|
Review: Lite-On iHOS104 - a budget BD-ROM drive
|
|
The following comments relate to this news article:
article published on 21 December, 2009
As Blu-ray continues to grow in popularity, more and more people are considering the purchase of a BD-ROM drive. To date the biggest obstacle for many consumers has been the price, which until the last few months has consistently been over $100 for even a reader.
Earlier this year Lite-On introduced the iHOS104 BD-ROM drive. At around $60 for the OEM version and $70 for the retail model ... [ read the full article ]
Please read the original article before posting your comments.
|
|
spiritof5
Suspended due to non-functional email address
|
21. December 2009 @ 10:18 |
Link to this message
|
|
Bought this 3 weeks ago on sale @ amazon for $49.00. A little skeptical at first but I after using it, it does exactly what it says it does. You don't get a free upgrade to version 9 but only 25% off your purchase of version 9. But hey, if you are just backing up your BluRay collection this does the trick. Version 8 also plays very well if you don't mind only stereo sound.
|
|
Advertisement
|
 |
|
|
Senior Member
2 product reviews
|
21. December 2009 @ 14:05 |
Link to this message
|
I've had great luck with Lite-On drives and would pick this up if I only wanted a reader. This could make an excellent addition to a cheap HTPC.
|
Staff Member
2 product reviews
|
21. December 2009 @ 14:54 |
Link to this message
|
Originally posted by Pop_Smith:
I've had great luck with Lite-On drives and would pick this up if I only wanted a reader. This could make an excellent addition to a cheap HTPC.
Which is exactly what I've been using it for. So far no complaints.
|
AfterDawn Addict
1 product review
|
22. December 2009 @ 05:38 |
Link to this message
|
How is the reliability on these units? I have never had good luck with Lite-On; their burners usualy won't even work with cheap media, and usualy lack acuratestream, yet they have audio cacheing to make things even worse. If it can't read an audio CD correctly, it is hard to trust it to read a bluray.
|
Staff Member
2 product reviews
|
22. December 2009 @ 13:09 |
Link to this message
|
Originally posted by KillerBug:
How is the reliability on these units? I have never had good luck with Lite-On; their burners usualy won't even work with cheap media, and usualy lack acuratestream, yet they have audio cacheing to make things even worse. If it can't read an audio CD correctly, it is hard to trust it to read a bluray.
I've never had any problems with my many Lite-On drives, mostly burners but also a couple of DVD-ROM drives. However at this point the reliability is a fair question given the price. Since I've had the drive less than a month I can't come to any conclusion except that it works fine so far.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 22. December 2009 @ 19:13
|
Senior Member
4 product reviews
|
22. December 2009 @ 15:52 |
Link to this message
|
Originally posted by KillerBug:
How is the reliability on these units? I have never had good luck with Lite-On; their burners usualy won't even work with cheap media, and usualy lack acuratestream, yet they have audio cacheing to make things even worse. If it can't read an audio CD correctly, it is hard to trust it to read a bluray.
all Drives Are assembled pretty much the same way,really its luck of the draw sometimes. ive Been using A Pioneer DVR-108 ever since its release, its 8 years old and it still burns fine.
then again i make a habit out of cleaning all my hardware every year.
i take My Burner apart clean it,regrease it and put it back together. i also do the same to my power supply take it apart and clean it.
|
AfterDawn Addict
1 product review
|
22. December 2009 @ 22:49 |
Link to this message
|
Quote:
Originally posted by KillerBug:
How is the reliability on these units? I have never had good luck with Lite-On; their burners usualy won't even work with cheap media, and usualy lack acuratestream, yet they have audio cacheing to make things even worse. If it can't read an audio CD correctly, it is hard to trust it to read a bluray.
all Drives Are assembled pretty much the same way,really its luck of the draw sometimes. ive Been using A Pioneer DVR-108 ever since its release, its 8 years old and it still burns fine.
then again i make a habit out of cleaning all my hardware every year.
i take My Burner apart clean it,regrease it and put it back together. i also do the same to my power supply take it apart and clean it.
They may be assembled the same way, but they all have their own firmware oddities, they use a wide range of LED and Lense combinations, and many different loading mechanisms and such.
This is being marketed as a budget HTPC drive...but it is not a good deal if it only lasts a month. HTPC drives tend to get a lot more use than typical PC drives, simply because the system doubles as a bluray/dvd/cd player. Also, most HTPC users will want to rip a few CDs...if not a few hundred.
I know you can't comment on long term reliability with such a short testdrive, but perhapse you could answer these:
Does it report C2 errors? (good thing)
Does it have audio caching? (bad thing)
Does it support accuratestream? (Good thing, but only a band-aide for lack of C2 support)
[edit]
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/...=26495&PageId=1
According to this article, it does have caching, it does not have C2, and it has accuratestream. Better than some drives, but still not as good as the average $25 DVD burner. I guess you could always use this drive plus a $25 dvd burner in the same system...then there is just the long term reliability question.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 22. December 2009 @ 22:54
|
Staff Member
2 product reviews
|
23. December 2009 @ 01:29 |
Link to this message
|
Quote:
Quote:
Originally posted by KillerBug:
How is the reliability on these units? I have never had good luck with Lite-On; their burners usualy won't even work with cheap media, and usualy lack acuratestream, yet they have audio cacheing to make things even worse. If it can't read an audio CD correctly, it is hard to trust it to read a bluray.
all Drives Are assembled pretty much the same way,really its luck of the draw sometimes. ive Been using A Pioneer DVR-108 ever since its release, its 8 years old and it still burns fine.
then again i make a habit out of cleaning all my hardware every year.
i take My Burner apart clean it,regrease it and put it back together. i also do the same to my power supply take it apart and clean it.
They may be assembled the same way, but they all have their own firmware oddities, they use a wide range of LED and Lense combinations, and many different loading mechanisms and such.
This is being marketed as a budget HTPC drive...but it is not a good deal if it only lasts a month. HTPC drives tend to get a lot more use than typical PC drives, simply because the system doubles as a bluray/dvd/cd player. Also, most HTPC users will want to rip a few CDs...if not a few hundred.
I know you can't comment on long term reliability with such a short testdrive, but perhapse you could answer these:
Does it report C2 errors? (good thing)
Does it have audio caching? (bad thing)
Does it support accuratestream? (Good thing, but only a band-aide for lack of C2 support)
[edit]
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/...=26495&PageId=1
According to this article, it does have caching, it does not have C2, and it has accuratestream. Better than some drives, but still not as good as the average $25 DVD burner. I guess you could always use this drive plus a $25 dvd burner in the same system...then there is just the long term reliability question.
In my experience testing audio ripping features like caching and C2 error detection is pointless on any type or brand of ROM drive. It's long been a rule that the most accurate ripping can only be done with a CD or DVD burner, and in fact Lite-On drives have been known as some of the best for that purpose. To the best of my knowledge they made the first DVD drives of any kind (their second gen burners IIRC) to support accurate audio ripping.
|
AfterDawn Addict
1 product review
|
23. December 2009 @ 23:28 |
Link to this message
|
Quote:
In my experience testing audio ripping features like caching and C2 error detection is pointless on any type or brand of ROM drive. It's long been a rule that the most accurate ripping can only be done with a CD or DVD burner, and in fact Lite-On drives have been known as some of the best for that purpose. To the best of my knowledge they made the first DVD drives of any kind (their second gen burners IIRC) to support accurate audio ripping.
Lite-on have never know as being good for this, Plextor has always been known as the best. C2 does help quality, and this drive does not have it...it is a simple fact. Audio caching does cause audio imperfections...another simple fact. Accurate stream almost makes up for the lack of C2 (it is just slower, and it won't read through errors as well)...but the audio cache kills the deal; you might as well use burst mode. I know that it is generaly the rule to use a cd or DVD drive for ripping; but I figured that was just to save wear and tear on the $200 bluray burner...at $50, I don't mind risking a little wear and tear.
|
Staff Member
2 product reviews
|
24. December 2009 @ 00:43 |
Link to this message
|
Originally posted by KillerBug:
Quote:
In my experience testing audio ripping features like caching and C2 error detection is pointless on any type or brand of ROM drive. It's long been a rule that the most accurate ripping can only be done with a CD or DVD burner, and in fact Lite-On drives have been known as some of the best for that purpose. To the best of my knowledge they made the first DVD drives of any kind (their second gen burners IIRC) to support accurate audio ripping.
Lite-on have never know as being good for this, Plextor has always been known as the best.
A lot of people disagree with this statement. Lite-On has made a lot of drives which rip audio very well and frankly Plextor's drives are nice, but not necessarily better than everything else. Even when they are the difference isn't significant enough to justify their generally ridiculous prices. But what Plextor's price or quality, or the ripping capabilities of any burner has to do with this subject is beyond me so I'm not inclined to debate the subject here.
Quote:
C2 does help quality, and this drive does not have it...it is a simple fact. Audio caching does cause audio imperfections...another simple fact. Accurate stream almost makes up for the lack of C2 (it is just slower, and it won't read through errors as well)...but the audio cache kills the deal; you might as well use burst mode.
Did I say otherwise? If you're going to debate me I recommend sticking with the points we disagree on. Complaining that a BD-ROM (or CD-ROM/DVD-ROM) drive isn't good for ripping is like saying the miniature spare that came with your car isn't good as a snow tire. It's not made for that and no one who knows what they're doing would use it for that purpose. If you do you should expect poor results. And not just from this drive or Lite-On drives in general, but from any optical drive that isn't a burner. No matter how many times you repeat the complaint it doesn't become any more valid.
Quote:
I know that it is generaly the rule to use a cd or DVD drive for ripping; but I figured that was just to save wear and tear on the $200 bluray burner...at $50, I don't mind risking a little wear and tear.
So you agree with me then. And since when is a Blu-ray burner, which most people don't even own, the only other choice. I say continue to rip with a CD or DVD burner like you should have been doing before Blu-ray even existed. Those drives don't stop working because you install a $60 BD-ROM. At least mine didn't. Furthermore, if you're buying the cheapest BD-ROM drive on the market it seems unlikely you're also buying a BD-R drive.
We get that you don't like Lite-On drives, but aside from a small amount of anecdotal evidence you've brought nothing to the discussion to suggest there's some overall quality issues with the brand. I've owned 2 Pioneer DVD burners. One of them died after a year. That doesn't mean Pioneer drives have a high failure rate. It means I got one that's an exception to the rule that their drives are of higher quality than most other brands.
|
|
Advertisement
|
|
|
Senior Member
|
26. December 2009 @ 04:40 |
Link to this message
|
My Rom drive is not sata, is there a lot involved if I wanted to install this sata drive, I know my HDD is sata but both my writer and reader are IDE
|
