LG GSA-2166D USB 2.0 Super-Multi DVD±RW/RAM

Model: LG GSA-2166D USB 2.0 Super-Multi DVD±RW/RAM
Manufacturer: LG Electronics
Provided By: LG Electronics USA

LG Electronics is one of the biggest names in the consumer electronics industry. Since the introduction of their first radio in 1959, this Korean company has grown to become one of the world's top electronics manufacturers, offering everything from large home appliances to tiny mobile phones and MP3 players. As many of you are well aware, LG is also a major player in the optical storage industry. They've lead the way in this area, developing and manufacturing a wide range of products for the OEM and retail markets.

While dual format DVD writers have become the standard, LG has taken this concept to the next level with their series of "Super-Multi" drives. Offering support for both the DVD-Multi and DVD+ReWritable specifications, these drives have the ability to write to all major DVD formats, including DVD-RAM. With companies like NEC and Pioneer introducing their own "Super-Multi" drives, LG has upped the ante once again by incorporating HP's new LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling technology. Developed as a better alternative to markers and stick on labels, LightScribe lets users burn graphics and text onto the tops of specially coated discs.

This fall, LG introduced their first external LightScribe enabled "Super-Multi" drive, the GSA-2166D. Sporting the same specs as its internal counterpart, the GSA-4166B, the GSA-2166D is capable of 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+R DL, 4x DVD-R DL and 5x DVD-RAM writing speeds and can read DVD's at speeds as high as 16x. Of course, LG's new "Super-Multi" drive can do more than read and write DVD's. Along with support for LightScribe, the GSA-2166D boasts features like 48x CD reading and writing speeds, 32x rewriting speeds, and a software bundle from Nero and CyberLink.

With features and specs like this, LG's new "Super-Multi" drive sounds like it has a lot of potential. To give you an idea of what to expect from the GSA-2166D we'll take a look at its features and then see how it stacks up against the 16x DVD±RW drives from companies like Sony, NEC and Plextor. Does LG's new drive have what it takes? Keep reading to find out.

What's in the box?:

• LG GSA-2166D USB 2.0 "Super-Multi" DVD±RW/RAM Drive
• DVD Writer Solution CD
• Quick Guide For Drive
• USB 2.0 Cable
• AC Power Adapter
• Warranty Information

Physical Features:

The drive that LG sent us for this review was manufactured in July of 2005 and had firmware version 1.00. At the time of this review, this is the only official firmware available for the GSA-2166D.

From the front, the GSA-2166D looks nothing like its internal counterpart, the GSA-4166B. LG's new external writer sports a more sophisticated look thanks in part to its glossy black bezel and silver highlights. The GSA-2166D still has its share of logos though. Along with the large "LG" logo, you can see a few showing support for theDVD+R DL and DVD Multi specifications, as well as HP's LightScribe technology.

Below the tray you can see the GSA-2166D's single LED. Itlights up green when the drive is both reading or writing.

While not the most compact or lightweight external drive we've tested, the GSA-2166D is very well constructed. Like the front bezel, the top of the enclosure is made out of a glossy black plastic. While this looks nice, finger prints and smudges have a tendency to stand out.

Looking at the bottom, you can see that the GSA-2166D has four rubber strips, or feet, to keep it from sliding around. It's hard to tell but these strips also run up the sides so that the drive can be positioned either horizontally or vertically.

The rear of the GSA-2166D is pretty straight forward. Starting from the left, you can see its USB 2.0 connector, power connector and on/off switch.

Technical Specs:

Most of the specs below have been taken from LG's website and the guide that came with the drive.

LightScribe:

Note: We took a much closer look at LightScribe technology in our review of the BenQ DW1625. In this review we'll just go over some of the basics and see how the GSA-2166D performs with the bundled software.

The GSA-2166D is the first external drive from LG to feature LightScribe technology. Developed by HP, LightScribe lets you burn durable, silk screen quality labels directly onto your CD's and DVD's using the same drive that burned the data. According to HP, it's as simple as burning the data, flipping the disc, and then burning the label.

Of course you can't do this with just any drive, media or software. While LightScribe capable drives use the same laser when burning both the data and label, they have to be able to accurately control the laser's focus and position as well as the spindle speed. They also must be able to recognize LightScribe media. These special discs have a thin dye coating on the label side that absorbs laser light. This triggers a chemical reaction that produces a color change, allowing the user to print text, artwork or graphics.

