Reading performance

For these tests we will use Nero CD-Speed to read various CD and DVD’s, including audio discs and DVD-media. As already mentioned in the introduction, this drive supports:

• DVD-ROM 16x
• CD-ROM 48x

Pressed discs:

For this test we used a pressed CD-ROM disc containing the Roxio Media Creator 9 install CD that is close to 73 minutes in length. Below you will see the produced result:

The ASUS DRW-20B1LT reached 45.62X read speed. Let’s compare it with some other drives below.

The ASUS DRW-20B1LT was about average when reading our test CD-ROM media.

If this reviewer had a Pressed CD that contains data closer to the desired 75 minute mark this drive would surely have reached its highest rated read speed.

Seek times were very good.

CD Recordable discs:

For this test we made a data disc with CD-DVD Speed. The disc we used was a Maxell CD-R certified for 48X writing.

The ASUS DRW-20B1LT reached 48.62X read speed. Let’s compare it with some other drives below.

The ASUS DRW-20B1LT was among the fastest drives in terms of speed with our CD-R test disc. Seek times were once again good.

CD Re-writable discs:

Here we used a CD-RW disc with close to 75 minutes of data; this time we used a Verbatim Ultra Speed (32X) CD-RW disc made by Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation.

The ASUS DRW-20B1LT reached 40.48X read speed. Let’s compare it with some other drives below.

The ASUS DRW-20B1LT performs on average when reading CD-RW media. Once again, seek times were very good.

Audio – Digital Audio Extraction:

To test the digital audio extraction performance of the ASUS DRW-20B1LT, again we used Nero CD-Speed to measure the transfer rate. The audio disc we used is exactly 74 minutes in length (74:00:00).

The ASUS DRW-20B1LT reached 47.14X when reading our test audio disc. Let’s compare it with some drives below.

The ASUS DRW-20B1LT was about average when reading our test Audio CD. Seek times were very good.

Advanced audio – DAE quality test:

Before we move on to testing DVD read speeds, we will perform a last audio test, and this time we used the “Advanced DAE Quality Test” feature in CD-Speed.

On-the-fly coping up to and including 16X is supported; reading lead-in and lead-out was not supported.

DVD reading performance:

Again, we will use Nero CD-Speed to measure the reading performance, this time for various types of DVD discs. The drive should read pressed single layer DVD-discs at 16X.

Pressed DVD Video:

For our DVD reading performance tests we are going to start with a single and Double Layered DVD video discs. While only 1X speed is required to watch DVD movies, it’s useful to be able to read the discs at higher speeds if you’re going to extract (rip) the content of the disc to your hard drive.

DVD Video (single layer)

DVD Video (Double layer)

The ASUS DRW-20B1LT read both our test discs at 12X.

The ASUS DRW-20B1LT was among the fastest drives when reading our test DVD-Video single layer and double layer test discs.

DVD – DVD+R/RW:

For this test we used a Verbatim 16X DVD+R and a Verbatim, 8X DVD+RW with about 4.4GB of data. Below are the results:

DVD+R

DVD+RW

The ASUS DRW-20B1LT was well above average when reading our test DVD+R media and about average when reading our test DVD+RW media.

DVD – DVD-R/RW:

For this test we used a Verbatim 16X DVD-R disc and a Verbatim 6X DVD-RW disc filled with about 4.4GB of data. Our test results are found below:

DVD-R

DVD-RW

There are hardly any differences in the speed, compared to reading the DVD+R/RW discs.

Once again the ASUS DRW-20B1LT was about average when reading both DVD-R and DVD-RW media.

DVD±R DL discs:

DVD+R DL:

The ASUS DRW-20B1LT read our DVD+R DL test disc at 12X reading speed.

DVD-R DL:

The ASUS DRW-20B1LT read our DVD-R DL test disc at 8X reading speed; short of its specified speed of 12X.

DVD-RAM:

The ASUS DRW-20B1LT read our DVD-RAM disc at 12x using a P-CAV reading method.

Summary:

The ASUS DRW-20B1LT has very good DVD and CD reading performance; we would like to see the reading speed for DVD-Video increased.

Now let’s head over to the next page where we will test CD-R/RW writing performance……