Along with smaller cable size, one of the biggest benefits of Serial ATA is its ease of installation. Because it uses a point to point connection, setting jumpers has become a thing of the past. In most cases, installation is as simple as plugging in the SATA and power cables and turning the computer on. Needless to say, it took only a couple of minutes to install Lite-On's BD combo drive in our test computer. After making sure that the iHES208 was recognized by Windows, I was ready to start installing the software.
Software Installation:
As I mentioned earlier, the iHES208 comes with a CD full of software from CyberLink. If you have autorun enabled, the menu pictured below will automatically come up when you insert the disc.
As you can see, this menu is pretty straight forward. To start the setup process, simply click on the "Install CyberLink Blu-ray Suite" button. After selecting your preferred language and entering your customer information, you'll be presented with a list of components to choose from.
From here you can choose to install the InstantBurn, LabelPrint, Power2Go, PowerBackup, PowerDirector, PowerDVD or PowerProducer . To complete the installation, select the components you want and click next a few more times. Once the files are copied over, you can start burning your own discs.
The Documentation:
Most of the iHES208's documentation is located in the "User's Manual." Similar to the ones included with Lite-On's other drives, this manual covers a number of topics. It starts out by getting the user familiarized with their new BD combo drive. The first section goes over the iHES208's supported formats, recording modes and system requirements. The manual also spends a few pages going over the locations and the functions of the buttons and connectors located on the front and back of the drive.
From here, the manual goes right into the physical installation of the iHES208. With no jumpers to configure, this section is relatively brief. Nevertheless, it covers all of the basics including how to install it into an empty drive bay and hook up the cables. The manual continues on by going over the basic operation of the iHES208. Along with information on how to use and maintain the drive, it includes instructions to create and burn your own LightScribe labeled discs. Last but not least, there is a short troubleshooting section containing a list of common problems as well as their solutions.
Lite-On's new BD combo drive also comes with a "Quick Installation Guide." While this small, fold out guide contains a set of instructions that take the user step by step through the installation process, it does not include any pictures or diagrams. With this in mind, you're probably going to be better off with the instructions in the manual than the ones in this guide.
Like the other Lite-On drives we've reviewed, the iHES208 was very easy to install. Even though Blu-ray is a relatively new technology, there were no problems getting the drive or the software installed and working correctly. If you do run into trouble, the documentation Lite-On has provided is more than sufficient. However, I still would have liked to have seen a little more drive specific information. With this in mind, I give the installation an 8 out of a possible 10.