Even if you have a LightScribe capable drive and media, you will need software that supports it. Most major software companies have pledged support for the technology. However, at the time of this review, the list of compatible software is still relatively short. For the GSA-2166D, LG turned to Nero. Using the bundled software you can both create and burn LightScribe disc labels.

Once you've created your LightScribe label, you're ready to print it. Before you can do this though, you will need to choose the contrast. Keep in mind this option not only changes the level of detail, it also affects the amount of time it takes to print the label. The higher the quality, the longer the process will take.

How long does it take to print a label? For testing purposes, we created a few discs using Verbatim's LightScribe CD-R and DVD+R media. In both cases, the quality was set to "best". The results are shown below.

Verbatim CD-R - 23 minutes		Verbatim DVD+R - 29 minutes

As you can see, printing a LightScribe label isn't exactly a speedy process. Fortunately, faster LightScribe media is on the way that should cut the amount of time it takes to print a label by almost half.

More Features:

By looking at the picture below, you can see that LG's new DVD writer is identified as an "HL-DT-ST DVDRRW GSA-2166D".

The Nero screenshot also shows that the GSA-2166D has a maximum CD writing speed of 48x and a 2048KB buffer. This buffer is also backed up by some form of buffer underrun protection. In this case, the technology used is "Super Link." According to Nero, LG's new DVD writer can also write CD-Text and overburn. When testing the drive's capacity I found that the drive was able to overburn up to 93:56with CompUSA's 99 minute CD-R media.

Like LG's previous "Super-Multi" drives, the GSA-2166D can do EFM encoding correctly. Using CloneCD version 4.2.0.2 with AWS disabled, Iwas able to reproduce older SafeDisc 2 protected titles like Max Payne along with some of the newer ones protected by SafeDisc 2.51 like Serious Sam: The Second Encounter.

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 GSA-2166D's maximum reading and writing speeds, recording modes, buffer underrun protection and 2MB buffer.

InfoTool also shows that the GSA-2166D is a 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 GSA-2166D'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 LG's new drive can read and write to DVD+R DL, DVD-R DL and DVD-RAM media, it does not support the Mt. Rainier format.

LG's external DVD writer also supports a feature called "bitsetting." By default, the GSA-2166D automatically sets the book type for DVD+R and DVD+R DL discs to "DVD-ROM". For whatever reason though, the drive does not let you set the book type of DVD+RW discs.

The GSA-2166D's software bundle is very similar to what LG has included with their previous DVD writers. The CD that comes with the drive contains a number of different applications including Nero Express 6 and InCD 4 as well as PowerProducer 2 Gold and 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 LG included with their new DVD±RW drive is 6.6.0.9. You can download the latest version of the software from Nero's website.

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 Ahead Software lets you backup your data to CD/DVD, hard disc, image recorderor another computer on your LAN.

InCD 4 - InCD is Nero's packet writing software. Like Roxio's Drag-to-Disc or Sonic's DLA, 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 or DVD±RW disc. Many people consider InCD to be one of the best packet writing tools because of its simplicity and performance.

CyberLink PowerProducer 2 Gold - If you're looking for a quick and easy way to capture and edit your video, look no further than PowerProducer 2 Gold from CyberLink. Right from the start, this wizard based software gives you a number of options to select from. From here you can choose to create a new movie disc, edit an existing one or record video directly to DVD.

PowerProducer lets you create a number of different movie discs. Looking at the menu below, you can choose to create a DVD, VCD, or SVCD. If your drive supports DVD-VR or DVD+VR, you can also create an editable DVD.

While you can capture your own video, PowerProducer will also let you add any MPEG-1, MPEG-2, AVI or DivX video clip to your project. Once you have them imported, you can use the built in editor to trim, merge or split your video clips or add special effects. PowerProducer also allows you to set chapters within the video content and add your own custom menus, backgrounds, fonts and titles.

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 GSA-2166D 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 one of CyberLink's audio packs.

Without a doubt, the GSA-2166D is LG's most feature packed drive to date. Their new "Super-Multi" drive not only supports all major DVD formats, it sports some pretty impressive specs. The GSA-2166D is capable of 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+R DL, 4x DVD-R DL writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 16x. On top of that, it can read and write DVD-RAM media at 5x. Along with support for LightScribe, the drive also includes features like a USB 2.0 interface, Super Link buffer underrun protection and a software bundle from Nero and CyberLink. With all this, it's easy to see why the LG GSA-2166D gets the full 10 points for its features.

