The GSA-2166D's software bundle is very similar to what LG has included with their previous DVD writers. The CD that comes with the drive contains a number of different applications including Nero Express 6 and InCD 4 as well as PowerProducer 2 Gold and PowerDVD 5 from CyberLink.
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 LG included with their new DVD±RW drive is 6.6.0.9. You can download the latest version of the software from Nero's website.
Nero BackItUp - If you're looking for a way to quickly and easily backup your data, Nero BackItUp is the answer. This new program from Ahead Software lets you backup your data to CD/DVD, hard disc, image recorderor another computer on your LAN.
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.
CyberLink PowerProducer 2 Gold - If you're looking for a quick and easy way to capture and edit your video, look no further than PowerProducer 2 Gold from CyberLink. Right from the start, this wizard based software gives you a number of options to select from. From here you can choose to create a new movie disc, edit an existing one or record video directly to DVD.
PowerProducer lets you create a number of different movie discs. Looking at the menu below, you can choose to create a DVD, VCD, or SVCD. If your drive supports DVD-VR or DVD+VR, you can also create an editable DVD.
While you can capture your own video, PowerProducer will also let you add any MPEG-1, MPEG-2, AVI or DivX video clip to your project. Once you have them imported, you can use the built in editor to trim, merge or split your video clips or add special effects. PowerProducer also allows you to set chapters within the video content and add your own custom menus, backgrounds, fonts and titles.
CyberLink PowerDVD 5 - CyberLink's PowerDVD is one of the more popular software DVD players on the market right now. PowerDVD offers a complete set of navigation commands, including advanced features like multi-angle viewing, dual subtitle display, digital zoom and parental controls.This new version also adds features like DivX playback, audio time stretch and support for CyberLink's new Eagle Vision technology.
Unfortunately, the version of PowerDVD bundled with the GSA-2166D 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 need to buy one of CyberLink's audio packs.
Without a doubt, the GSA-2166D is LG's most feature packed drive to date. Their new "Super-Multi" drive not only supports all major DVD formats, it sports some pretty impressive specs. The GSA-2166D is capable of 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+R DL, 4x DVD-R DL writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 16x. On top of that, it can read and write DVD-RAM media at 5x. Along with support for LightScribe, the drive also includes features like a USB 2.0 interface, Super Link buffer underrun protection and a software bundle from Nero and CyberLink. With all this, it's easy to see why the LG GSA-2166D gets the full 10 points for its features.
