The SOHW-1673SU's software bundle is very similar to what Lite-On has included with their previous DVD writers. The two CD's that come with the drive contain a number of applications from Nero including Nero Express, NeroVision Express 2, Nero Media Player, InCD 4 and BackItUp as well as 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 Lite-On included with their new DVD±RW drive is 6.6.0.13 You can download the latest version of the software from Ahead's website.
NeroVision Express 3 - 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 BackItUp - If you're looking for a way to quickly and easily backup your data, Nero BackItUp is the answer. This new program from Nero lets you backup your data to CD/DVD, hard disc, image recorderor another computer on your LAN.
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 Ahead's packet writing software. Like Roxio's DirectCD, 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 disk. Many people consider InCD to be one of the best packet writing tools because of its simplicity and performance.
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 SOHW-1633S 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 an upgrade first.
With the SOHW-1673SU, Lite-On has delivered yet another feature packed DVD writer. The drive supports most CD and DVD formats and has specs like 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW and 4x DVD+R DL writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 16x. The SOHW-1673SU also includes many of the features we've come to expect from Lite-On like SMART-Burn and SMART-X as well as new ones like EZ-DUB. Last but not least, Lite-On tops all of this off with an impressive software bundle from Nero and CyberLink. With all this, it's easy to see why the SOHW-1673SU gets a solid 9 out of 10 for its features.