Installing LG's new external DVD writer couldn't be easier. Thanks to its USB 2.0 interface, the entire installation process took only a matter of minutes. With no jumpers to worry about, it was as simple as connecting the USB cable, plugging in the power cable, and powering the drive on. The test computer was already powered on so it took only a matter of seconds for plug and play to install the drivers. After making sure that the drive was recognized correctly in the Device Manager, I was ready to start installing the software.

Software Installation:

As I mentioned earlier, LG's new DVD writer comes with a CD full of software from CyberLink and Nero. If you have autorun enabled, the menu pictured below will automatically come up when you insert the disc.

You can view information on the different applications in the software bundle by clicking on the menu buttons. Otherwise, you can start the setup process by clicking the "Install" button. After picking your language of choice, you'll be presented with a number of installation options.

From here you can choose to install PowerDVD, PowerProducer, Nero Express, InCD or the Acrobat Reader. After clicking next a few times and waiting for the files to be copied over, you'll be able to start burning your own CD's and DVD's. And no, you don't need to install a special driver if you want to write to DVD-RAM discs. InCD 4 supports all rewritable DVD formats, including DVD-RAM.

The Documentation:

Most of the GSA-2166D's documentation is located on the software CD in electronic format. While LG has gone out of their way to provide a nice interface, the documentation is still in PDF format and will require you to install Adobe Acrobat before you can read them.

Electronic format aside, the manual is a good example of what we've come to expect from LG. To get users familiarized with their new drive, it starts out by going over some of the GSA-2166D's features, package contents and system requirements. LG has even provided a short list of recommended media. The manual also goes over the functions of the various buttons and connectors located on the front and back of the drive.While the diagrams are small, they are clearly labeled and easy to understand.

From here, the manual jumps into the physical installation of the drive. These instructions are pretty brief since there really isn't much to do other than plug in a few cables and turn the computer on. The manual continues on by going over the basic operation of the drive. It explains how to insert and eject DVD's and how to get a disc out of the drive in case of an emergency. Last but not least, it finishes up with a short troubleshooting section and a page full of specifications for the GSA-2166D.

LG's new external writer also comes with a "Quick Set-Up Guide." Like the manual, this fold out guide contains a good amount of information, including the GSA-2166D's features, specs and system requirements. More importantly, the guide contains a set of instructions that take you step by step through the installation process. While a little short on words, there are a few large diagrams showing what to do. For most people, the "Quick Set-Up Guide" will be all they'll need to get the drive up and running.

For ease of installation, the GSA-2166D is hard to beat. Thanks to its USB 2.0 interface, it's as simple as plugging in a few cables and flipping the power switch. Nevertheless, if you do run into trouble, the documentation LG has provided is more than sufficient. Overall, I give the installation a 9 out of a possible 10.

While CPU, memory, OS and other variables don't often make a huge difference, there are some nonetheless. We have a computer that is used only for testing hardware. We do this so all tests can be compared reliably.

Test System:

For DVD writers the performance tests are broken down into four sections: CD read, CD write, DVD read and DVD write tests. Each benchmark test has been run three times. The score given is an average of the three. DMA has been enabled in device manager for all IDE devices supporting it.

CD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the CD-ROM benchmarks, CD WinBench 99 v3.0 and CD Speed v4.01 are used to test read speeds, seek times and CPU usage. For DAE testing both CD Speed and CD DAE are used. CD Speed is used to give an overall DAE speed rating and CD DAE is used to give the track by track extraction speeds and to check the extracted tracks for errors the drive may have created.

CD Write Tests: To test the write speeds, Nero Burning Rom is used to write 650MB and 700MB to our test media. Times are recorded. To test rewrite scores, Nero is used again to time how long it takes to write 400MB of random files and directories. Then Sonic's DLA is used to test packet writing speeds. The same files are copied and pasted in Windows Explorer and timed.

DVD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the DVD benchmarks CD Speed v4.01 is used to test read speeds, seek times, and CPU usage.

DVD Write Tests: To test the DVD write speeds, Nero Burning Rom is used to write 4GB to our test media. Times are recorded. Then Sonic's DLA is used to test packet writing speeds. The same files are copied and pasted in Windows Explorer and timed.

CD Winbench 99 Scores:

The CD Winbench test is as close as we can get to testing every day usage. It fires off eight different applications using scripts. This tries to mimic the activities of a person loading these programs onto their own computer.

