VCD •Write methods: Track at once, disc at once, (CD-RW and CD-R); Random Write/Overwrite (DVD+RW), Sequential Write (DVD+R, DVD+R DL, DVD+RW), Multisession (DVD+R, DVD+R DL), Incremental (DVD-R/-RW), Multi-Border (DVD-R/-RW), Restricted overwrite (DVD-RW) •Encoding method: EFM, EFM Plus
Warranty	•1-year hardware and software warranty from date of purchase. •5-7 day turnaround on standard hardware unit exchange. (The turnaround time may vary depending on region.)

The drive supports booktype setting changes, does not support DVD-R DL reading, and does not support Mount Rainier. Below are the drive's main specs as given by NeroInfoTool and DVDInfoPro:

- Retail Package

The retail package includes the HP DVD burner, a software disc including the electronic user's guide, quick-start guide, installation screws, a "getting help" guide, and a LightScribe CD disc.

The software included in the retail package consist of ArcSoft ShowBiz (for video capture and editing, DVD video creation, creation, photo/video slideshows, and LightScribe labeling), Sonic RecordNow (for creating music and data discs, and for LightScribe LightScribe labeling), CyberLink PowerDVD (for DVD playback), and SureThing (for LightScribe labeling).

The drive that reached our lab has a black front panel, with the LightScribe logo on the left hand side. There is no phone jack or volume control.

On the rear panel you can see the analogue and digital outputs (SPDIF), the IDE connector and the power input.

Removing the screws and opening the drive's cover voids the drive's warranty. For reference reasons, we post the following pictures. You can click on the mainboard picture for a higher resolution image: