Opinions on SOHW-1633SX

KockRoach 2004-12-16 14:40:53 UTC #1

Anyone have the SOHW-1633SX? Or has anyone heard anything about this drive? I don't have room for a 2nd optical drive, and thought I would see if this would be a good external writer.

Thanks

rdgrimes 2004-12-16 17:53:53 UTC #2

Isn't it USB2? If so, give it a pass. USB2 will only burn at 8x to 12x. But I suppose that in the case of the 1633, this would be a good thing. I would buy an NEC 3500 and put it in a good Firewire box, it's no more expensive and will perform a lot better.

worker 2004-12-16 18:25:45 UTC #3

Untrue about USB2. I can burn @ 16X in a USB2 enclosure without any problems. Just need the right chipset and a burner that supports UDMA-3 or UDMA-4. The 1633 will burn @ 16X in my enclosure but I would not recommend the drive. It's burn quality is poor compared to the NEC 3500, BENQ 1620, or Pio 108.

rdgrimes 2004-12-16 19:17:06 UTC #4

OK, I'll re-phrase: The vast majority of people using USB2 burners report limitations to 8x or 12x due to low throughput on the USB controller or chip. Firewire does not have this problem as a rule, due to it's higher throughput.

KockRoach 2004-12-16 20:09:01 UTC #5

Thanks for the input.

I'm not sure if I would have the chipset support to get the burner to run at 16X. I'd have to check. So then it would probably be better to get the 1633S (or 1653S) in a firewire enclosure...right?

rdgrimes 2004-12-16 20:26:38 UTC #6

I would get the NEC, but yes firewire is much better.

KockRoach 2004-12-16 20:28:20 UTC #7

It's actually a second drive....already have the 3500AG. I apologize for not mentioning it earlier. I just don't have another 5.25" bay to put a second drive. Would like to have a drive that can run kprobe....make sure that my burns are good.