- CD Format

For our CD transfer rate tests, we used the Nero CD-Speed utility and a set of Pressed CDs. Let's take a look at how the drive performed, compared with the other two external drives.

The Memorex supports 48X CD reading speed. The LiteON and BenQ drives also support the same speed but both reported slightly higher reading speeds.

BenQ seems to be faster with this type of media, while the Memorex follows closely behind.

- AudioCD

In the case of AudioCD extraction, the Memorex supports 40X DAE speed while the BenQ and LiteON support 48X. All drives produced a perfect DAE quality score.

- 90mins Audio disc

The Memorex failed to read the 90min test disc, while it also was unable to recognize the 99min disc.

- DVD Format

Now let's have a look at how the drive performs with DVD media. This time, a set of DVD media was used, both SL and DL.

Almost the same performance between the three tested drives, with only the speed start producing a lower reading speed from the Memorex.

The two layers of a PTP DVD-ROM disc are read sequentially with the drive starting reading from the inner part of the disc, which is the beginning of each layer, progressing towards its outer range. Here, the LiteOn is the slowest reader, while the BenQ is slightly faster than the Memorex.

The first layer of an OTP dual layer DVD-ROM is read exactly the same way as the first layer of the PTP disc we tested previously, the main difference being the reading strategy of the second layer on the disc. The beginning of the second layer is located in the outer part of the disc, so the drive starts reading from the outer tracks towards the inner part of the disc. Again, we see that the LiteOn is the slowest reader and the BenQ only slightly quicker than the Memorex.

The supported reading speeds for DVD±R/RW media are very important since these are the most common formats. The Memorex drive supports up to 16X for DVD±R and 12X for DVD±RW. The BenQ was slightly faster than the Memorex with DVD±R media, but was second behind the Memorex when it comes to DVD±RW media. The LiteON had the lowest reading speed for these media formats.

Good ripping speed was reported from the Memorex and BenQ drives while only average from the LiteON..

-Appendix

Nero CD-DVD Speed Graphs

CD Pressed / US-RW / AudioCD

DVD Pressed SL / DVD Pressed DL PTP / DVD Pressed DL OTP / DVD-R / DVD-RW / DVD+R / DVD+RW