I’d guess on a “Kano K1633” being a possible Liteon 1633S rebadge as well - if not that, probably worse, say a BTC that makes an even worse job of the Mediatek DVD chipset than Liteon - I’m definitely beginning to side with those who say that there is no really good Mediatek chipset drive.
Like media, drive brands are often just a name on the box, and what’s in them is made by someone else.
The “stock” Liteon is usually recognizable, some tips:
- The vertical bow on the tray front is pinched at each end
- There may be a small “scoop” under the tray centre
- Sony Retail models are about the only ones that change anything on the panel other than colour.
- Size - current drives tend to be 2cm shorter than most
- Rounded rectangle button, and rounded rectangle LED
- Logos printed, not stamped, and on the tray, Left, Right and Centre
Liteon technology names: Smart-Burn for the underrun recovery, Smart-X for adaptive speed control.