LG's new "Super-Multi" drive did pretty well in the CD Winbench portion of our tests. While the GSA-2166D's overall score wasn't as high as some of the other drives, it had some very good transfer rates. The drive started reading at 20.4x (3060 / 150) and reached a maximum speed of about 42.7x (6400 / 150) on the outside.

CD Speed v4.01 - Pressed CD:

For this test I used a pressed CD containing one Mode 1 data track. The disc is 74:38 in size and is full of data and directories.

	LG GSA-2166D	Sony DRU-810A	NEC ND-3540A	Plextor PX-716A
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	35.69x 20.48x 47.11x	36.39x 20.64x 48.13x	35.60x 20.56x 47.07x	35.46x 20.50x 46.90x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	99ms 105ms 166ms	106ms 123ms 176ms	125ms 137ms 213ms	102ms 120ms 172ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	1% 2% 3% 7%	1% 1% 3% 6%	0% 1% 3% 6%	0% 1% 2% 3%

The GSA-2166D didn't perform as well as I had expected when reading pressed CD's. While rated at 48x, LG's new drive came up a little short of this number in our tests. Nevertheless, the drive's seek times were very good.

CD Speed v4.01 - CD-R Media:

For this test I made a copy of our pressed test CD. I used 12x rated Memorex Gold 74 minute media for the tests.

LG's new writer was a little faster when reading CD-R media.While this wasn't enough to top the drive from Sony, the GSA-2166D had no problems reaching a maximum transfer speed of 48x in our tests. Looking at the other scores, you can see that the drive's seek times were again quite good.

The GSA-2166D had no problems recognizing our 99 minute CompUSA media. The drive read our test disc from start to finish, reaching a maximum transfer speed of 51.99x! This is pretty good for a drive rated at only 48x.

CD Speed v4.01 - CD-RW Media:

For this test I made a copy of a pressed test CD. I used some PNY 80 minute CD-RW media for the tests.

While the GSA-2166D can read pressed and CD-R media at speeds as high as 48x, its CD-RW read speeds are limited to 32x. As you can see, it came up a little short of this speed in our tests.

CD DAE and CD Speed v4.01 - Pressed CD:

For this test I used Pure Funk. The CD is almost exactly 74 minutes. This helps to squeeze the maximum performance out of the CD.

Exact Audio Copy can tell us a lot about a drive's capabilities. You can see from the screen shot that while the LG GSA-2166D supports accurate stream and has the ability to retrieve C2 error information from the CD, it does not cache audio data.

CD Speed	LG GSA-2166D	Sony DRU-810A	NEC ND-3540A	Plextor PX-716A
Average: Start: End: DAE Quality: Accurate Stream:	36.04x 20.81x 47.63x 10 Yes	36.76x 20.90x 48.59x 10 Yes	30.92x 17.99x 40.11x 10 Yes	31.45x 18.20x 41.55x 10 Yes

Ripping audio CD's wasn't a problem for LG's new "Super-Multi" drive. The GSA-2166D flew through CD Speed's DAE tests, reaching a maximum speed of 47.63x.

To get a better look at the quality of the extracted audio we use CD DAE. CD DAE is actually designed to be an audio ripping program. It converts the CD-DA on the CD to .wav files. We use it in our testing because it can also be used as a quick and easy way to test the quality. Where CD Speed tests the DAE as one large session, CD DAE extracts each CD track individually. It actually extracts each track twice and then compares them to check for any errors. Every error a drive creates could be a hiss or pop you would hear later in the audio tracks.

While the GSA-2166D started out a little faster when extracting our test CD with CD DAE, its average and maximum speeds were slower than what we saw with CD Speed.

CD DAE and CD Speed v4.01 - CD-R Media:

For this test I used a copy of the Pure Funk CD. It's burned onto the same Memorex Gold 74 minute media I used in the CD Speed tests.

The GSA-2166D was a little slower when ripping audio CD-R discs. However, this didn't keep it from reaching amaximum DAE speed of 47.10x in our tests. So how did it do in CD Speed's advanced DAE tests? Take a look below.

LG's new DVD writer completed CD Speed's advanced DAE tests with an average score of 33.99x. The drive did not create any errors, but for whatever reason, it was not able to pass all of the on-the-fly copying tests. If you look at the advanced features, you can see that the GSA-2166D was able to read the CD-Text, subchannel data and even the lead in and lead out sections of the CD.

