Not seedy (Liteon LTR 24102B)

Member Name: mo79

Product:	Liteon LTR 24102B
Date:	19/03/02 (2403 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to install and use, value for money, aged PC friendly, great included software and smart features

Disadvantages: Nero's help interface is slightly marred, the 13 page .pdf manual could've been just a .txt file, and NeroMediaPlayer isn't so attractive

I had been meaning to purchase a CD-RW drive for quite sometime, for both neccesity reasons aswell as luxury, but more on neccessity since my aged computer was on it's last few hundred megabytes of disk space (and I require a fair amount of disk space as I mostly deal with audio files on my computer), and my factory installed Iomega Zip 100 drive had been almost useless since day one, not to mention that its consumables are very expensive and have less storage in comparision with a cheap CD.
The only way to secure my contents and cater other needs was to indeed take the plunge and buy this.

On shopping around for a suitable drive, I was at first put-off by the majority of modern CD-RW drives all requring a computer specification from the last few years (fair enough), but eventually I sighed relief when I came across this one which only required a P133, 32mb RAM (minimum) and atleast 100mb HD space, which pretty much accounts for almost all computers just a little out of the 5yr range. So if you're looking for a suitable CD backup system for an OAPC, this is instantly one to check out for backwards compatibility. DOS up until the current version of Windows is supported, and so is IBM's OS/2 Warp.
Just so you know, I use a P200 with 32mb RAM.

I had no free drive bays, so I had to kiss goodbye to my old 12x speed read CD-ROM (and fortunately this drive's read speed was 40x) in order to install my drive (this can be done horizontally or vertically). This was a straightforward task that involved opening up my computer for the quick operation in where I had to unplug the power cable (with some effort) from the CD-ROM drive, along with the EIDE (yep, it's an EIDE drive) cable and the audio cable (of which one is given in the box also, had you previously not had a CD device connected to a soundcard you own), and then removing the drive from the bay and slotting the CD-RW drive in with the connections restored.
End of insta
llation - boot up, and Windows (I have 98) will automatically recognise the device and assign a driver. It's simple. The only hardware in the box is the drive, accompanied with an audio cable and two optional fixing screws (case dependent). And all that's left is the software on CD, and a simple fold-out sheet explaining installation, and for your instant usage; one CD-R disc (700mb/80mins - multi-speed), and one CD-RW disc (650mb/75mins - 4x-10x speed).

I admit I was a bit dubious about the performance of this drive despite spotting some good reviews on shopping sites, because the brand name, Lite-On, wasn't exactly a name I had heard of before. I never had. And before my CD-RW arrived (from Watford Electronics) I checked out their website (which is at: www.liteonit.com) and was horrified by the pointlessness of the site, and the site trying to download something I didn't want! Fortunately, my horror was short when I realised all had gone so well and fast with this simple looking drive (it doesn't look too disimilar to my CD-ROM drive), and it had nestled in nicely, and the drive also though more powerful aswell, doesn't sound like it's going to make my PC take to the air when I load a disc), and the loading tray is efficiently built though a tad slower than my old CD-ROM drive to open. Both 8cm & 12cm discs (upto 99mins) can be used - which is all CD types really. Installation shouldn't take more than 10mins.

Of course having a CD-RW drive is ace, but you'll need software in order to record! And bundled in the box is a CD copy of Nero Burning ROM 5.5 (the latest version as I write) which caters for pretty much all your standard writing needs (audio, data, video etc. plus!), and is a marvellous piece of software, that's simple to use with its wizard driven interface, and Windows Explorer like familiarity. It didn't take long to pretty much get to grips with all its features, and the software only require
s 486 power from your computer. It's so apt, that it's easy to take it for granted.
The only gripe I have, thus far anyway, is that the help system of Nero is flawed in that once you view a topic you can't backtrack, you have to close help and start again, which is a hassle. I hope this is recitified in the future. It's shambolic for a 5.x release! Atleast help isn't a menu I have to visit much.
With the Nero suite you can also edit wave files, perform drive diagnostics, design CD covers and burn local images of CD's.
Also on the CD is a packet (incremental) writing program called InCD which allows you to format CD-RW (only) discs in such a way that they can be essentially used in the same way as floppy disks - only you can store more on a whopping 650mb atleast, rather than a laughable 1.44mb). On installation InCD resides in your system tray and adds itself to approprate Windows menus. You can also use InCD formatted disks with other packet writing drivers and programs such as DirectCD.
And to top off the CD's contents there's a facility that allows you to make a floppy disk copy of DOS drivers (beneficial in those backup times when Windows won't start), plus Acrobat Reader, and a .pdf file of a 13 page disc manual - surely a .txt file would've been more simple?)
NerioMediaPlayer is also on the CD, and bizarrely looks like WinAmp (especially in the dialogue boxes) with a bad skin, so one to avoid installing if you're happy with your multimedia playing software(s).

I've only burnt 2 CD's thus far (1 test 2 track audio CD-R, and 1 collection of useful junk (a paradox?) on CD-RW) and I've been very impressed at the speed (bar individual disc limitations).
Though it's early days, I've obviously not had bad burns resulting in useless discs, and with the (sic-y?) SMART-BURN (optimum burning) technology, this should make that impossible, if not, atleast less. And my hard di
sk space is now back to over a gigabyte free from a total of 3.5).
Apart from reading at 40x, importantly the drive can write at 24 speed, which is currently high enough as most retail shops sell discs that only support writing upto 16 speed! And you can write/re-write (on special CD-RW discs only, of course) at 10 (high) speed. All standard and popular formats are covered by this device; all most people and sub-professionals will ever need anyway.

You also get standard CD-ROM features such as high-speed digital audio/video extraction (useful for ripping MP3's from CD's fast), emergency manual eject (via a pinhole switch), and a headphone socket and volume wheel.

This was a well-deserved buy, for me personally, and if anyone else is on a budget, with an aged PC, but wants a decent enough (maybe more!) CD-RW drive, this is perhaps one of the few best options. Don't let the brand unfamiliarity put you off. Lite-On's package is right on!

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