Lite-On iHOS104 BD-ROM review

Lite-On iHOS104 BD-ROM Review

Reviewed by: Matt Safford Review Date: June 2009

Over the last few years, the prices of 1080p-capable LCD monitors have fallen dramatically, to the point where solidly performing displays like the Asus VH222H can be found for not much more than $150. And 25.5-inch and larger LCDs are becoming increasingly common—and increasingly affordable. HDTV prices, too, are taking a similar tumble, making them appealing alternatives to PC monitors when connected via HDMI. All of these trends are making the idea of watching stunning 1080p Blu-ray movies from your PC ever-more enticing. If you've just blown your budget on that new LCD TV or monitor, we know of no cheaper way to watch Blu-ray (on a PC or otherwise) than the $70 Lite-On iHOS104 BD-ROM. It won't burn Blu-ray discs (or any other type of recordable media), but if you're looking to watch Blu-ray on a budget, this is the new drive to beat. Of course, you'll want to make sure your PC's hardware can handle Blu-ray playback before buying the iHOS104, or any Blu-ray drive. CyberLink, the company that makes the playback software bundled with this drive, has a free BD Advisor application available that will scan your system and tell you if you're Blu-ray ready, or what you may need to upgrade. The iHOS104 is an internal drive, so you'll have to make space for it in your case. And because it won't burn CDs or DVDs, you'll have to keep your old DVD burner installed to keep that functionality at hand. (That may make the iHOS104 a poor fit for small-form-factor cases that can accommodate only one optical drive.) But both novice and veteran PC users should find installation straightforward, so long as their PC's power supply has a free Serial ATA power connector and the motherboard a spare SATA port. Hooking up this Blu-ray drive isn't any different than hooking up any standard Serial ATA optical drive. Once you mount the drive in a free 5.25-inch bay, connection is a matter of plugging in two cables to the back of the drive: Run the included SATA data cable from a SATA port on your motherboard, and connect a SATA power lead from your power supply. The whole installation process took us less than 10 minutes. If your case doesn't match the black bezel that comes pre-installed on the front of the drive, there's a silver replacement included in the box. (For more on installing a Blu-ray optical drive, check out our Weekend Project feature story "How to Install a Blu-ray Burner.") CyberLink's PowerDVD is bundled with the drive. It does a good job of handling Blu-ray playback, as well as playing several other disc/file formats. After closing up your case and powering on the PC, Windows should find and install the iHOS104's driver automatically. You'll then need to install the included CyberLink PowerDVD BD Edition software. (Installation went smoothly for us, even on our recently built Windows 7 system.) After entering a license key upon starting PowerDVD for the first time, we popped in a Blu-ray copy of Pan's Labyrinth. The image quality looked great on a ViewSonic VX2260wm test monitor, and it was even more impressive when we connected the PC to a larger HDTV via HDMI. We found CyberLink's PowerDVD software to be as simple and capable as most other DVD software we've used. Those with a desire to burn Blu-ray data disks will have to look elsewhere (and spend more than twice as much) for a Blu-ray burner, as the Lite-On iHOS104 can't record discs. But if all you're looking to do is watch 1080p Blu-ray movies on your PC (or a TV connected to it), this drive is the cheapest option we've seen, and it gets the job done admirably. Price (at time of review): $69.99 (mfr. est.)