To see how well LG's "Super-Multi" drive can read scratched and dirty discs, I used CD Speed's ScanDisc utility to see how many sectors were damaged or unreadable. This is a very rough, but good way to test the drive's error correcting abilities.

CD Speed - ScanDisc

The GSA-2166D did surprisingly well here. By looking at the screenshot, you can see that the drive considered only 52.9% of the CD to be "damaged". On top of that, none of the sectors on the disc were unreadable.

You can also get an idea of how well the drive can read scratched and dirty discs by using CD DAE. CD DAE will extract the audio tracks twice and then compare them. From this information we can see what the drive's average speed was and how many errors it generated.

The GSA-2166D gave some mixed results in this test. While it had the lowest number of errors, the scratches on the disc caused it to slow down considerably.

CD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero Burning Rom 6.6.0.16 and DLA 4.95:

For this test I randomly generated 650MB and 700MB of files and directories to test the time it takes the drive to write and close a CD. All of the files are between 1MB and 25MB in size and no more than 10 directories deep. All of the times below include not only the actual writing time, but the lead in and out times too. This gives a more realistic idea of how long it takes to write a CD.

 

Like the other drives, the GSA-2166D has a maximum CD writing speed of 48x. To reach this speed, it uses CAV, or Constant Angular Velocity. With Fuji's 48x media, the drive started writing at about 21.47x and reached a maximum speed of 48.37x at the end of the session. This gave LGs new new DVD±RW an average writing speed of about 36.64x.

To test the GSA-2166D's writing times, I wrote our test data to some Taiyo Yuden manufactured Fujimedia rated at 48x. The results are below.

LG's new drive did very well in our CD writing tests. With an average writing time of 2:33, the GSA-2166D was about 5 seconds faster than the Plextor PX-716A and a good 18 seconds faster than the drive from NEC.

To test the drive's writing quality I used Lite-On IT's KProbe2. Written by Karr Wang, this utility can be used to test the number of C1 and C2 errors on a disc. For these tests I used a Lite-On LTR-52246S (firmware 6S0F) and read the discs at 32x.

Fuji 48x (Taiyo Yuden)

Memorex 52x (CMC)

Verbatim 52x

The GSA-2166D's writing quality was very good. By looking at the KProbe screenshots, you can see that the discs burned by the drive had a low number of C1 errors and there were no C2 errors at all.

For the rewriting tests I created 400MB of files on the hard drive and wrote them in DAO mode using Nero. To test the packet writing speeds I copied and pasted the same files off the hard drive onto a CD-RW disc using DLA from Sonic. Verbatim's 32x Ultra Speed CD-RW media was used for these tests.

While the GSA-2166D uses CAV when writing to CD-R discs, it uses Z-CLV, or Zone CLV, when rewriting at 32x. By looking at the screenshot above, you can see that it starts writing at 16x and jumps to 24x at about the 15 minute mark. The drive writes at this speed until about the 40 minute mark. At this point, the writing speed increases to 32x and stays there until the very end of the session.

LG's new DVD writer didn't do as well as some of the other drives in our rewriting tests. Due to its Z-CLV writing method, the GSA-2166D took 2:41 to write 400MB with Nero and 2:31 to do the same with DLA.

Instead of erasing at 32x, the GSA-2166D seemed to erase at only 16x. While this didn't have much of an effect on the drive's quick erase times, it took more than 5 minutes to do a full erase.

Nero CD Speed v4.01 - DVD-ROM:

A little editorial note here. Like a CD-ROM, you will get different benchmark results depending on what kind of discs you are using. You are probably going to get varying results from a full data disc to a single layer movie disc. You're also going to get different results for single and dual layer discs.

The CD Speed website recommends using a single layer DVD-ROM disc with a capacity of at least 4GB. If you use a dual layer disc you probably won't get the best results because most DVD-ROM drives slow down to read them. Some even slow down to read single layer DVD-Video discs. To make a long story short, I am using a 4.37GB single layer, single sided disc for this test.

The GSA-2166D performed very well when reading single layer DVD-ROM's. In our tests it started reading at 6.56x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 16.01x. While this wasn't enough to take the top spot in our transfer rate tests, its seek times were pretty good.

Nero CD Speed v4.01 - DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-RAM:

First, we'll look at the drive's DVD-R and DVD-RW reading performance. For this I made copies of our DVD-ROM test disc using some general use 4x DVD-R and 2x DVD-RW media from Verbatim and then ran our usual DVD read tests with CD Speed. For the DVD-RAM tests, media from Maxell was used. The results are below.

