4.Amicool BT-686

The Amicool BT-686 has a slight different "honeycomb" plastic shell.

There is also the Amicool logo at the front.

While at the bottom, there is a dual USB3.0 and TypeC cable for easy connection to PC/newer MAC systems.

Removing the bottom panel we can see the real optical drive manufacturer

Again the manufacturer is the TSSTCorp and the codename is TS-L633A with manufacturing date July 2009.

The drive is manufactured from TSSTcorp and has the TS-L633A codename. The firmware was TM00 and after checking with the FirmwareHQ

we updated the drive to a "newer" firmware revision AS03

The drive supports C1/C2 and PIE/PIF error scanning with the OptiDriveControl software or other compatible application.

Using the latest EAC (Exact Audio Copy) software we are able to detect important drive features, especially concerning Audio CD Ripping. The drive does seem to support C2 error info and doesn't Cache Audio which will result higher ripping speeds.

As was expected, despite the fact that the drive is advertised as USB3.0 (and has the corresponding cable), in reality its connected with USB2.0 (high-speed).

We found around the web the product specifications, mostly for the inner drive

Transfer rates - Write:
DVD-R: 2x CLV, 4x ZCLV, 8x CAV
DVD-R DL: 2x CLV, 4x ZCLV, 6x PCAV
DVD-RW: 2x CLV, 4x, 6x ZCLV
DVD-RAM: 2x, 3x ZCLV, 5x PCAV(Ver.2.2)
DVD+R: 2.4x CLV, 4x ZCLV, 8x CAV
DVD+R DL: 2.4x CLV, 4x ZCLV, 6x PCAV
DVD+RW: 2.4x, 3.3x CLV, 4x ZCLV, 8x ZCLV(8x Speed disc: 3.3x CLV, 8x ZCLV)CD-R 10x CLV, 16x, 24x CAVCD-RW 4x, 10x CLV, 16x ZCLV, 24x ZCLV(High Speed: 10x CLV, Ultra Speed: 24xZCLV, Ultra Speed plus: 24x ZCLV)

Transfer rates - Read:
DVD-R/RW/ROM 8x/8x/8x max.
DVD-R DL 8x max.
DVD-RAM (Ver.1.0/2.2) 5x
DVD-Video(CSS Compliant Disc)4x max (Single/Dual layer)
DVD+R/+RW 8x/8x max.
DVD+R DL 8x max
CD-R/RW/ROM 24x/24x/24x max.
CD-DA (DAE) 24x max.

Access Time:
CD-ROM 140 ms typ.
DVD-ROM 160 ms typ.
DVD-RAM (Ver. 2.2) 260 ms typ.

Sustained Transfer Rate:
CD-ROM: 3,600 kB/s (24x) max.
DVD-ROM: 11.08 Mbytes/s (8x) max.

Buffer Size: 1 MB Buffer Under-run prevention function embedded

Operating Systems: Windows 7, Windows Vista™, Windows XP

Dimensions (WxHxD): 5.0" x 0.5" x 5.0" 128 x 12.7 x 127mm

Weight: 0.4 lbs 170g