DVD-Rom Roundup Vol3

Review Pages

1. Introduction
2. Data Tests
3. CloneCD reading Tests
4. DAE Tests
5. DVD Tests
6. Conclusion

DVD Round-up Vol3 - Page 6

Conclusion

ASUS E616
Positive (+)	Negative (-)
- Can be done region free without any patch! - Faster reader at CD format - High DVD ripping speed - Safisfactory CloneCD reading performance. - Has no problem recognize both 90/99min CDs - Can read SubChannel data from Data/Audio tracks - Good HSRW reading performance - Can read DVD-R/DVD+RW/DVD-RW formats - No problems during DVD playback	- Not very good DVD reading results - High seek times - Low DAE ripping speed - Lot of errors with scratched AudioCDR media - Cannot handle Audio protected CDs - Drive is noisy when reading at full speed - Some times the drive takes too LONG to spin up

Toshiba SD-M1612
Positive (+)	Negative (-)
- Reads HS-RW media at full speed - Good CD/DVD reading speed - Good DVD-ROM access times - Very good overall CloneCD reading performance - Can read SubChannel data from Data/Audio tracks - Has no problem recognize both 90/99min CDs - Support of DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-RAM formats - Low noise during operation - No problems during DVD playback	- RPC2 protection - Drive cannot be flashed with future firmware updates (?) - Failed to recognize our bad DAE disc - Does not support DVD+RW format - Cannot handle Audio protected CDs - Average DVD-R/W reading speeds - Low DVD ripping speed - Low DAE ripping speed -

When we started this new roundup we had in our mind that probably LiteOn LTD-163 would be the result winner as it happened in our two previous roundups. We can now say that this isn't true.

Both ASUS and Toshiba drives have an increased performance in the most tests, except from the DAE area. ASUS E616 is the fastest drive for the CD format, has satisfactory CloneCD reading performance, can rip DVDs at high speed and reads all DVD-R/RW/+RW formats. The best part is that you can reset the region counter by a simple trick as described in the first page. On the dark side, the drive has a low DAE speed with CDR media, cannot "handle" Audio protected CDs, and it is noisy when reading at full speed, despite the DDSSII system. There are also complains that the drive sometimes takes too long to spin up. We hope that some of the problems will be fixed with future firmware upgrades.

Toshiba SD-M1612 has the best CloneCD reading performance among all the tested DVD-ROM drives. The drive can also read HS-RW media at full speed and recognizes both 90/99min CDs without any problems. In case you have DVD-RAM discs, Toshiba SD-M1612 will not let you down. On the other hand, the drive has a permanent RPC2 protection which cannot be flashed with firmware updates (!!), failed to recognize our bad DAE test disc, doesn't support DVD+RW format, cannot handle Audio protected CDs and has a low DVD/DAE ripping speed.

The prices of both drives are low enough to be directly compared with LiteOn LTD163. LiteOn LTD-163 has something that none of the rest of the drives have: The highest DAE ripping performance you can find around. Also, it has not the highest, but good enough CD/DVD reading speed, and a low CloneCD reading performance. You have to consider your needs and see which drive interests you more.