ASUS DRW-1608P3S 16x DVD±RW/RAM

CD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero Burning Rom 6.6.1.4 andDLA 4.95:

For this test I randomly generated 650MB and 700MB of files and directories to test the time it takes the drive to write and close a CD. All of the files are between 1MB and 25MB in size and no more than 10 directories deep. All of the times below include not only the actual writing time, but the lead in and out times too. This gives a more realistic idea of how long it takes to write a CD.

The DRW-1608P3S has a maximum CD writing speed of 40x. To reach this speed, it uses CAV, or Constant Angular Velocity. With Fuji's 48x media, the drive started writing at about 17.78x and reached a maximum speed of 40.10x at the end of the session. This gave ASUS's new DVD±RW an average writing speed of about 30.40x.

To test the drive's writing times, I wrote our test data to some Taiyo Yuden manufactured Fuji media rated at 48x. The results are below.

ASUS's new DVD writer went into this test with a slight disadvantage. While the other drives can write CD's at 48x, the DRW-1608P3S has a maximum writing speed of only 40x. Nevertheless, it was able to write an entire 650MB CD in a respectable 3:07.

To test the drive's writing quality I used Lite-On IT's KProbe2. Written by Karr Wang, this utility can be used to test the number of C1 and C2 errors on a disc. For these tests I used a Lite-On LTR-52246S (firmware 6S0F) and read the discs at 32x.

Fuji 48x (Taiyo Yuden)

Memorex 52x (CMC)

Verbatim 52x

The DRW-1608P3S's writing quality is very good. By looking at the KProbe screenshots, you can see that the discs burned by the drive had a low number of C1 errors and there were no C2 errors at all.

For the rewriting tests I created 400MB of files on the hard drive and wrote them in DAO mode using Nero. To test the packet writing speeds I copied and pasted the same files off the hard drive onto a CD-RW disc using DLA from Sonic. Verbatim's 32x Ultra Speed CD-RW media was used for these tests.

While the DRW-1608P3S uses CAV when writing to CD-R discs, it uses Z-CLV, or Zone CLV, when rewriting at 32x. By looking at the screenshot above, you can see that it starts writing at 16x and jumps to 24x at about the 19 minute mark. The drive writes at this speed until about the 49 minute mark. At this point, the writing speed increases to 32x and stays there until the very end of the session.

With its Z-CLV writing method, the DRW-1608P3S wasn't as fast as some of the other DVD writers we've looked at. In our tests, ASUS's new drive took 2:52 to write 400MB with Nero and 2:40 to do the same with DLA. Unfortunately, it was even slower when reading back our test data. The DRW-1608P3S took more than 5 minutes to read back all 400MB of files and directories.

The DRW-1608P3S also erases at 32x. While it didn't have the fastest full erase time out of the four drives here, it was able to do a quick erase in only 22 seconds.