LG's new drive had no problems reading DVD-R and DVD-RW media. In our tests, it was able to read DVD-R media at an impressive 16x, but reached a maximum transfer speed of only 8x when reading DVD-RW discs.

Verbatim DVD-R DL

The GSA-2166D wasn't as fast when reading Verbatim's 4x DVD-R DL media. As you can see, the drive started reading at 3.30x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 7.93x.

Maxell 5x DVD-RAM

The GSA-2166D has a maximum transfer speed of 5x when reading DVD-RAM discs. By looking at the screenshot you can see that the drive starts reading at about 3.17x and accelerates, reaching 5x at the 1.3GB mark.

Nero CD Speed v4.01 - DVD+R and DVD+RW:

Next we'll look at the drive's DVD+R and DVD+RW reading performance. For this I made a copy of our DVD-ROM test disc using some 4x DVD+R and 2.4x DVD+RW media from Verbatim. I then ran our usual DVD read tests with CD Speed. The results are below.

The GSA-2166D's performance with DVD+R and DVD+RW media was very similar to what we saw with DVD-R and DVD-RW media.The drive read DVD+R discs at 16x and DVD+RW media at 8x.

Verbatim DVD+R DL

Reading Verbatim's double layer DVD+R media wasn't a problem for the GSA-2166D either. While not nearly as fast as the drive from Sony, it reached a respectable 7.94x in CD Speed's transfer rate tests.

Nero CD Speed v4.01 - DVD-Video:

For these tests I am using the US version of Transformers: The Movie on DVD. The disc is over 4GB and single sided.

The GSA-2166D didn't do as well as some of the other drives when reading DVD videos. In our tests, it reached a maximum speed of only 8x when reading both single and dual layer discs.This is pretty slow considering there are drives out there that can reach speeds as high as 16x.

To see how well the GSA-2166D worked as a DVD player, I watched a few scenes from Transformers: The Movie and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace using WinDVD 4 and PowerDVD 5. The drive had no problems playing back these movies with either program and was fairly quiet.

DVD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero Burning Rom 6.6.0.16 and DLA 4.95:

To test the DVD writing performance of Sony's new drive I used Verbatim 16x DVD+R, 16x DVD-R, 8x DVD+RW and 6x DVD-RW media. To get the writing times, a 4.38GB image was burned to our test discs using Nero.

When writing to DVD+R and DVD-R media at 16x, the GSA-2166D uses CAV. By looking at the screenshots above, you can see that LG's new drive starts writing at about 6.7x and accelerates, reaching its maximum speed as it reaches the end of the disc.

The GSA-2166D also features 8x DVD+RW and 6x DVD-RW writing speeds. In both cases the drive uses Z-CLV to reach its maximum DVD+RW writing speed.

LG's new DVD writer performed pretty well in our DVD writing tests. While its Z-CLV writing method put it at a slight disadvantage when writing to DVD+RW and DVD-RW discs, the GSA-2166D turned in some very good times with DVD+R and DVD-R media.

To check the media compatibility of the GSA-2166D, I ran a few tests using some of the media available in my area. The media types, along with the average time it took the drive to write our 4.38GB image, are listed below.

While not shown here, I also tried RiDATA's (Ritek) 16x DVD-R media. These discs did not seem to be supported by the GSA-2166D as the writing speed was limited to only 4x.

So what about writing quality? Testing a drive's DVD writing quality isn't easy. Until now, there were very few options, unless you wanted to shell out thousands of dollars for a certified test machine. Thanks to KProbe, we can test a disc's PI (Parity Inner) and PIF (Parity Inner Fail) rates.For these tests I used a Lite-On SOHW-1673S (firmware JS07) and read the discs at 4x with the PI and PIF ECC sums set to 8 and 1 respectively. For comparison, I also tested the discs on a BenQ DW1640. When combined with Nero CD Speed, the DW1640 is able to report PI Errors, PI Failures, Parity Outer Failures and even jitter levels. For this test, the discs are read at 8x with both the PI and PIF ECC sums set to 8.

So what are "good" results supposed to look like? With KProbe, the PI errors should not exceed 280 and the number of PIF errors should stay below 4. When testing with CD Speed, the number of PI errors should stay below 280 as well. However, because it scans with an ECC sum of 8, a higher number of PIF errors is acceptable, as long as they do not exceed 32. Since POF errors are uncorrectable, we really don't want to see any of them at all.

