Lite-On iHAS424-08 24x "Super AllWrite" DVD±RW/RAM

What's in the box?:

• Lite-On iHAS424-08 24x "Super AllWrite" DVD±RW/RAM Drive
• Nero Software CD
• User's Manual
• Quick Installation Guide
• SATA Cable
• Mounting Screws
• Warranty Information

Physical Features:

The drive Lite-On sent us for this review was manufactured in October of 2009 and had firmware ZL1B. For this review I used firmware versions ZL1N and ZL1P.

From the front, the iHAS424 looks very similar to Lite-On's previous DVD writers. It not only shares the same basic bezel design, but has many of the same logos. Along the front of the tray you can see a few showing support for the DVD+ReWritable and DVD Multi specifications, as well as HP's LightScribe and Lite-On's SmartErase technologies.

Below the tray you can see the iHAS424's single LED. Off by default, this LED lights up green whenever the drive is reading or writing.

The rear of the iHAS424 is fairly straight forward. By looking at the picture below you can see the drive's SATA interface and power connector.

Technical Specs:

The specs below have been taken from Lite-On's website and the documentation that came along with the drive.

LightScribe:

The iHAS424 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 iHAS424, 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 Verbatim'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 - 27 minutes

The iHAS424 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 iHAS424 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.

While the OverSpeed function on the iHAS424 is a bit more flexible than previous incarnations, it still has some limitations. To prevent people from writing to all DVD±R media at 24x, the writing speed can only be bumped up by two levels. For example, if your disc was normally supported at 16x, the iHAS424 would now give you the option to write to it at 20x.

I should also point out that OverSpeed does not work with DVD±R DL media. When enabled, you will have the option to write to 8x DVD±R DL media at 12x. However, when you go to burn the disc, the actual writing speed is limited to only 4x.

SmartErase:

The iHAS424 is one of the first drives to support Lite-On's SmartErase technology. Similar in concept to Plextor's PlexERASE technology, SmartErase gives users the ability to destroy the data on CD-R, DVD±R and DVD±R DL media without physically damaging the disc itself. To do this, it uses the drive's laser beam to "re-record" over the lead-in and data sectors, rendering the disc unreadable and unrecoverable.

More Features:

By looking at the picture below, you can see that Lite-On's new DVD writer is identified as an "ATAPI iHAS424 A."

Nero also shows that the iHAS424 has a maximum CD writing speed of 48x and a 2048KB buffer. This buffer is backed up by Super-Link buffer underrun protection as well. According to Nero, the iHAS424 can also write CD-Text and overburn. When testing the drive's capacity, it had no problems overburning up to 99 minutes with our CompUSA media. 

Using Alex Noe's Weak Sector Utility we were able to determine that the iHAS424 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 Nero's InfoTool. This program queries the drive to see what its reading and writing capabilities are. InfoTool had no problems detecting the iHAS424's maximum reading and writing speeds, recording modes, buffer underrun protection and 2MB buffer.

InfoTool also shows that the iHAS424 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 iHAS424'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 while Lite-On's new drive can read and write to DVD+R DL, DVD-R DL and DVD-RAM media, it does not support the Mt. Rainier format.

The iHAS424 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.

I should point out that the iHAS424 can also set the book type of DVD+RW media after the data has been burned to disc. This "Write Now" feature is available in both KProbe and Lite-On's BookType Utility.