Lite-On SOHW-832s

[ADi@/\/TUM]

Lite-On SOHW-832S

The days of single-layer DVD burners are numbered. The Lite-On 8X DVD Dual ReWriter SOHW-832S supports not only the Big Four media formats--DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, and DVD-RW--it's also one of the first drives to write to double-layer discs. These high-capacity 8.5GB discs can hold twice as much data or video as standard, single-layer DVDs. Still, the double-layer experience wasn't all we had hoped it would be; double-layer media burns at only 2.4X, a relatively slow proposition at 3.32MB per second, especially when compared to today's 8X (11.08MB per second) single-layer burn speed. Furthermore, the double-layer discs we burned failed to play in many of the other PC-attached burners we tested, and they also bombed in a few of the set-top DVD players we tried. In other words, the double-layer movies you burn with this drive probably won't play in every machine. But the SOHW-832S did let us experience the joy of copying discs without having to strip or split content, and we look forward to the maturation of double-layer technology. The SOHW-832S costs about $50 less than Sony's similar DRU-700A drive (as of July 2004) and about as much as many other 8X single-layer-only DVD burners. So, if the incomplete documentation isn't enough to turn you off and you don't mind investing extra cash for a technology that isn't quite there yet, this drive is one of the better double-layer deals around.

[Grinch]

Sony was the first to debut the Dual Layer Burner. Model number DRU-700A and the DRU-700UL external. Media prices are high and hard to find at the moment but the drive is still worth getting as media will become available. For us DVD Pirates this is a good thing.

The new version of DVD Shrink supports Dual Layer so you will be able to do 1 for 1 copying without compressing video or dumping the menus and extra features.

[ADi@/\/TUM]

I like Lite-On Myself.... I have a couple of their burners and I am very happy with them.

Price, Speed, and support - Nothing beats it

Just My Opinion