The iHAS524 is LiteOn's latest drive supporting 24X burning of DVD±R media. Compared to the company's previous 24x internal DVD burner, the LiteOn iHAS324, the new drive offers the same read/write speeds but it also supports LabelTag disc labeling technology.

LabelTag allows you to print simple circular labels on the data side of your DVD±R discs . Using a simple software, you will be able to label your favorite discs easily using text or images. The label is burned simultaneously with your data.We will see this technology in action later in this article.

The iHAS524 supports burning of DVD±R media at 24X, DVD±R DL media at 12X, DVD+RW at 8X, DVD-RW at 6X and DVD-RAM at 12X.

Features:

Super AllWrite is the compatibility standard from Lite-On to offer the ability to read, write and re-write to any disc format on the market	SmartWrite can overspeed certain 16X DVD±R media to a maximum of 24X
SmartWrite optimizes the writing strategy for each particular session and automatically memorizes this for future sessions	SmartErase: Erase your disc the "Smart way": cost effective and beyond recovery
SMART-X function adjusts CD-DA / VCD / DVD data extraction to a fastest allowable speed	ABS system reduce vibration and noise during recording and reading
Seamless Link avoiding Buffer Under Run error, Automatically adjusting writing strategy & walking OPC to provide the best burning quality	LabelTag Technology: Print simple circular labels on the data side of your discs, Burn simultaneously with your data, LabelTag works with all standard DVD±R discs

Specifications:

The drive came in in a black retail box:

The package includes:

• Internal 24x DVD burner
• Application software disc (Nero 8 Essentials - Express 8 Essentials, ShowTime 4 Essentials, Vision 5 Essentials, Recode 3 Essentials, InCD 5 Essentials, Drivers and drive manuals)
• Quick user guide
• Mounting screws
• SATA cable

The rear panel is typical and has a power and SATA interfaces.

Let's take a look at the drive's internal board. It is recommended not to open the case of your drive since that would void the warranty.

You can click on each picture for a larger view:

The drive is based on the MediaTek MT1879LE chipset.

The drive was connected to the PC via a typical SATA interface and was identified as "ATAPI IHAS524".

In the following pages we compare the LiteOn iHAS524 with its brother iHas324 and the Optiarc AD-7240S drives.