Holiday Shopping Roundup: Eight Dual Format Recordable DVD Drives

LiteOn LDW-411S

LiteOn might not make the highest quality of components, but it would not be fair if we didn't say that they kept everyone else's prices honest. The drive came with an average software package, including PowerDVD and Sonic MyDVD The LDW-411S is slightly interesting because it is one of the few DVDRW drives that comes in a shorter format. Edit: We overlooked that the drive also comes packaged with Sonic RecordNow and DLA.

LiteOn LDW-411S DVD-/+R Drive
Interface	IDE
CD Write Speed	40X. 32X, 24X (PCAV) 16X, 12X, 8X, 4X (CLV)
CD Rewrite Speed	24X (PCAV) 16X, 10X, 4X (CLV)
CD Read Speed	40X Max (CAV)
DVD-R Write Speed	4X, 2X, 1X (CLV)
DVD-RW Rewrite Speed	2X, 1X (CLV)
DVD+R Write Speed	4X, 2.4X (CLV)
DVD+RW Rewrite Speed	4X, 2.4X (CLV)
DVD Read Speed	12X Max (CAV)
Supported Modes	DAO / DAO-RAW 16 & 96 TAO SAO / SAO 16 & 96 Packet Write Multi-Session
Supported Formats	DVD+R (incremental) DVD+RW (random) DVD-R (DAO, incremental, multi-border) DVD-RW (restricted overwrite) CD-R, CD-RW, CD-ROM, CD-DA, CD-ROM XA, Mixed Mode, CD Extra Photo CD, CD Text, Bootable CD, Mount Rainer
Access Time	CD: 140ms DVD: 160ms
Buffer	2MB

Surprisingly, the specifications of the drive are quite good. Access time and read speeds are all fairly average, but this burner will ultimately win our price award as it costs less than $100. Of course, the real question is whether or not LiteOn can bring quality with this incredibly affordable price tag. Technical support is also going to be a big factor for this drive.

There are quite a few sources claiming that you can flash the firmware on a LDW-401S into an LDW-411S. If you have an LDW-401S, your drive is probably quite capable of upgrading into the same drive that we used in this review.