LG GSA-4160B

The second drive from LG reviewed here has the same appearance as the first, so I won’t repeat myself describing its design. After all, we’re more interested in the technical characteristics and the GSA-4160B, being a newer model, has much better operational parameters. The main qualitative difference is the support of dual-layer DVD discs; the speeds have also been improved.

So, the max read speeds of the GSA-4160B are: 40x with CD-ROM and CD-RW media, 16x with DVD-ROM and DVD±R, 8x with DVD±RW, 5x with DVD-RAM, and 8x with DVD+R9. The max burn speeds are: 40x CD-R, 24x CD-RW, 16x DVD+R, 8x DVD-R, 4x DVD±RW, 5x DVD-RAM, and 2.4x DVD+R9. The drive is equipped with a 2MB buffer. The declared access time is 125 milliseconds with CD-ROM, 145 milliseconds with DVD-ROM, and 165 milliseconds with DVD-RAM media. The drive supports the E-IDE/ATAPI interface and can be placed horizontally as well as vertically. The device’s dimensions are 146 x 184.7 x 41.3 mm; its weight is about 900 gram. The following media formats are supported: DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD+R9, DVD-Video, DVD-RAM, CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA, CD-Audio, CD Extra, CD Text, CD-IReady, CD-Bridge, Photo-CD, VideoCD, Hybrid CD.

The manufacturer’s recommended retail price is $96.