Lite-On eTAU208 8x USB 2.0 DVD±RW/RAM

What's in the box?:

• Lite-On eTAU208 8x USB 2.0 DVD±RW/RAM Drive
• Quick Installation Guide
• Software CD
• Vertical Drive Stand
• USB Y Cable

Physical Features:

The drive Lite-On sent us for this review was manufactured in August of 2009 and had firmware FL02. For this review I used firmware versions FL02 and FL04.

The Lite-On eTAU208 is one of the smallest DVD writers to come through the 'Labs. Measuring 142.1 x 19.4 x 143.8 mm, it's not much larger than a couple of jewel cases stacked on top of one another. The eTAU208 is also constructed of a lightweight, black plastic. The glossy finish looks nice, but finger prints and smudges have a tendency to stand out.

On the top of the eTAU208 you can see a large "Lite-On" logo as well as a few showing support for the DVD+ReWritable and DVD Multi specifications, and HP's LightScribe technology. There's also a white "STOP" button along the front of the top cover. This button contains the drive's LED and, when pressed, will stop the disc from spinning.

On the bottom, the eTAU208 has four small rubber feet to keep it from sliding around when placed on a flat surface. There's also a space where you can store the included USB cable when the drive is not in use.

The latch to open the top cover is located along the front of the eTAU208. When slid to the right, the top cover will automatically pop open.

Along the rear, you can see the eTAU208's USB 2.0 interface. This connector not only transfers data but provides power for the drive.

Technical Specs:

Most of the specs below have been taken from Lite-On's website and the manual that came with the drive.

LightScribe:

The eTAU208 is one of the latest drives from Lite-On to feature LightScribe technology. Developed by HP, LightScribe lets you burn durable, silk screen quality labels directly onto your CD's and DVD's using the same drive that burned the data. According to HP, it's as simple as burning the data, flipping the disc, and then burning the label.

Of course you can't do this with just any drive, media or software. While LightScribe capable drives use the same laser when burning both the data and label, they have to be able to accurately control the laser's focus and position as well as the spindle speed. They also must be able to recognize LightScribe media. These special discs have a thin dye coating on the label side that absorbs laser light. This triggers a chemical reaction that produces a color change, allowing the user to print text, artwork or graphics.

Even if you have a LightScribe capable drive and media, you will need software that supports it. Most major software companies have pledged support for the technology. However, at the time of this review, the list of compatible software is still relatively short. For the eTAU208, Lite-On turned to Nero. Using the bundled software you can both create and burn LightScribe disc labels.

Once you've created your LightScribe label, you're ready to print it. Before you can do this, though, you will need to choose the contrast. Keep in mind this option not only changes the level of detail, it also affects the amount of time it takes to print the label. The higher the quality, the longer the process will take.

How long does it take to print a label? For testing purposes, we printed a disc using Memorex's LightScribe v1.2 color CD-R media, and the quality was set to "best". The results are shown below.

Verbatim CD-R v1.2 - 31 minutes

The eTAU208 features what Lite-On calls SmartWrite technology. Previously known as HyperTuning, SmartWrite automatically creates writing strategies for unknown, or unsupported, DVD±R and DVD±R DL media. Simply enable SmartWrite, insert your disc and burn. The new writing strategy is then created on-the-fly.

SmartWrite also works with supported media. When enabled, the drive will ignore the writing strategy stored in the firmware and instead create a new one. This is very useful if you are trying to record a disc that uses another company's MID code (I.E. fake TYG02 code discs).

OverSpeed:

The eTAU208 supports Lite-On's OverSpeed function. When enabled, the drive will try to write to your DVD±R media at a speed higher than what would normally be supported. To do this, OverSpeed relies heavily on SmartWrite. When a disc is written at a higher than normal speed, SmartWrite will automatically create a new writing strategy for it.

More Features:

By looking at the picture below, you can see that Lite-On's new DVD writer is identified as a "Slimtype eTAU208 1."

Nero also shows that the eTAU208 has a maximum CD writing speed of 24x and a 2048KB buffer. This buffer is backed up by Super-Link buffer underrun protection as well. According to Nero, the eTAU208 can also write CD-Text and overburn. Unfortunately, it wasn't able to recognize our 99 minute CompUSA discs at all.

Using Alex Noe's Weak Sector Utility we were able to determine that the eTAU208 is a "two sheep" burner and is capable of backing titles protected by SafeDisc 2.90. Like most drives, it did not pass the "three sheep" test.

Here is a screen shot from Erik Deppe's Opti Drive Control. Among other things, this program queries the drive to see what its reading and writing capabilities are. Opti Drive Control had no problems detecting the eTAU208's reading and writing speeds and supported disc types.

Opti Drive Control also shows that the eTAU208 is an RPC-2 DVD drive. This means that the drive's region is stored in the firmware. The region can be changed five times and after that it cannot be changed anymore. While there isn't an RPC-1 firmware available for the drive, there is a utility available that can make the drive region free.

While InfoTool gives us a quick glance at the eTAU208's features, DVDINFOpro provides a little more information on some of the drive's reading and writing capabilities.  By looking at the screenshot above you can see that Lite-On's new drive supports LightScribe technology and can read and write to DVD+R DL, DVD-R DL and DVD-RAM media.

The eTAU208 also supports a feature called "bitsetting." Using Nero, CD Speed or Lite-On's BookType Utility, you can set the book type for DVD+R, DVD+RW and DVD+R DL media. By doing so, your recorded discs will identify themselves as "DVD-ROM." This feature comes in handy if you have an older DVD player that has problems playing recordable media.