Lite-On DX-4O1S USB 2.0 4x BD-ROM

While CPU, memory, OS and other variables don't often make a huge difference, there are some nonetheless. We have a computer that is used only for testing hardware. We do this so all tests can be compared reliably.

Test System:

For BD-ROM drives, the performance tests are normally broken down into three sections: CD read, DVD read and BD read. Each benchmark test has been run three times. The score given is an average of the three. DMA has been enabled in device manager for all IDE devices supporting it.

CD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the CD-ROM benchmarks, CD WinBench 99 and CD Speed are used to test transfer speeds, seek times and CPU usage. For DAE testing, CD Speed is used to give an overall speed rating.

DVD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the DVD benchmarks CD Speed is used to test transfer speeds, seek times, and CPU usage.

BD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the BD benchmarks, CD Speed is used to test transfer speeds, seek times, and CPU usage.

CD Winbench 99 Scores:

The CD Winbench test is as close as we can get to testing every day usage. It fires off eight different applications using scripts. This tries to mimic the activities of a person loading these programs onto their own computer.

Lite-On's external BD-ROM did surprisingly well in our CD Winbench tests.  In the transfer speed tests, the DX-4O1S started reading at about 14.5x on the inside of the CD and was able to reach 28.8x on the outside of the disc. As you can see, this resulted in a very good overall CD Winbench score.

CD Speed v4.7.7.7 - Pressed CD:

For this test I used a pressed CD containing one Mode 1 data track. The disc is 74:38 in size and is full of data and directories.

 

	Lite-On DX-4O1S	Lite-On DH-4O1S	LG GGC-H20L	ASUS BC-1205PT
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	24.10x 14.02x 31.88x	24.11x 14.05x 31.89x	30.98x 17.83x 40.61x	25.14x 14.62x 33.26x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	120ms 143ms 230ms	122ms 151ms 248ms	112ms 132ms 194ms	144ms 165ms 305ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 3% 6%	0% 1% 2% 3%	1% 1% 7% 9%	0% 1% 3% 6%

The DX-4O1S didn't perform as well as I had expected when reading pressed CD's. While rated at 32x, Lite-On's new external drive came up a little short of this number in our tests. On a more positive note, the DX-4O1S's seek times were pretty good. 

CD Speed v4.7.7.7 - CD-R Media:

For this test I made a copy of our pressed test CD. I used 12x rated Memorex Gold 74 minute media for the tests.

 

	Lite-On DX-4O1S	Lite-On DH-4O1S	LG GGC-H20L	ASUS BC-1205PT
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	24.63x 14.17x 32.64x	24.64x 14.20x 32.66x	31.14x 17.77x 40.91x	25.42x 14.68x 33.66x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	121ms 150ms 244ms	122ms 150ms 254ms	111ms 141ms 212ms	147ms 169ms 317ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 3% 6%	0% 1% 2% 3%	1% 1% 7% 9%	0% 1% 2% 4%

Like the other drives, the DX-4O1S was a little faster when reading CD-R media. Thanks to this small speed boost, the drive was able to reach a maximum transfer speed of 32.64x.

While Lite-On's new BD-ROM drive had no problems recognizing our 99 minute CompUSA media, it slowed down considerably when reading it back. As you can see, the drive reached a maximum transfer speed of only 13x.

CD Speed v4.7.7.7 - CD-RW Media:

For this test I made a copy of a pressed test CD. I used some PNY 80 minute CD-RW media for the tests. 

 

	Lite-On DX-4O1S	Lite-On DH-4O1S	LG GGC-H20L	ASUS BC-1205PT
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	24.19x 14.14x 31.95x	24.20x 14.14x 31.96x	30.59x 17.64x 40.04x	18.79x 10.96x 24.57x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	122ms 152ms 243ms	120ms 149ms 230ms	113ms 132ms 199ms	130ms 141ms 221ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 3% 5%	0% 1% 2% 3%	1% 1% 8% 9%	1% 2% 3% 4%

The DX-4O1S is also rated at 32x when reading CD-RW media. While it came close, it wasn't able to reach this number in our tests.

CD Speed v4.7.7.7 (DAE) - Pressed CD:

For this test I used Pure Funk. The CD is almost exactly 74 minutes. This helps to squeeze the maximum performance out of the CD.

Exact Audio Copy can tell us a lot about a drive's capabilities. You can see from the screen shot that the Lite-On DX-4O1S supports accurate stream, caches audio data and has the ability to retrieve C2 error information from audio CD's.

 

CD Speed	Lite-On DX-4O1S	Lite-On DH-4O1S	LG GGC-H20L	ASUS BC-1205PT
Average: Start: End: DAE Quality: Accurate Stream:	24.35x 15.55x 32.15x 10 Yes	24.36x 15.92x 32.17x 10 Yes	30.77x 18.14x 40.36x 10 Yes	25.06x 15.11x 33.14x 10 Yes

The DX-4O1S did fairly well in our DAE tests. While not nearly as fast as the drive from LG, it had no problems ripping pressed audio CD's at 32x.

CD Speed v4.7.7.7 (DAE) - CD-R Media:

For this test I used a copy of the Pure Funk CD. It's burned onto the same Memorex Gold 74 minute media used in the data CD tests.

 

CD Speed	Lite-On DX-4O1S	Lite-On DH-4O1S	LG GGC-H20L	ASUS BC-1205PT
Average: Start: End: DAE Quality: Accurate Stream:	24.13x 15.61x 31.79x 10 Yes	24.13x 16.04x 31.81x 10 Yes	30.48x 18.16x 39.91x 10 Yes	24.87x 15.04x 32.81x 10 Yes

Lite-On's BD-ROM drive was a little slower when ripping audio CD-R discs. While the drive came very close, it wasn't able to reach 32x this time around. So how did it do in CD Speed's advanced DAE tests? Take a look below.

The DX-4O1S completed CD Speed's advanced DAE tests with an average score of 22.94x. While the drive went through all of the tests without creating any errors, it was unable to pass all of the on the fly copying tests. If you look at the advanced features, you can see that the DX-4O1S was able to read the CD-Text, subchannel data and lead in but failed to read the lead out section of the CD.