Review of the LG GSA-2166D CD/DVD Writer
LG 16x External Super Multi DVD/CD Writer Dual Layer Model: GSA-2166D
Price: £121 inc VAT @ time of writing, £65inc VAT Jan 06
Site: www.lge.co.uk
Date: November 2005
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What you get in the pack:
External Super Multi DVD/CD Rewriter Model GSA-2166D
AC Mains Adapter
USB 2.0 Cable
LightScribe CDR
Recording, Authoring, and Playback Software Nero Express, Nero BackItUp, Nero Cover Designer, InCD, PowerProducer, PowerDVD Manual / User Guide
The contents are fairly typical; it would have been nice to have some more media to write to. However the software supplied with this drive is vast compared to others we have looked at. Here you are given software to record disks and author and playback software instantly. Not only are these all provided for you they are all well known programs which have been around for many years and our highly regarded titles.
The Unit:
The drives casing is made from black plastic with a silver coloured trim which goes around the top and front edge of the unit. The plastic is smooth and does have a polished like appearance to it.
On top of the drive there is a super multi logo, the tray of the drive includes all the logos for the supported standards.
Below the tray on the right hand side is the open / close button and release hole which allows the tray to be opened in case of any problems or to save you having to turn the drive on.
The rear of the drive is kept simple with just a USB connector, power connection and on / off switch.
The underside and sides of the drive have four rubberised feet which keep the drive supported and helps suppress any vibrations from the unit during use.
Installing the drive is simple with it using USB, simply connect the drive to a USB port of your computer with the supplied USB 2.0 cable and then connect the power adapter to the mains and to your drive. Switch on and your PC will detect the drive instantly.
The drive is USB 2.0 which means you will need a USB 2.0 computer to achieve the best results. However you can still use this drive with the older USB 1.1 standard, but obviously it can only perform at the lower USB 1.1 rate.
Why this drive?
There are many external drives on the market, so what makes this one different to the others? Well if you use DVD the drive can perform at the following specifications DVD+R 16x, DVD+RW 8x, DVD-RW 6x, DVD-RAM 5x, DVD-ROM 16x. Most drives only do not include the ability to read or write DVD-RAM media instead choosing to focus on the other two popular formats.
This drive includes full compatibility with all current DVD formats and with dual layer media can write at impressive speeds of 4x for DVD-R DL, and 8x for DVD+R DL. Of course you can still write to CDs if desired at impressive speeds of 48x for CDR, 32x CDRW, and 48x Read.
So able to use any DVD and CD format you like, and write up to 8.5Gb with the Dual Layer media. Is that it? No chance this drive has a few more features to offer.
