What's in the box?:
- ASUS SDRW-08D1S-U 8x USB 2.0 DVD±RW/RAM Drive
- Quick Installation Guide
- Software CD
- Vertical Drive Stand
- USB Y Cable
Physical Features:
The drive ASUS sent us for this review was manufactured in April of 2009 and had firmware 1.02. At the time of this review, this is the only firmware available for the SDRW-08D1S-U.
The ASUS SDRW-08D1S-U is one of the smallest DVD writers to come through the 'Labs. Measuring 156.4 x 140.8 x 21 mm, it's not much larger than a couple of jewel cases stacked on top of one another. The drive is also constructed of a lightweight, black plastic. The glossy finish looks nice, but it scratches easily and finger prints and smudges have a tendency to stand out.
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Aside from the large "ASUS" logo, the top of the SDRW-08D1S-U is fairly plain. On the bottom of the drive you can see four small rubber feet as well as a rubber rectangle. The rectangle covers the open space where the stand attaches to the drive.
The LED and eject button are located along the front of the SDRW-08D1S-U. This LED lights up green when both reading and writing.
Along the rear, you can see the SDRW-08D1S-U's USB 2.0 interface. This connector not only transfers data but provides power for the drive. To ensure that the SDRW-08D1S-U gets the power it needs, ASUS includes a special USB cable that plugs into two ports on your computer.
Technical Specs:
Most of the specs below have been taken from ASUS's website and the manual that came with the drive.
| ASUS SDRW-08D1S-U 8x USB 2.0 DVD±RW/RAM | |
| DVD+R Write Speeds | 8x (CAV) 4x (P-CAV) 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD+RW Write Speeds | 8x, 4x (Z-CLV) 3.3x, 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD-R Write Speeds | 8x (CAV) 4x (P-CAV) 2x (CLV) |
| DVD-RW Write Speeds | 6x, 4x (Z-CLV) 2x (CLV) |
| DVD+R DL Write Speeds | 6x, 4x (Z-CLV) 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD-R DL Write Speeds | 6x, 4x (Z-CLV) 2x (CLV) |
| DVD-RAM Write Speeds | 5x (P-CAV) 3x, 2x (CLV) |
| CD Write Speeds | 24x, 16x (Z-CLV) 10x (CLV) |
| CD Rewrite Speeds | 16x (Z-CLV) 10x, 4x (CLV) |
| DVD Read Speeds | 8x Max (DVD-ROM Single Layer) 8x Max (DVD-ROM Dual Layer) 8x Max (DVD±R) 8x Max (DVD±RW) 6x Max (DVD±R DL) 5x Max (DVD-RAM) |
| CD Read Speed | 24x Max |
| DAE Speed | 24x Max |
| Buffer Size | 2MB |
| Access Times |
160 ms (DVD-ROM) 140 ms (CD-ROM) |
| CD Formats | CD-DA Photo CD Video CD CD-Extra CD-Text CD-R CD-RW |
| DVD Formats | DVD-ROM DVD-R/RW DVD+R/RW DVD+R DL DVD-R DL DVD-RAM |
| CD Recording Modes | Track At Once Session At Once Disc At Once Packet Writing |
| DVD+R Recording Modes | Sequential Recording Multi-Session |
| DVD+RW Recording Modes | Random Write |
| DVD+R DL Recording Modes | Sequential Recording Multi-Session |
| DVD-R Recording Modes | Disc At Once Incremental Recording Multi-Border |
| DVD-RW Recording Modes | Disc At Once Restricted Overwrite Incremental Recording Multi-Border |
| DVD-R DL Recording Modes | Disc At Once Incremental Recording Multi-Border |
By looking at the picture below, you can see that ASUS's new DVD writer is identified as an "ASUS SDRW-08D1S-U."
Nero also shows that the SDRW-08D1S-U has a maximum CD writing speed of 24x and a 2048KB buffer. This buffer is also backed up by ASUS's FlextraLink technology. According to Nero, the SDRW-08D1S-U can also write CD-Text and overburn. When testing the drive's capacity I found that the drive was able to overburn up to 95:10 with CompUSA's 99 minute CD-R media.
Using Alex Noe's Weak Sector Utility we were able to determine that the SDRW-08D1S-U 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 Nero's InfoTool. This program queries the drive to see what its reading and writing capabilities are. InfoTool had no problems detecting the SDRW-08D1S-U's maximum reading and writing speeds, recording modes, buffer underrun protection and 2MB buffer.
InfoTool also shows that the SDRW-08D1S-U is an RPC-2 DVD drive. This means that the drive's region is stored in the firmware. The drive's region can be changed five times and after that it cannot be changed anymore. Unfortunately, a patched RPC-1 firmware is not yet available for this drive.
While InfoTool gives us a quick glance at the SDRW-08D1S-U'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 while ASUS's new drive can read and write to most DVD formats, it does not support technologies like LightScribe or Labelflash.
The SDRW-08D1S-U doesn't let you set the book type of single layer DVD+R or DVD+RW media. However, the drive automatically sets the book type for DVD+R DL discs to "DVD-ROM". This greatly reduces compatibility problems, especially with older DVD players.
