ASUS DRW-0402P/D: ASUS joins the dual format fray
by Kristopher Kubicki on September 21, 2003 6:13 PM EST- Posted in
- Storage
Construction
The drive shipped with an average amount of media, one 52X CDR, and a 4X DVD-R. We thought the 52X CDR was a little unusual since the drive is only capable of 16X CD writes. Cables, manuals and the drive were all present too, of course.
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For bundled software, ASUS went with a Sonic suite (bundled with Sonic DLA 4 and RecordNow DX 4.6). While Sonic is a good recording suite, we were a little surprised that ASUS did not bundle Ahead’s Nero with the drive (which they have bundled in any other optical drive that we have seen). As always, the bundled Quick Install and Manual documentation were excellent. Both guides were very easy to read and perhaps some of the more organized documents that we have seen in a while. Unfortunately, online documentation at time of publishing was scarce.
Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.
The DRW-0402P/D is as pleasing on the eye. Compared to ASUS’ other optical storage, the drive is actually quite Spartan. A sole LED denotes read and write, while the sole button on the drive only allows for eject. There are two ventilation slits on the front of the drive for intake. A separate fan on the rear of the unit is for exhaust.
Click to enlarge.
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Anonymous User - Friday, October 3, 2003 - link
Hmmmmmm. It appears as though DVD-/+R is almost ready for prime time. Almost... Thought the ASUS product would rock, but it merely spins. And I was bummed to see that ASUS was not the OEM. They usually do a great job. We'll wait until after Xmas I think...Ho ho ho.Anonymous User - Monday, September 22, 2003 - link
Maybe I misread the review, but Nero test alone don't really give enough information - what about actual burn tests? Just because it handles a certain media in the speed test doesn't mean it won't burn a coaster everytime.In fact, often times the actual burn will be faster or slower then the testing, or will so a weakness for certain media that the CD Speed won't uncover.
Anonymous User - Monday, September 22, 2003 - link
What about Sonys DRU510, thats faster than all these drives in specs atleast and available for the same price.Anonymous User - Monday, September 22, 2003 - link
In this review, I am wondering the price for each drives in the market. If you chack the www.newegg.com, it is much higher than the quoted price.Anonymous User - Sunday, September 21, 2003 - link
Slightly off topic, I'm wondering how you guys rank the media? Maybe that should get it's own article sometime in the future?In the US at least, Fujifilm has been using Taiyo Yuden (until recently) for their CDRs which are generally regarded as the top quality. For the DVDRs theyve been using the latest Ritek revision and from what I have read around the net, these are showing very good results as well.
So I'm wondering how you came to the conclusion that their DVD are of lesser quality than TDK/PNY/Imation? I don't know anyone that touches PNY and Imation while TDK's history in CDR changes manufacturers so much they aren't consistent either.
Anonymous User - Sunday, September 21, 2003 - link
FYI: The AnandTech Staff are at Computex right now (we just got in!)I get to speak to LiteOn tommorow. We will see what new products are on the horizon soon!
Kristopher
ViRGE - Sunday, September 21, 2003 - link
FYI, in the Review Index, there are 2 "Final Thoughts" pages, 6 and 7. 6 is the real one, and 7 is blank, so I'm guessing someone should delete it.Anonymous User - Sunday, September 21, 2003 - link
Hope you can get the oportunity to compare with the new LiteOn CD-RW/DVD+/-RW unit that goes for an almost unbelieveably low price. Given LiteOn's positive record in regard of their pure CD-RW drives a combo writer will get a lot of attention.Now if only there were SATA models of these units as well.