LiteON SOHW-832S Dual DVD±RW Recorder - Page 21

The LiteON SOHW-832S is the first ever LiteON recorder that supports DVD+R DL writing. The new format has been highly awaited from many users as an alternative medium for storage, mostly movies with 1:1 process. For this use, the LiteON SOHW-832S is very good. DVD+R DL writing worked like a charm and when the initial media prices drop, many users will enjoy it.

Listing the negatives, the drive's biggest problem is its initial firmware. Explaining our previous comment, we saw that the writing performance with DVD-R format is not what we might expect from LiteON. The drive produced two coasters with 8X branded DVD-R media and generally the writing quality was below par. LiteON of course has the policy of releasing frequent firmware upgrades but we would like the drive to be better fine tuned for the DVD-R format, since many users don't even know what a firmware upgrade is...

Also, the supported media list for the -R format at 8X is not that high, again newer firmware is expected to improve this situation. In case a user uses LiteON's Booktype for DVD+R DL, they will be disappointed, since it didn't work as we expected it too, however by using KProbe you will get the desired results. Lastly, something annoying is that the retail package doesn't include a blank DVD+R DL media.

On the positive side, as usual LiteON's drive prices are a strong point compared with the competition. The drive has very good CD/DVD error correction, can backup SD2 2.8x builds and has no problem with protected Audio discs. A big plus for the drive, is the fact that LiteON's unofficial community offers many "unique" features/utilities (KProbe, Media speedhacks, RPC1 utilities, overclocking, etc...).

As a last word we we list the positive/negative points of the drive. We hope that LiteON will fix many of the reported problems and make us change our opinion about the drive ;-)

- The Good

• Lower priced compared with other DVD+R DL recorders
• Good DVD writing quality for DVD+R media
• Can backup SafeDisc2 v2.8x protected discs
• Very good CD error correction
• Very good DVD error correction
• Can overburn up to 99mins
• High C2% accuracy
• Supports protected Audio discs (CDS200, Key2Audio)
• Frequent firmware updates from LiteON
• Supports BookType BitSetting for DVD+R/+RW/+DL formats
• Can be used for DVD media error measurements (at 8X)
• Big unofficial community support (KProbe, Speedhacks, RPC1 utilities)

- The Bad

• DVD-R writing needs much improvement, drive produces coasters and high PI/PIF error rates (could be fixed with firmware upgrade?)
• Doesn't accurately backup SafeDisc2 v2.9x+ protected discs
• Doesn't support reading of DVD-RAM media (could be fixed with firmware upgrade?)
• Retail package won't include a DVD+R DL media
• Doesn't support DVD overburning
• Doesn't accurately backup "Aiko Katsukino - The Love Letter", Audio protected disc

- Like to be fixed

• Limited support media list for 8X DVD-R writing
• DVD-R writing performance
• High C1/C2 errors with specific media at 40X