Verdict: For the money, nothing else can catch it.
Running a red light might not be the safest way to save time when you're driving, but when it comes to fast DVD writing, burning past warning signs is far less dangerous. This is because new DVD burners, such as the Asus DRW-1608P, can burn a dual-layer DVD+R9 at 6x speed, but you can only find 2.4x blank DVD+R9 media in the shops. And while the DRW-1608P can zip through a DVD+R or DVD-R at 16x speed, finding 16x media is impossible. Fortunately, the DRW-1608P is happy to burn at 16x using 8x DVD+R and DVD-R media, and at 6x on 2.4x DVD+R9 and DVD-R9 discs.
The DRW-1608P is the spitting image of an older Asus drive, the DRW-0804P (see Issue 9, p48), complete with black bezel and minimalist design. There's just a single read/write LED on the front, along with an eject button and the emergency eject hole.
The DRW-1608P may be dull on the outside, but in action it's a speed demon. Writing a DVD+R9 or DVD-R9 disc at 6x equates to 8.31MB/sec, and represents a jump of almost 5MB/sec compared with burners only capable of 2.4x writing. The DRW-1608P's 16x burning speed to DVD+R and DVD-R media is the equivalent of 21.6MB/sec. At the moment, the DRW-1608P can only manage 8x writing to DVD+RWs and a more sedate 6x to DVD-RWs. When it comes to the humble CD-R, the write speed of 40x is slightly slower than we've seen on other drives, but the CD-RW write speed of 24x is more typical.
Read speeds are the expected 16x for single-layer DVDs (dual-layer discs can only be read at 12x), and 40x for data CDs.
Otherwise the DRW-1608P is much the same as previous Asus DVD writers. FlextraLink, for instance, prevents buffer under-runs, while FlextraSpeed controls the write speed to enhance accuracy and reliability.
CD text is supported and there's a 2MB data buffer. Although other drives, such as Plextor's PX-716A, boasts an 8MB buffer, the DRW-1608P didn't seem to suffer from its smaller cache.
There's also DDSII (Double Dynamic Suspension System II), which minimises vibrations caused by high spin speeds and resonance between components, as well as between the drive and the PC case. One of the benefits of this, according to Asus, is that the drive will work more reliably when mounted vertically.
We tested the drive using the latest version of Nero Burning ROM 6 and the most up-to-date firmware - 1.02. The first test we ran was the dual-layer 8.5GB write test. The fastest we've seen until now is the Plextor PX-716A, which wrote at 4x, giving a time of 26 minutes and 28 seconds. The Asus, however, happily wrote our 2.4x DVD+R9 disc at 6x and only kept us waiting for 18 minutes and 55 seconds. Do the maths and it works out at about 7.7MB/sec, which is a great result.
Writing to single-layer DVDs is even quicker. Instead of having to wait half the time for half the amount of data to be burned, the DRW-1608P took six minutes and 20 seconds, and six minutes and 17 seconds respectively for the 4.2GB DVD+R and DVD-R tests.
As it's currently impossible to obtain any re-writable media rated faster than 4x, the times of 14 minutes and 40 seconds for DVD+RW, and 14 minutes and 41 seconds for DVD-RW are much slower than the drive is theoretically capable of. Four minutes and 15 seconds to burn a 700MB CD is quick, though, and few drives are much faster.
The DRW-1608P is a great DVD ripper, and copied a 4.3GB video in just four minutes and 51 seconds. Ripping audio tracks was similarly quick, taking just under nine minutes.
The software bundle is decent too, with Nero Suite, AsusDVD (a rebadged version of CyberLink's PowerDVD), and Ulead DVD Movie Factory 3 SE.
CONCLUSION
At £54 the Asus is a real bargain considering its performance, media support, and the software and accessories bundle. It's the first dual-layer drive that combines excellent burning speed across all types of media. For the money, nothing else can catch it.
