ASUS DRW-1612BL LightScribe

High technology laser surface etching vs. Mark 1 black Texta.

This burner can write, with its laser (don’t be unsurprised so soon) on top of CD media. Called LightScribe, this technology from HP imposes imagery of your choice on top of the media.

Of course, this magic doesn’t come free, as you need to purchase super-special optical media (two samples are included) coated with the 780nm-infrared reactive dye. It’d be a wee more ingenious if this could write on standard discs, but this is a tad improbable given the need for some kind of ink.

Taking almost 14 slow minutes to burn a best-quality image, the end result basically looks like an overly-loved vinyl record that was sent through a fax machine.

LightScribe’s intention is interesting, but for now it’s still just a ridiculous novelty that doesn’t really work. If such a gimmick is slick enough for you, pig out.

Sporting 2MB of cache, this isn’t something that makes one get nekkid and run around screaming, but most half-modern systems are capable of supplying a drive with the necessary data. Sit that alongside the usual buffer protection, and the small cache becomes boringly moot.

It’s a PATA drive, but you’ll need to supply your own IDE cable as one is not included. This is odd, because we’re used to collecting those things in the labs. Maybe they’re onto us.

Writing with the drive is a pleasant experience, as it diverges from the norm by not attempting to imitate a freaking Learjet. Quite the opposite.

It does come with an OEM copy of the aging Nero 6 (v6.6.1.6f), but considering Nero 7’s fanciful focus on a digital lifestyle rather than just the damn burning application, perhaps this is a good thing. It’s the incinerable Express version, though.

The slightly steep price aside, for practical purposes, it’s a reasonable drive that features adequately feisty speeds and is surprisingly quiet in high-speed operation. It’ll also let you experiment with LightScribe, because you secretly know you want to, even though it really does suck.

Yes, goatse fits quite well.