Lite-On LDW-811S DVD?RW Writer (Lite-On-LDW811S)

• Reviewed by: jimbox

  Strengths: * smaller form factor (less deep)* quick start up

  Weaknesses: * unfeatured dvd authoring software. simple and low learning curve to pump something out... but nothing impressive.

  Overall: GREAT BANG FOR THE BUCK IF YOU JUST NEED BASICS. HARDWARE IS GREAT BUT AUTHORING SOFTWARE IS MINIMALLY FEATURED.great deal for the money. i got this daul format writer for under $70 while all the competition seemed to be well over $80 (mostly over $100).as with any atapi optical drive, it was just a matter of mounting, connecting an ide ribbon cable, and connecting a power connector. at next boot, my athlonXP +2500/Gigabyte GA-7400Pro2 MoBo running win2k simply recognized it and it was usable for reading without any further installations (i cant say i tried burning at this point tho).as mentioned in the strengths, this drive is about 2 in. less deep than most optical atapi drives. if you're looking for a dvd+/-rw for a small form factor atx or ice case this it the way to go.i installed the cd distributed software simply and easily. i got updates from the support web site and registered the product while i was there.i got this drive more for backups than dvd authoring so i cant say much about the authoring software excpet it seems minimally featured. the only thing i made so far is a photo album disk of a vacation. it was quick and easy to do- but the original average resolution digital photos appear somewhat grainy in the dvd slide show. also noted- my first burn to -R didnt work on my gf's dvd player. i reburned it to +R and it worked fine... but note that this is _all_ about dvd player manufacturer compatibility and not the burner itself... but worth noting.i'm sure if i splurged for better authoring software it would give me more returns- but thats not what i bought it for. its possible that the slightly higher priced competition distributes better software in the box. again- i bought this drive for backups and Nero works fine with the drive for this purpose. if you're looking to do lots of dvd authoring i would additionaly research the software that comes witht the drive.

• Reviewed by: coolgecko

  Strengths: Easy to install and use.

  Weaknesses: Didn't work too well with bundeled software but worked great with another program I use.

  Overall: I just got this unit back from being serviced. It worked great for the first 60 DVDs I burned then started to really slow down. After replacing it with another Pacific Digital I bought for another computer I was back in business. It took a half hour on the phone to get an RMA number to send the broken one back. Pacific Digital seems to make both the Lite-on and NEC DVD burners. It just depends wether the unit is made in Taiwan (Lite-on) or China (NEC). Both units I have work great. I will be installing the repaired unit this weekend.

• Reviewed by: ggmoragne

  Strengths: Good Combo Drive with easy install, setup and use.

  Weaknesses: OEM did not mention if this driver would work with the two best burning software on the Market i.e. Roxio and Nero burning rom products.

  Overall: I have been searching for a DVD/CD Combo burning drive for quite awhile. I am on the internet each week and finally found a low cost, easy install and setup with excellent product features. I use the Ahead Nero Burning ROM software.

• Reviewed by: cafager

  Strengths: Great price; Easy to install even though I'm not a computer geek. Mine also came with two free blank DVD's.

  Weaknesses: None so far.

  Overall: I bought this to do data backup on my computer because it used to take me a whole pack of 100mb zips to back up. My whole hard drive (10gb worth) backed up compressed onto one 4.7GB DVD+r disk with the enclosed Sonic MYDVD software, and all in a flash! Make sure once you install to go to Lite-on website and get updated software(firmware) for both the DVD burner and a free upgrade on the Sonic MyDVD software. Haven't tried burning anything other than data yet.

• Reviewed by: extercy

  Strengths: 4.7 GB per disc.. need I say more !

  Weaknesses: Writing speed varies according to media use.

  Overall: This is my first DVD combo writer and it definitely impressed me as first of all it was cheap and secondly 4.7 GB per disc. No more burning 3-6 discs of CD-Rs to back up my datas. My first test is with a Maxell DVD-R and it came out superb. I am using Roxio Easy CD/DVD Creator.