ASUS's new portable DVD writer was very easy to install. Thanks to its USB 2.0 interface, the entire installation process took only a matter of minutes. With no jumpers to worry about, it was as simple as connecting the USB cable. Once connected to our test computer, it took only a matter of seconds for plug and play to install the necessary drivers. After making sure that the drive was recognized correctly in the Device Manager, I was ready to start installing the software.
Software Installation:
As I mentioned earlier, the SDRW-08D1S-U comes with a CD full of software from CyberLink. If you have autorun enabled on your computer, the menu pictured below will automatically come up when you insert the disc.
As you can see, this menu is pretty straight forward. To start the setup process, simply click on the "Install Power2Go 6 LE" button. After selecting your preferred language and entering your customer information, the setup program will install Power2Go, ASUS's firmware update utility and the Turbo USB drivers onto your computer. With a drive like the SDRW-08D1S-U, the Turbo USB drivers really aren't necessary. However, they're available if you need them.
The Documentation:
Like ASUS's other DVD writers, the SDRW-08D1S-U doesn't offer much in the way of documentation. The closest thing to a manual is the drive's "Quick Installation Guide". This small, fold out guide is broken up into 33 different languages with everything, but English, getting less than half a page worth of instructions. As you can imagine, the instructions are very brief. Thankfully, there are also a few small diagrams showing how to hook the drive up to your computer and attach the included stand. If you're looking for things like the SDRW-08D1S-U's specs or system requirements, you'll have to check the back of the box or visit ASUS's website. You won't find that information in the guide.
In the end, installing the SDRW-08D1S-U was very easy. I had no problems getting the drive or the software installed and working. The documentation included with the drive is brief, but should be enough to get the drive up and running. Nevertheless, I still would have liked to have seen a little more drive specific information. With this in mind, I give the installation an 8 out of a possible 10.
