recent Lite-On models - what do their names mean?

[JohnnyBob]

What's the difference between these IDE Lite-On iHAPx22 models?

iHAP122
iHAP222
iHAP322
iHAP422

I understand that some support Lightscribe, some don't. That doesn't interest me. I've never had a Lightscribe model, and don't expect to use that feature. I've read that the Lightscribe feature slows down the drive slightly otherwise, so I probably wouldn't buy that kind - the iHAP422, for example.

So I'm mainly interested in the iHAP122 or iHAP322 (not Lightscribe models), but what is the difference? Is one of them a later model? Why would one buy one rather than the other? The only negative I've run across is a mention that the iHAP322 won't support jitter error scanning with Nero DiscSpeed, but that there's a firmware patch available to make it work. What about the iHAP122 in that regard?

There's also something appended to the end of the model names, like -04 or -98. What does that mean?

[manono]

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdwriters?...&Search=Search

I think the 322 and 422 must be newer models of the 122 and 222. Therefore, if you don't want Lightscribe the 322 would be the one to get. I don't know much about the numbers at the end. My iHAP422 is 08. Maybe it's a version number or defines the firmware or something like that. I got a firmware patch at CDFreaks that allows the decrypting to really zoom. And I don't know anything about your jitter error scanning question.

[JohnnyBob]

Thanks.
I bought a iHAP322 and have installed it. It's a retail drive in a box and the label says:

Model:iHAP322-98 9
S/N: ...
Manufactured Date: June 2009

Can anyone explain the model name/numbers?
What does the "-98" mean?
What does the trailing "_9" mean?

The drive came with firmware "6L19" installed, and I can find no mention of it on the internet. Maybe it's just too new. I do know that it is different firmware than for the iHAP322 8 model, which uses iHAP322_08.UL19.stock.exe. If I try to flash my new drive with the latter, it refuses, saying that no iHAP322_08 drives were found. So firmware makes a distinction between the _08 and _09 model drives. Why? What's the distinction?

[budz]

If you want more information on LITEON drives then check out the LITEON forum at CDFreaks.com.

[JohnnyBob]

Thanks for the suggestion. I've been posting over at CDFreaks on this topic too. Also sent an email query to Lite-On.

So far, scuttlebutt is that the 22x-speed iHAP322_8 had problems which firmware updates couldn't fix, so they put some new hardware in iHAP322_9. (I don't know exactly what, nor the details.) Thus it's actually a new model drive, uses different firmware, etc. At least that's a logical working theory til I find out differently...