We take a look at a Combo drive from LiteOn that takes you into the world of Blu-Ray whilst giving great DVD-RW and CD functionality.
Product on Review: LiteOn iHES208 BD ComboManufacturer: LiteOn
Street Price: £98
Optical drives are often an overlooked purchase when it comes to upgrading the home computer – I’ve fallen foul of just selecting the cheapest available at the time. The market for ROM devices is typically ruled by a small band of manufacturers, LiteOn being a familiar name and could indeed be considered a market leader.
At VH this is an area that we have only recently begun delving into and our 2nd review today is occupied by another LiteOn drive. This time it’s the turn of the iHES208 – an internal drive with X8 Blu Ray functionality as well as offering a ‘combo’ DVD-RW and CD-RW. Whilst we appreciate that DVD media is still holding the crown of popularity, Blu Ray is slowly gathering attention. Part of the fact that DVD remains the default media choice is due to Blu Ray devices still costing a premium. Just like most new technological advancements, the cost to start with is always going to be high. SSD’s are a great example of that. But there is good news, Blu Ray devices are beginning to drop in price as the market embraces such technology which is great news for consumers.
So without further delay, let’s take a look at the Liteon offering.
LiteOn’s take on the iHES208
| The iHES208 can record on the market’s most popular DVD and CD media, as well as playback from media including Blu-ray, DVD and CD. The drive reads Blu-ray discs at up to 8X and supports the following writing speeds: DVD±R at 16X, DVD±R DL and DVD+RW at 8X, DVD-RW at 6X and DVD-RAM at 12X. “The iHES208 is a great solution for those looking for the advanced technologies of Blu-ray in home entertainment,” said Christine Hsing, Marketing Manager at PLDS. “The drive will not only allow them to play high-definition content such as Blu-ray movies, it will also let them easily share data files, presentations, home videos and other image files on DVDs or CDs.” |
Specifications
BD Family
Read
BD-ROM/R/RE SL 8X
BD-ROM/R/RE DL 4X
Access time
350ms
DVD Family
Write
DVD+R 16X
DVD-R 16X
DVD+R9 8X
DVD-R9 8X
DVD-RAM 12X
ReWrite
DVD+RW 8X
DVD-RW 6X
Read
16X
Access time
160ms
CD Family
Write
CD-R 48X
ReWrite
CD-RW 32X
Read
48X
Access time
150ms
PC Required
For High Definition BD Playback & Authoring: (Only Windows XP SP2)Pentium D 3.0GHz or faster CPU and 1GB or higher RAM are required.
Compatibility
Microsoft Windows 2000 SP4 / XP SP2 / Vista / Windows 7
General
Environment
Operating 5°C to 45°C; Relative Humidity: 10% to 80%
Non-Operating -40°C to 60°C; Relative Humidity: 5% to 95%
Dimension 146(W) x 41.3(H) x 178(D) mm
Weight < 0.8Kg
Voltage Requirements
+5V +/-5% ripple: 100mVpp
+12V +/-10% ripple: 200mVPP
Packaging and Bundle
The LiteOn iHES208 we are reviewing today is the retail version so this comes in a box, accompanied with software. If you were to choose an OEM variation it wouldn’t be packaged in such a box with the bundled software.The box has listed the features that come inherent with the iHES208. Such as Blu Ray, DVD and CD speeds. Not only this but it also has the requirements which were listed on the previous page, so that you know what system spec you need to be able to fully operate the device.
Inside this retail box is the iHES208 drive, along with some screws, a SATA cable, silver bezel cover, and some very brief instructions which most will not need. Especially if you are an enthusiast anyway because installing such a device is usually case specific rather than device specific. So on the hardware side of things – what you would expect from a retail packaged ROM. On the software side of things there is a disc included that has Cyberlink BD Solution, giving you full functionality across all media platforms that this combo drive incorporates.
Closer Look
Part of the fact these type of products are overlooked is because they aren’t complex devices, they don’t have any telling features as such and thus there isn’t a great deal to comment on regarding the physical aspects of the iHES208.The drive cover has a series of supported technology logos. This cover can be swapped out for a silver variant – by default our drive comes with the black shroud. It’s good to have the option.
Looking around the back of the iHES208 there is the SATA power and interface connections. What you would expect nowadays. IDE is a thing of the past.
