What's in the box?:
- Lite-On eNAU708 8x USB 2.0 DVD±RW/RAM Drive
- External Drive Quick Installation Guide
- Nero Software CD
- MyDisk Suite CD
- MyDisk Suite Quick Installation Guide
- USB Y Cable
Physical Features:
The drive Lite-On sent us for this review was manufactured in November of 2011 and had firmware 8L41. At the time of this review, this is the only firmware available for the eNAU708.
The Lite-On eNAU708 is one of the smallest DVD writers on the market today. Measuring 141 x 18.6 x 132.8 mm, it's not much larger than a couple of jewel cases stacked on top of one another.
The body of the eNAU708 is constructed out of lightweight, black plastic. The top of the drive has a glossy finish that looks nice, but finger prints and smudges have a tendency to stand out. The bottom and sides of the eNAU708 have a normal matte finish. There are also four small rubber feet on the bottom to keep it from sliding around when placed on a flat surface.
The LED and eject button are located along the front of the eNAU708. This LED lights up green when both reading and writing. You can also see a few logos showing support for Ultra Speed CD-RW media and the DVD+ReWritable and DVD Multi specifications.
Along the rear, you can see the eNAU708's USB 2.0 interface. This connector not only transfers data but provides power for the drive.
Like many portable drives, the eNAU708 comes with a USB Y cable, which lets you draw power from two USB ports instead of just one. I'm not really sure what Lite-On was thinking when they designed the one for the eNAU708, but they chose some very odd lengths. Despite the fact that there are nearly 20 inches of cable between the two Type A connectors, there are only 8 inches of cable between the first Type A connector and the mini-USB connector. As a result, the drive needs to be placed very close to the computer.
Technical Specs:
Most of the specs below have been taken from Lite-On's website and the manual that came with the drive.
| Lite-On eNAU708 Portable 8x DVD Writer | |
| DVD+R Write Speeds | 8x, 6x, 4x (P-CAV) 3x (CLV) |
| DVD+RW Write Speeds | 8x, 7x, 4x (Z-CLV) 3x (CLV) |
| DVD-R Write Speeds | 8x, 6x, 4x (P-CAV) 3x (CLV) |
| DVD-RW Write Speeds | 6x, 4x (Z-CLV) 3x (CLV) |
| DVD+R DL Write Speeds | 6x, 4x (Z-CLV) 3x (CLV) |
| DVD-R DL Write Speeds | 6x, 4x (Z-CLV) 3x (CLV) |
| DVD-RAM Write Speeds | 5x (Z-CLV) 3x, 2x (CLV) |
| CD Write Speeds | 24x (CAV) 20x, 16x (P-CAV) 10x (CLV) |
| CD Rewrite Speeds | 24x, 20x, 16x (Z-CLV) 10x, 4x (CLV) |
| DVD Read Speeds | 8x Max (DVD-ROM) 8x Max (DVD±R) 8x Max (DVD±RW) 8x Max (DVD±R DL) 5x Max (DVD-RAM) |
| CD Read Speed | 24x Max |
| DAE Speed | 24x Max |
| Buffer Size | 2MB |
| Access Times |
180 ms (DVD) 130 ms (CD) |
| CD Formats | CD-DA CD-ROM CD-ROM XA CD-Extra Video CD Photo CD Multi-session CD-I FMV CD Plus CD-R CD-RW |
| DVD Formats | DVD-ROM DVD-R/RW DVD+R/RW DVD+R DL DVD-R DL DVD-RAM |
The eNAU708 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 eNAU708 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.
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More Features:
By looking at the picture below, you can see that Lite-On's new DVD writer is identified as a "Slimtype eNAU708 5."
Nero also shows that the eNAU708 has a maximum CD writing speed of 24x and a 1536KB buffer. This buffer is backed up by SMART-BURN buffer underrun protection as well. According to Nero, the eNAU708 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 eNAU708 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 eNAU708's reading and writing speeds and supported disc types.
Opti Drive Control also shows that the eNAU708 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 eNAU708'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 eNAU708 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.
