Asus 20x20 SATA Light Scribe DVD Burner Review

Conclusion:

Over all, the Asus drive was a let down.   There is no reason that an IDE drive that has been out for over a year now should be taking on and beating a newer, "faster" drive in bottom-end tests. Running at the specified 20x speed will definitely add some zip when it comes down to burning the Light Scribe images and full length movies. While I will give the Asus credit where credit is due, the CPU usage was a lot lower, which I liked to see. This does improve its marks a little. Even though the drive was out performed, it wasn't like we are talking minutes or hours, the win margins where slim and the average user wouldn't notice much of a difference.

More bonuses I would remark on, are the ability to swap the face plate.  I like that option a lot. I have used many Asus drives in the past and they were always top notch.  I still have some of the old ones kicking around, so that says a lot for an optical drives longevity. With the exception of new technologies, I have a feeling that the fact you can swap out the faceplate gives the shelf life of this drive a much longer existence. I would recommend this drive over the LG's for the simple fact it is a 20x20 drive, and it has the face plate options.

Pros:

• Lower CPU usage
• SATA makes for much cleaner looking case
• Easy installation
• Includes a copy of Nero

Cons:

• Needs a Molex-to-SATA power cable converter for older PSUs
• Slower speeds then the IDE drive