Testing:

Below, we can see the supported read and write modes supported by the Lite-On SOHW-1673S.

Drive features as per Nero InfoTool

Test System::

• AMD Athlon XP 2600+ (Barton) CPU
• Asus A7N8X Deluxe Motherboard
• 512MB Corsair XMS PC3200 DDR RAM
• Windows XP Home Edition SP2 OS
• Enermax 470watt PSU
• ATi Radeon 9500 Pro
• Turtle Beach Santa Cruz DSP Sound Card
• Western Digital Caviar SE 120Gig HD
• Lite-On SOHW-1673S DVD±RW Drive
  

Read Tests:

To get started on testing the SOHW-1673S, I first ran some read tests on both CD and DVD media. For the tests I used a data CD, a digital audio CD, a single layer data DVD, and a double layer data DVD disc (all of which were burned with the SOHW-1673S), along with Nero CD-DVD Speed to run the tests. All read speeds were sent to maximum.

700MB (Full CD) Data CD-R Read @ 48x in 2mins 15secs

TDK media (MBI dye)

650MB (74min) CD-DA Read @ 48x in 2mins 9secs

TDK media (MBI dye)

4.38GB (Full DVD5) single layer data DVD @ 8x (speed limited by media) in 9min 42secs

RiData media (Ritek R03 dye)

7.96GB (Full DVD9) double layer data DVD @ 6x in 25min 23secs

Verbatim media (MKM 001 dye)

You can get a good idea of both the speed and quality of the SOHW-1673S from the above tests. All the reads showed a steady increase in speed with no drop in speed.

Audio/Video Extraction:

To test the SOHW-1673S's audio and video extraction abilities, I'll be using one; audio CD-DA disc, one single layer DVD videodisc, and one double layer DVD videodisc.

73min 36sec stamped CD-DA (18 tracks) @ 48x in 2mins 45secs

4.35GB stamped DVD videodisc @ 8x in 9mins 42secs

7.86GB stamped DVD videodisc @ 8x in 17mins 48secs

I found the extraction rates for both audio CDs and DVD videos to be superb on the SOHW-1673S. The results speak for themselves.

Summarised Read Results:

CD Burning >>