Read Speed DVD-ROM 16X (CAV)
CD-ROM 40X (CAV)

Random Access Time DVD-ROM 130 ms
CD-ROM 120 ms

Interface Enhanced IDE/ATAPI

Data Buffer Size 2 MB

Application Discs DVD Single/Dual layer discs, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD-ROM, Mode 1, CD-ROM/XA Mode 2 (form 1, form 2), Photo CD (single and multiple sessions), CD-DA, CD-Extra, Video CD, CD-Text, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-RAM

Write Format: DVD-R & DVD-R (DL) DAO, Incremental Recording (Multi-Border Recording)
DVD-RW Restricted Overwriting, DAO, Incremental Recording (Multi-Border Recording)
DVD+R&DVD+R (DL) Sequencial Recording (Multi-Session Recording
DVD+RW Random Recording
CD+RW & CD-RW DAO, TAO, SAO, Packet Recording (Multi-Session Recording)

OS Compatibility: Windows 98SE/ME/2000/NT/XP

Mounting Orientation: Vertical/Horizontal

Temperature: Operating +5C to 45C
Storage -20C to 60C
Humidity Operating: 5% to 85% (non-condensing)
Storage: 5% to 90% (non-condensing)
Power Requirements: DC 5V +/- 5% DC 12V 12V +/- 10%

Dimension: 148 (w) x 42.3 (h) x 180 (d) mm
Mass 1000g

It is hard to believe how far we have come with optical drive technology. I remember my first computer having games on a 5.25” floppy disk drive and containing 360KB of data. Games and applications have become ever larger in size and the medium to carry that data has evolved with it. CD-ROMs launched into the market back in 1979. Able to hold 680 MB of data, the CD-ROM is still useful today, especially with the various write and rewritable discs available today.

Sony and Phillips announced the DVD back in 1990. Single-layer single sided DVDs were able to hold up to 4.7 GB of data. This is about 133 minutes of high-resolution video with 720 dots of horizontal resolution. The typical movie consists of about 120 minutes running or so and many movies use this standard. Single layer dual sided DVDs are capable of holding 7.95 GB of data and capable of about 4 hours of playback. Dual layer single sided DVDs are capable of 8.5 GB of data. Dual layer dual sided DVDs are capable of holding up to 17 GB of data. The reason why capacity doesn’t double when dual layering is that the pits need to be a little longer on both layers when dual layer is used.

The 1608P is capable of writing DVDs at 16X speed for both DVD-R and DVD+R formats. There is currently no DVD+R or DVD-R media that can burn at the 16X speed the drive supports. ASUS says they have Over-speed burning, which allows you to burn the disc at 16X speed with an 8X +/- disc. We will see what happens when the disc is burned using this function. The 1608P can rewrite discs at 8X speed. This is double the 4X speed that earlier drives can rewrite at. The other nice thing about the ASUS 1608P is the ability to burn dual layer discs. The 1608P has the ability to burn 6X speed for dual-layer discs allowing more data to be put on each disc.