I also put these discs through a "stress test" by reading them back at 16x with the DW1640. By reading these discs back at this speed, we can see if there are any readability issues caused by the number of errors or high levels of jitter.

The GSA-2166D's writing quality varied a lot from one manufacturer to another. Looking at the graphs above, you can see that the media from Taiyo Yuden and Fuji yielded some pretty good results. Unfortunately, when scanned with the DW1640, the PI/PIF rates were higher than we'd like to see on some of the other discs. In particular, RiDATA's 16x DVD+R media. With these discs the PI/PIF rates were not only very high, there were a number of POF errors.

Lastly, here are some results from our DVD-R test media. When tested with KProbe, the GSA-2166D's writing quality appears to be pretty good. Unfortunately, when scanned with the BenQ DW1640 there were a number of PO Failures that caused some slow downs in the transfer rate tests.

To test the GSA-2166D's packet writing performance I used DLA 4.95. Verbatim 8x DVD+RW and 6x DVD-RW media were used once again.

The GSA-2166D didn't do as well as I expected in our packet writing tests. The drive's writing speed was limited to only 4x, even when 6x DVD-RW and 8x DVD+RW media was used.

If you want to use DVD-RAM media with LG's new "Super-Multi" drive, you will need to use a packet writing program like Sonic's DLA or Nero's InCD. As you can see, InCD gives you a number of formats to choose from. For our tests I chose to use UDF 2.0.

To test the drive's DVD-RAM speeds I copied and pasted the same 4GB of files used in our other DVD packet writing tests.

While it doesn't look like it, the GSA-2166D is really writing at 5x. When you write data to a DVD-RAM disc, each sector is automatically verified. This verification adds extra time to the recording process. Nevertheless, the GSA-2166D performed very well in our tests. With its 5x reading and writing speeds, it's the drive to get if you need DVD-RAM support.

Double Layer DVD Write Tests - Nero Burning Rom 6.6.0.16:

To test the double layer DVD writing performance of the GSA-2166D, I used Verbatim 8x DVD+R DL, Verbatim 2.4x DVD+R DL, Memorex 2.4x DVD+R DL and Verbatim 4x DVD-R DL media. I created about 8GB of random files and directories on my hard drive and then burned them to our test discs with Nero.

Finding DVD+R DL media that would work at 8x was not an easy task. The only media we found that would work at this speed were Verbatim's new 8x DVD+R DL discs. With Verbatim's 2.4x DVD+R DL media, the writing speed was limited to 6x and Memorex's Ritek manufactured discs would not work at anything faster than 4x.

With Nero, it took the GSA-2166D about 17:41 to write 8001MB of data. While faster than the drives from NEC and Plextor, it was almost two and a half minutes slower than the DRU-810A. So what about writing quality? Take a look below.

The GSA-2166D's writing quality could have been better with Verbatim's 8x DVD+R DL media. When scanned with the BenQ DW1640, the PIF rate was very high at the layer change. On top of that, there were a number of PO Failures. The results were better with the 2.4x DVD+R DL media from Verbatim and Memorex. However, as you can see, there is still room for much improvement.

The GSA-2166D also features 4x DVD-R DL writing speeds. To test the drive's writing times, Verbatim's new 4x DVD-R DL media was used.

With its 4x writing speed, the GSA-2166D wasn't nearly as fast as the drives from NEC and Plextor. In our tests, it took LG's new drive 27:13 to write 8001MB of data. So what about writing quality? Take a look below.

The GSA-2166D's writing quality was pretty good with Verbatim's 4x DVD-R DL media. The PI/PIF rates stayed within acceptable limits when tested with both KProbe and CD Speed and there were no readability problems.

Performance Revisited:

Overall, the performance of LG's new "Super-Multi" was pretty mixed. When writing DVD's, the GSA-2166D turned in very good times with DVD±R and DVD+R DL media. However, there were also a number of cases where the writing quality could have been better.Nevertheless, the drive was fairly quick when reading DVD's. The GSA-2166D had no problems reading single layer DVD-ROM's and DVD±R discs at 16x but slowed to only 8x when reading DVD videos.

The GSA-2166D also did relatively well in our CD read tests. The drive read pressed and CD-R media at speeds as high as 48x and had some very good seek times. When it came to writing CD's, LG's new drive gave us some mixed results. The GSA-2166D turned in some very impressive times when writing to CD-R media, but did not perform as well as I had expected in our rewriting tests. With all things considered, the LG GSA-2166D gets a 6 out of 10 for the performance section of this review.

