Differences between Liteon LTD-163 dvd player and Cendyne version of player -- Drive observations

Salvador

Diamond Member
May 19, 2001
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Hi,

I'm sitting here looking at two dvd drives. One of them is an official Liteon LTD-163 16x dvd drive and the other is the Cendyne 16x (rebadged Liteon).

There are a couple of differences and I was wondering if anyone knew about this?

The face plates are exactly the same. Same color, same graphics, same buttons. I was half expecting the Liteon to look different because the graphics on the box looked different.

As far as the markings go on top, this one has me a little confused. They both have 12 digit serial numbers and both say Liteon, but the Cendyne unit says LTD-163D instead of LTD-163. Does anyone know what the "D" stands for? Both have 12 digit serial numbers, but the Liteon has a higher serial number even though it was manufactured in December and the Cendyne was manufactured in January of this year. The other strange marking is that the actual Liteon drive says JVC on the top. Does JVC make this drive? The rebadged Liteon (Cendyne) does not say JVC. Does anyone know what is up with the JVC marking?

Other than that, the drives seem identicle. Without installing them both, can anyone tell me if they are identicle drives? If not, which one is better? The LTD-163D or the LTD-163? Does the JVC marking mean anything? How about the manufacture date? Do the newer ones rip better or visa-versa? I know that they are only a month apart on manufacture date, so it probably doesn't matter.

PS.. Neiter of these drives match my Cendyne (Liteon) 24x burner. The burner is a white beige, where the dvd drives are a regular computer beige. Just thought I'd throw that out there for anyone wondering if they would match each other.

Sal
 

MWink

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
3,642
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They are probably identical drives. I noticed that Lite-On started putting JVC on the newer drives. I have 2 Lite-On drives and the older one does not say JVC (the newer one does). I did some research and found out that JVC=Lite-On. I was not too happy since I had a terrible experience with a JVC burner (sold by Creative) a while back.
 

MWink

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
3,642
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76


<< So.. Liteon is cheaping out on us now? >>



I don't think so. It is still the same drive (they just put a different name on it). IMO Lite-On has always been cheap. I wouldn't worry too much.
 

bacillus

Lifer
Jan 6, 2001
14,517
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there seems to be 2 different sets of firmware on the liteon site, one for the 163 & the other for the 163D! :confused:
 

stonecold3169

Platinum Member
Jan 30, 2001
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my Cendyne drive says JVC on the label as well, and it was manufactured in December as well, so maybe you'd like to recheck? And also, I've flashed my drive with the standard 163 firmware, and it still works like a tank, so I'm really, really confused