The LiteOn iHAS524 is LiteOn's second 24X DVD burner after the release of the iHAS324 model last year. Although both drives have tare based on chipset from MediaTek, their performance is not exactly similar, with the latest drive to be improved in the way it burns DVDs and also to pack new features such as the LabelTag disc labeling technology.

The drive proved to be a good reader, performing all tasks with speeds according to specifications, and being able to complete them successfully. The iHAS524 drive is actually a universal reader/writer, offering compatibility with any disc format on the market including DVD-RAM.

As far as error correction is concerned, the tests showed us that the drive has average error correction mechanisms with CDs but it has been improved over its predecessor when it reads defected DVDs.

Next on, are the writing tests that we performed. DVD media were burned at speeds of up to 24X and the result was great. We were able to burn a DVD disc in 4 minutes with an average speed of approximately 17.5X. However, only very few discs are compatible with such high speeds. Until now, the drive can only burn at such speeds the YUDEN000T03 and TYG03 Taiyo Yuden DVD+R and DVD-R media respectively.

Writing quality tests were also performed with CD and DVD media. The results were a mixed bug, as it usually happens with these kind of tests. We saw CD-Rs burned at very high quality and a couple of other to obviously have issues, especially when uncorrectable (E32) errors were measured. The results with the DVD-R SL discs we used in the test were encouraging and most of the measurements returned no uncorrectable errors (POF). However, the situation was not so good with DVD+R SL discs, where the measurements showed high jitter and POFs in many discs. In addition, the drive may need some work when it comes to burning of DVD+R DL discs. The measurements showed POFs, high jitter and generally low reflectivity for these discs. Of course, none of the DVD media we tested was unreadable. In most cases, the signals that exceed the official specifications unveil that the specific discs may be more susceptible to early degradation in the future.

The drive also offers the SmartErase function. Although we are not sure whether you would spend some time running a software in order to permanently erase the data on a disc rather than physically destroying the disc yourself, you can try it out using the bundled software. It will completely erase your discs with just a few clicks.

Last but certainly not least, the iHAS524 supports LabelTag. The feature will "burn" circular text labels or images right on the data side of a regular single-layer DVD or CD. The feature works well and it is seamlessly integrated within the bundled disc burning application. LabelTag is fast and the results are great as soon as you are using the feature in order to add a simple text label on your disc, instead of adding a sticker on it. Don't expect to express your artistic character through LabelTag since the label is 'burned' on the data side of the disc, leaving a few options for burning images in high contrast and detail. LabelTag is a smart and easy way to personalize your DVDs and very useful if you need for example to label your backup discs.

The LiteOn iHAS524 retails for less than €25.

Pros

• Super-all-write DVD/CD burner
• Good bundled software
• Fast CD/DVD reader
• Reads defected DVDs adequately
• Fast CD/DVD burner
• Supports Book Type
• Supports overburning with CD-R
• SmartErase, LabelTag features

Cons

• Average CD-R writing quality
• DVD+R SL/DL writing quality
• Average reading peformance with defected CD-Rs
• Does not support overburning with DVD