The drive is easy to install – in fact this would be depend on your case. But installing this into the Cooler Master HAF 932 was simple. Slide in, press button to secure in, hook up power and SATA cable and put side panel back on.
Software
Bundled with the iHES208 is a Cyberlink BD Solutions. This disc contains a nice selection of applications to take full advantage of all types of media supported by this drive. The Blu-Ray Suite includes –PowerDirector
PowerDVD
PowerProducer
Power2Go
InstantBurn
Here is a summary of the packages included and their features – http://www.cyberlink.com/stat/technology/enu/next-gen-disc-solution.jsp
This is a great set of applications to come bundled with the optical drive. It leaves you with the capability to take full advantage of all the supported formats and the ability to be creative with the content you can produce. A big thumbs up!
Something worth mentioning was that when I came to watch a movie on this drive I did have to download a patch to be able to watch Blu-Ray drives that was over 90MB in filesize.
Performance
In order to test the iHES208 and understand its potential as a combo drive we need to perform some benchmarks in the CD, DVD and Blu Ray formats. With this being the first Blu Ray drive at hand to test, I cannot benchmark it against anything as of yet so the tests that will be performed are using CD and DVD format. The Blu Ray format will be performed but just not compared against another BD-ROM.Nero DiscSpeed
This software is perfect for benchmarking optical drives as it analyses transfer rates, access times, processor usage, burst rate, and spin up/down time. Its quite safe to say that DiscSpeed thoroughly tests optical drives and is more than capable of monitoring every aspect we could hope to see.
Each media type will be placed into our LiteON iHES208 and Samsung SH-S183A (DVD-RW) and all tests will be run inside Nero DiscSpeed. The results will be displayed below and compared.
Test System
Intel Core i7 920 (3.9GHz)
ASUS P6T Deluxe X58
12GB GeIL DDR3 1600MHz
1GB ATI HD5870
1X Western Digital 250GB SATA-II
2X Samsung Spinpoint 500GB SATA-II (16x/18x/18x/8x/8x/6x/8x/12x (DVD-ROM/-R/+R/-R DL/+R DL/-RW/+RW/-RAM); 48x/48x/32x (CD-ROM/-R/-RW)
Samsung SH-S183A DVD-RW
Software
Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit
Nero DiscSpeed 5
Test Media
Prince of Persia – Sands of Time (CD)
Street Fighter IV (DVD)
X-Men Origins – Wolverine (Blu Ray)
CD Performance
For the CD performance, Prince of Persia Sands of Time was put into each of the drives (Samsung and LiteOn) and all Nero DiscSpeed tests were performed.LiteOn iHES208
Samsung SH-S183A
As you can see from the above, the LiteOn is better at some things but in general the Samsung edges its way past. These figures won’t be noticeable to the human eye. The LiteOn does operate a lot quieter than the Samsung drive it has to be said.
DVD Performance
For the DVD performance another game was selected. This time Street Fighter IV. This was placed in each drive and all Nero DiscSpeed tests were run.LiteOn iHES208
Samsung SH-S183A
The LiteOn iHES208 accelerates past the Samsung drive in the speed tests but is only slightly slower than the Samsung in access time tests. As with the CD performance test, the LiteOn again operates a lot quieter.
Blu-Ray Performance
For the Blu Ray performance, a film was dropped into each drive – X-Men Origins Wolverine. All of the Nero DiscSpeed tests were performed.LiteOn iHES208
Conclusion
This is the first time I have had the pleasure of using a BD-ROM and whilst things haven\’t changed from the physical aspect of ROM drives, the included features and technology certainly has. The iHES208 comes full equipped to play all of your Blu Ray media and offers great DVD and CD functionality too.The Cyberlink software bundled with the iHES208 increases the value and appeal of this drive significantly because inside the suite of software you have the ability to perform such a multitude of tasks. The LiteOn iHES208 is a little bit more expensive than other drives but considering the software you get and the fact this drive operates a lot quieter than the Samsung offering in our benchmark tests – it makes it a rather beneficial purchase.
If you are looking at getting on the Blu Ray band wagon then the LiteOn iHES208 is a sensible choice that I would recommend to anyone. For this reason I am awarding the iHES 208 the Gold award.
Pros
+ Great all-in-one solution
+ Good performance
+ Quiet operation
+ Excellent assortment of software
Cons
– A little bit more expensive than other drives on market
