What's in the box?:
- LG GSA-4167B "Super-Multi" DVD±RW/RAM Drive
- DVD Writer Solution CD
- Quick Set-Up Guide
- Audio Cable
- Mounting Screws
- IDE Cable
- Warranty Information
Physical Features:
The drive that LG sent us for this review was manufactured in August of 2005 and had firmware version DL10. For this review the drive's firmware has been updated to version DL12.
As you can see, LG has given the GSA-4167B a slight makeover. They've made a few changes to the bezel, including a redesigned eject button. More notably, the gray stripe found on LG's previous "Super-Multi" drives has been removed. The GSA-4167B still has its share of logos though. Along with the large "LG" logo, you can see a few showing support for Ultra Speed CD-RW media, as well as DVD+ReWritable and DVD Multi specifications.
Below the tray you can see the GSA-4167B's single LED. Itlights up green when the drive is reading or writing.
The rear of the GSA-4167B doesn't bring any surprises. By looking at the picture below you can see the drive's IDE interface, power connector and audio output connectors.
Starting from the left of the IDE connection you'll see the jumper switch for master, slave and cable select. By default the drive's jumper position is set to master. Next to the jumper block is the analog audio connector. The connector on the far left is the digital audio output.
Technical Specs:
Most of the specs below have been taken from LG's website and the guide that came with the drive.
| LG GSA-4167B DVD±RW/RAM | |
| CD Write Speeds | 48x, 40x, 32x, 24x, (Z-CLV) 16x, 8x, 4x (CLV) |
| CD Rewrite Speeds | 32x, 24x (Z-CLV) 16x, 10x, 4x (CLV) |
| DVD+R Write Speeds | 16x, 12x (P-CAV) 8x (Z-CLV) 4x, 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD+RW Write Speeds | 8x (Z-CLV) 4x, 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD-R Write Speeds | 16x (P-CAV) 8x (Z-CLV) 4x, 2x (CLV) |
| DVD-RW Write Speeds | 6x, 4x, 2x, 1x (CLV) |
| DVD+R DL Write Speeds | 8x*, 6x (Z-CLV) 4x, 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD-R DL Write Speeds | 4x, 2x (CLV) |
| DVD-RAM Write Speeds | 5x (P-CAV) 3x, 2x (CLV) |
| CD Read Speeds | 48x Max (CD-ROM/CD-R) 40x Max (CD-RW) |
| DAE Speed | 40x Max |
| DVD Read Speeds | 16x Max (DVD-ROM Single Layer) 12x Max (DVD-ROM Dual Layer) 10x Max (DVD±R) 8x Max (DVD±RW) 8x Max (DVD+R DL) 8x Max (DVD-Video) 5x, 3x, 2x (DVD-RAM) |
| Buffer Size | 2MB |
| Access Times |
125 ms (CD-ROM) 145 ms (DVD-ROM) 175 ms (DVD-RAM) |
| CD Formats | CD-Audio CD-ROM CD-ROM/XA CD-R CD-RW Photo CD Video CD CD-Extra CD-I CD-Text |
| DVD Formats | DVD-ROM DVD-R/RW DVD+R/RW DVD+R DL DVD-R DL DVD-RAM |
| CD Recording Modes | Disc At Once Session At Once Track At Once Packet Writing |
| DVD-R/RW Recording Modes |
Disc At Once Incremental Recording Restricted Overwrite |
| DVD+R Recording Modes |
Sequential Recording |
| DVD+RW and DVD-RAM Recording Modes |
Random Write |
| DVD+R/-R DL Recording Modes |
Sequential Recording |
More Features:
By looking at the picture below, you can see that LG's new DVD writer is identified as an "HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-4167B".
The Nero screenshot also shows that the GSA-4167B 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 95:10with CompUSA's 99 minute CD-R media.
Like LG's previous "Super-Multi" drives, the GSA-4167B 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-4167B's maximum reading and writing speeds, recording modes, buffer underrun protection and 2MB buffer.
InfoTool also shows that the GSA-4167B 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. A patched RPC-1 firmware can be downloaded here. Just keep in mind that it is not supported by LG nor by CDRLabs. Use it at your own risk.
While InfoTool gives us a quick glance at the GSA-4167B'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.
The GSA-4167B also supports a feature called "bitsetting." Using programs like Nero or CD Speed, you can set the book type of both DVD+R and DVD+R DL media to "DVD-ROM". For whatever reason though, the drive does not let you set the book type of DVD+RW discs.
