48x CD-RW Combo Roundup Vol.1 - Page 3

Data CD Reading Tests

- Pressed CD (LiteOn LTC48161H and Optorite DC4801)

Both combo drives support 48x CAV reading for CD-ROM/R media. Although the LiteOn drive started reading at a higher speed (24.18x) than the Optorite DC4801 (22.62x), and reached the maximum speed of 50.41x, the drives gave similar average reading speeds.

The Optorite drive reached the maximum supported 48x speed as early as at the 72:00 min address of the disc, and read the rest of it at 48x. The reading strategy resembles to P-CAV and thus, the average reading speed is increased.

Looking at the seek times with the same pressed CD, LiteOn gave slightly better results on Full and 1/3 mode reading. The Optorite drive is faster in the random seek mode with only 91ms. Both drives performed well in this test.

- CD-R Discs (LiteOn LTC48161H and Optorite DC4801)

When it comes to CD-R media, the transfer rate results are almost the same as with respect to those for pressed CD's. Optorite DC4801 was faster at the begriming of the test with a starting speed of t 22.27x, while the LiteOn drive offered the highest ending speed (50x). The average speed of both drives is almost the same, with LiteOn being a bit faster at 37.64x

In the seek times test, the LiteOn drive still offered good results, as in previous test. On the other hand, the Optorite drive was slower in all the seek modes, and especially in the Full stroke test.

- RW media (LiteOn LTC48161H and Optorite DC4801)

For the HS-RW reading test we used Mitsubishi Chemicals 24x US-RW media. The Optorite drive is faster than the LiteOn, since it supports 48x CAV reading with rewritable media. LiteOn reached a maximum speed of 42.2x at the end of the task and thus the average reading speed was 31.85x.