Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Asus DRW-1814BLT

Despite its relatively slower DVD+/-R write speed of 18x, Asus’s burner turned in a better time than Lite-On’s entry when writing 4.38GB of data to a single-layer DVD+R disc, at least when using Verbatim media: The DRW-1814BLT enjoyed a 13-second lead with a write time of 5:36 (min:sec). Interestingly, with Taiyo Yuden media, Asus’s drive was slower than its competitor, taking 6:01 to fill that disc. Because Verbatim media is easier to come by, we’re giving that score more weight, but consider this point a caveat. The CPU utilization during reads of both discs was below 30 percent.

In our double-layer burn test, the DRW-1814BLT, which is rated for 8x with DVD-DL media, took an acceptable 18:08 to write 7.96GB of data to Verbatim media, with a 6.66x (should we be scared?) average speed. Asus, like Lite-On, tosses in Nero, LightScribe, and DVD-RAM support, but no extra bezel.

All in all, the two drives are pretty close, but we’re more comfortable with the Asus’s CPU usage during disc reads.

Click to Enlarge

The Asus DRW-1814BLT’s performance is as exciting as its looks, if you know what we mean.

Asus, DRW-1814BLT
www.asus.com
plus
Star Trek: TOS

Acceptable, if average,
performance; useful extras.

minus
Star Trek: Enterprise

A middling product; lower
burns with “select media.”

verdict:8
DRW-24B1ST DVD-Writer - Black - Retail - Internal

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