Introduction

So much "hoo-haa" have been going on in the DVD re-writable market lately. We have the DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD-RAM, and lately we've also seen a surge in dual format DVD burners as well. For a change, let's take a look at a CD-RW drive today - which is often a less confusing choice for those looking for a reliable data storage solution.

Our CD-RW of choice in this article will be the new Lite-On LTR-5232S7 drive, which is based on the 52x32x52x (write/re-write/read) terminology. Now we all know by now that going anywhere higher than the 52x-mark will pose a real tough challenge for manufacturers - where such high-velocity spindle will certainly make error-free writings difficult to achieve. So the next big step would be, naturally, to increase the tempo on the re-write front. While most vendors have already announced or made plans to manufacture a 32x-rewrite drive, such drives are still pretty much unavailable in retail. The fact that 24x-rewritable media (let alone 32x) are still low in variety, and coupled with the high cost, haven't done much help in boosting ultra-speed re-writable drives too.

The front of the drive sports a new look now - not that it is radically different from its previous design.

The rear part of the drive is pretty much the same as any other CD-RW drives.

Anyway, back to the Lite-On 52x32x52x drive. The unit that we received was a marketing sample, so we haven't got any information on the drive's pricing nor the bundles that'll come included. But we were told that the drive is as final as the retail version. The first noticeable difference between this drive and its predecessor, the Lite-On 52x24x52x, was that the latter had a much longer (or deeper) chassis. Looking at the picture above you would also noticed that Lite-On have also changed the design of their CD-RW drives' faceplate - which brings about a rather refreshing change.

Let's take a look at the specifications below, before we move on to some of the more essential benchmarks we've performed on the drive in the next few pages.