Like many, the performance of first generation LightScribe drives left me wanting more. To implement this new technology, most drive manufacturers had to make some sacrifices in regards to performance. LG's new external "Super-Multi" drive is a step in the right direction. Along with support for LightScribe, the GSA-2166D offers good looks and some of the fastest DVD writing speeds available. While this would normally be a winning combination, things like writing quality kept it from getting top marks in our review.

Unlike previous LightScribe drives, the GSA-2166D can write to both DVD+R and DVD-R media at 16x. At this speed, it took the drive less than 6 minutes to write an entire 4.7GB DVD. The GSA-2166D also performed pretty well with DVD-RAM media. However, its Z-CLV writing method put it at a disadvantage when writing to DVD+RW and DVD-RW discs. On top of that, it would not erase or packet write at anything faster than 4x. The GSA-2166D was able to redeem itself somewhat in our double layer DVD+R recording tests. Thanks to its 8x writing speed, the drive took less than 18 minutes to burn 8GB of data.

When it came to media compatibility and writing quality, the GSA-2166D gave us some mixed results. It wrote to most of our test media at its rated speeds. However, unlike some of LG's previous "Super-Multi" drives, it was not able to write to any 8x DVD±R discs at 16x. Also keep in mind that if you want to write to DVD+R DL media at 8x, you will need to buy media rated at this speed. Writing quality was also an issue with the GSA-2166D as we saw high PI/PIF rates and even some PO Failures with a number of discs. Hopefully, LG can address this in a future firmware update.

LG's new "Super-Multi" drive also performed pretty well in our DVD read tests. The drive was able to read single layer, data DVD-ROM's at 16x and had some fairly good seek times. Reading recordable media wasn't a problem for the GSA-2166D either. In our tests, it read DVD±R discs at 16x and both DVD±RW and DVD±R DL media at 8x. Unfortunately, the drive also read DVD-Video's at only 8x. While this doesn't have any effect on movie playback, there are faster drives out there if you want to backup your movie collection.

The GSA-2166D was also fairly quick when reading CD's. In our tests, the drive read pressed and CD-R media at speeds as high as 48x and CD-RW discs at 31x. On top of that, it was able to rip audio CD's at an impressive 47x. The GSA-2166D also performed pretty well when writing to CD-R media. LG's new drive not only turned in some impressive times, its writing quality was quite good. Unfortunately, due to its Z-CLV writing method, the GSA-2166D did not do as well as some of the other drives in our rewriting tests.

Like LG's previous "Super-Multi" drives, the GSA-2166D isn't short on features. Along with support for all major CD and DVD formats, it has a 2MB buffer that is backed up by Super Link buffer underrun protection. The drive also has a good number of writing and rewriting speeds to choose from and has the ability to set the book type of DVD+R and DVD+R DL media. Of course, the GSA-2166D's biggest feature is its LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling system. While not exactly a speedy process, LightScribe is a great alternative to markers and stick on labels.

While the GSA-2166D has its rough spots, it has a lot of potential. If LG can improve the writing quality, it could be one of the better external 16x DVD writers out there. The GSA-2166D should start shipping shortly after you read this and is expected to run about $130 at places like Best Buy.

Highs:

• Writes to DVD±R media at 16x
• Writes to DVD+RW media at 8x
• Writes to DVD-RW media at 6x
• Writes to DVD+R DL media at 8x
• Writes to DVD-R DL media at 4x
• Reads single layer DVD-ROM's at 16x
• Reads DVD±R media at 16x
• Reads DVD±RW and DVD±R DL media at 8x
• Reads and writes DVD-RAM media at 5x
• Features 48x CD-R and 32x CD-RW writing speeds
• Excellent DAE speeds
• Features Super Link buffer underrun protection
• Good CD writing quality
• Includes software from Nero and CyberLink
• Supports bitsetting for DVD+R and DVD+R DL media
• Easy to install thanks to USB 2.0 interface
• Nice looking design

Lows:

• Questionable writing quality with some DVD±R and DVD+R DL media
• Cannot write to 8x DVD±R media at 16x
• Had a hard time reaching its rated speed when reading pressed CD's
• Packet writes DVD±RW media at only 4x
• Erases DVD-RW media at only 4x
• Reads DVD-Videos at only 8x
• Cannot set the book type of DVD+RW media
• Has a 2048KB buffer
• Overburns to only 93:56