The DRW-1608P2's software bundle is similar to what ASUS included with the DRW-1608P. The two CD's that come with the drive contain a number of different applications from Nero including Nero Express 6, NeroVision Express 2 SE, Nero Media Player, and InCD as well as Ulead's DVD MovieFactory 4 suite.
Nero Express 6 - With Nero Express, Nero has taken the features and performance people have come to expect from Nero Burning Rom and combined them with a user friendly interface. While the interface has been simplified, Nero Express still supports more advanced features like VCD and DVD creation, CD/DVD duplication, overburning, CD-Text and realtime audio filters.
The version of Nero Express that ASUS included with their new DVD±RW drive is 6.6.0.14. You can download the latest version of the software from Nero's website.
NeroVision Express 3 SE - NeroVision Express 3 is Nero's video authoring application. Using a user friendly interface very similar to that of Nero Express, NeroVision Express makes it easy for users to capture, edit and then burn their favorite videos to VCD, SVCD or DVD or export it to Nero Digital format.
NeroVision Express also lets users add things like transitions, custom backgrounds, animated menus and text effects. You can even use it to turn your photos into custom slide shows.
Nero Media Player - Nero Media Player features on-the-fly encoding of audio CD's to MP3, HE-AAC, TwinVQ, WMA, and WAV format.The MP3 encoder uses the latest audio codec technology from Fraunhofer.While most of the plugins are unrestricted, the MP3 encoder included with this version of the program is limited to only 30 audio tracks.If you need to encode more you will probably want to upgrade to Nero's NeroMIX.
InCD 4 - InCD is Nero's packet writing software. Like Roxio's Drag-to-Disc or Sonic's DLA, it allows a person to use their CD-RW drive as a big floppy disk. The person can then drag and drop files onto a CD-RW or DVD±RW disc. Many people consider InCD to be one of the best packet writing tools because of its simplicity and performance.
Ulead DVD MovieFactory 4 SE - With Ulead's DVD MovieFactory you can create your own CD's and DVD's quickly and easily. Right from the start, MovieFactory gives you a number of options. From here you can create a new compilation, copy or edit an existing disc, or record video directly to CD or DVD.
Adding movie clips to your current project is as easy as drag and drop. MovieFactory lets you take any MPEG-1, MPEG-2, AVI, VOB or QuickTime video clip and add it to your project. After that you can add your own custom menus, backgrounds, fonts and music or use one of the included templates.
Ulead's MovieFactory will also let you transfer video from your camcorder or TV tuner directly to disc. Just choose your menu template and MovieFactory will capture the video and burn it to CD or DVD automatically.
ASUSTek ASUSDVD - The DRW-1608P2 also comes with ASUS's own DVD playback software, ASUSDVD. Based on CyberLink's PowerDVD, ASUSDVD offers a complete set of navigation commands, including advanced features like multi-angle viewing, dual subtitle display, digital zoom and parental controls.
Along with DVD movies, ASUSDVD can be used to play back your VCD's, SVCD's or whatever video files you might have on your hard drive. Unfortunately, the version of ASUSDVD included with the DRW-1608P2 only supports 2 speaker output. If you want to take advantage of DVD's encoded with DTS or use Dolby Pro Logic II, you'll probably want to pick up a retail copy of PowerDVD or WinDVD.
While affordably priced, ASUS's new DVD writer delivers a good number of features. Like the Pioneer drive it's based on, the DRW-1608P2 sports some of the fastest DVD reading and writing speeds available. The drive is capable of 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW and 6x DVD-RW writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 16x. On top of that, it can write to both DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media at 8x. The DRW-1608P2 also includes features like a 2MB buffer, support for some sort of buffer underrun protection and a software bundle from Nero and Ulead. Unfortunately, it lacks bitsetting support for single layer DVD+R and DVD+RW media. Even then, the ASUS DRW-1608P2 scores a solid 8 out of 10 for its features.
