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Posted: **Fri Nov 12, 2004 4:47 pm**

Every review I see for the Lite-On SOHW-1613S says something different. Thats what little reviews on it I can't find. I need some help. Is it worth buying? I'm so new to this. I don't understand most of it. All help is welcome.

Posted: **Fri Nov 12, 2004 5:18 pm**

If you plan on buying the LiteON 1613S, I would suggest notifying your next of kin :wink:

LiteON drives are really not that good. In order to get any kind of performance out of them, you need to hack the firmware quite a bit. Sometimes you even need to custom make your own firmware for it. I'd recommend getting something a little easier to use, with higher burn quality. A Pioneer DVR-108, or a BenQ DW1620 would be my recommendations.

Posted: **Fri Nov 12, 2004 5:30 pm**

I have nothing against Lite-On, but I've been less than impressed with the writing quality of their 12x and 16x drives.

Posted: **Fri Nov 12, 2004 6:04 pm**

I don't care if its loud or something stupid like that. I want to know does it work? How well does it work? Does it produce quality DVDs? Will it work for a good while?

Posted: **Fri Nov 12, 2004 6:07 pm**

Ian and I have both told you that the writing quality of the drive is less then desirable. Yes, it is also noisy, but as you said, that's not really an important issue.

Posted: **Fri Nov 12, 2004 6:17 pm**

I have a LiteOn SOHW-1213S flashed with 1633S firmware. It's a useable drive at 8x if you feed it decent media. I'm not sure if I'd buy a 1633S today, though. I just recommended the BenQ 1620 to a friend. :wink:

G

Posted: **Fri Nov 12, 2004 6:26 pm**

MediumRare wrote:I have a LiteOn SOHW-1213S flashed with 1633S firmware. It's a useable drive at 8x if you feed it decent media.

You bring up a good point. I've noticed most 16x burners are actually doing quite well at 4x and good at 8x these days. It looks like the technology has made even 8x recording a lot easier then it was in the past.

Posted: **Fri Nov 12, 2004 8:19 pm**

This one is $69.99 with no shipping cost becuz I can get direct from the store. Therefore I can take it back. But if you guys say it won't produce quality DVDs then I'm not going to buy it. I only wanted one because my computer came with a Phillips CDDR4801 CDR-RW. It doesn't wrk anymore. Getting that DVD burner was just as cheap as any of their CD burners.

Posted: **Fri Nov 12, 2004 8:53 pm**

morninglightdreams wrote:This one is $69.99 with no shipping cost becuz I can get direct from the store. Therefore I can take it back. But if you guys say it won't produce quality DVDs then I'm not going to buy it. I only wanted one because my computer came with a Phillips CDDR4801 CDR-RW. It doesn't wrk anymore. Getting that DVD burner was just as cheap as any of their CD burners.

Benq 16x for $67.

NEC 16x for $70 with software

Personally I'd take the NEC, as it produces the best quality burns on the widest range of both -R and +R media at decent speeds. The Benq will be fine with +R and offers a few nice extras like bitsetting and utilities.

Posted: **Fri Nov 12, 2004 10:02 pm**

rdgrimes wrote:Personally I'd take the NEC, as it produces the best quality burns on the widest range of both -R and +R media at decent speeds. The Benq will be fine with +R and offers a few nice extras like bitsetting and utilities.

I think you have that entirely backwards.... Take a look at the BenQ DW1620's last 3 firmwares, and tell me that it can't burn DVD-R well :wink:

Posted: **Fri Nov 12, 2004 10:47 pm**

rdgrimes wrote:
morninglightdreams wrote:This one is $69.99 with no shipping cost becuz I can get direct from the store. Therefore I can take it back. But if you guys say it won't produce quality DVDs then I'm not going to buy it. I only wanted one because my computer came with a Phillips CDDR4801 CDR-RW. It doesn't wrk anymore. Getting that <a href="dvd%20burner" onmouseover="window.status='DVD burner'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">DVD burner</a> was just as cheap as any of their <a href="cd%20burners" onmouseover="window.status='CD burners'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">CD burners</a>.

[url=http://www.<a href="newegg%20com" onmouseover="window.status='newegg.com'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">newegg.com</a>/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=27-101-630&depa=0]Benq 16x for $67[/url].

NEC 16x for $70 with software

Personally I'd take the NEC, as it produces the best quality burns on the widest range of both -R and +R media at decent speeds. The Benq will be fine with +R and offers a few nice extras like bitsetting and utilities.

I have to pay shipping on those. Plus in my state I have a 9.25cent sales tax. Not to mention if it tears up I have to mail it back. Thats why I didn't want to buy from the internet. Too much hassle considering I don't have a credit card.

Posted: **Fri Nov 12, 2004 11:54 pm**

Since the store you're referring to is Wal-Mart, you're lucky that there's a 1613S available to try out. And if you're not satisfied, you can always return it. For the NEC ND3500A, you can go to OfficeMax or CompUSA and look for the Mad Dog MegaSTOR like this. For the Benq DW1620, you can go to Office Depot and look for the IOMagic 16X like this.

CompUSA will charge a restocking fee, so I suggest OfficeMax. If you plan on keeping it, wait until there's some sort of rebate available. Otherwise, you'll be paying full retail.

Posted: **Sat Nov 13, 2004 6:26 pm**

Ian wrote:I have nothing against Lite-On, but I've been less than impressed with the writing quality of their 12x and 16x drives.

You forgot the 8x-drives, that also have the worst writing quality of all dvd-burners that the c´t-magazine ever tested; only BTC and the rebadged Ricoh (NEC 2500) had similiar bad quality

Posted: **Sat Nov 13, 2004 9:06 pm**

KTL wrote:Since the store you're referring to is <a href="wal%20mart" onmouseover="window.status='Wal-Mart'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">Wal-Mart</a>, you're lucky that there's a 1613S available to try out. And if you're not satisfied, you can always return it. For the NEC ND3500A, you can go to OfficeMax or CompUSA and look for the <a href="mad%20dog" onmouseover="window.status='Mad Dog'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">Mad Dog</a> MegaSTOR like this. For the Benq DW1620, you can go to <a href="office%20depot" onmouseover="window.status='Office Depot'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">Office Depot</a> and look for the IOMagic 16X like this.

CompUSA will charge a restocking fee, so I suggest OfficeMax. If you plan on keeping it, wait until there's some sort of rebate available. Otherwise, you'll be paying full retail.

Thankx for the advice. I'm going to try that! I really hate buying from the net.

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I'm thinking of getting a Lite-On SOHW-1613S

I'm thinking of getting a Lite-On SOHW-1613S