Lite-On eTAU108 slimline DVD writer review

Test machine

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For this review we will be using a computer with the following configuration:

Hardware:

·         System: Toshiba Satellite A300-1MT

·         Processor: Intel Pentium T3200 2GHz

·         RAM: 3 GB DDR2

·         GFX: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470

·         Sound: Onboard

·         Hard disk: Toshiba MK255GSX 250GB

·         Display: Onboard 15.6 inch LCD

·         Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium (32 bit).

System setup:

The Lite-On eTAU108 was connected to a USB2 connector on our notebook. The drive came shipped with firmware version EL04.

Included software package

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The Lite-On eTAU108 came supplied with the Nero 8 Essentials, Nero Linux 3, Nero Showtime 4 essentials, Nero Vision essentials and Nero recode 3 essentials software, which should provide a good platform for burning your CD-R and DVD recordable media.

Nero 8 Essentials

Note: We did not install this software on our review notebook or test it.

Installed software:

For conducting our various tests, we will be using the following applications.

• Nero Burning Rom 9
• Nero DiscSpeed
• Slysoft CloneCD
• Exact Audio Copy
• Opti Drive Control
• DVDFab

Our review notebook has Windows Vista Home Premium 32 bit installed.

Features and techniques

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BookType (Bitsetting):

The Lite-On eTAU108 supports bitsetting and is capable of writing DVD+R/RW DL media with DVD-ROM.

Here is how you could check if your discs are really written with DVD-ROM book type:

Start Nero DiscSpeed, click the Disc info button and you should see something like this:

DVD+R with BookType DVD-ROM

DVD+RW with BookType DVD-ROM

DVD+R DL with BookType DVD-ROM

Disc Quality Scanning

The Lite-On eTAU108 can be used along with Opti Drive Control or Nero CD-DVD Speed for Disc Quality Scanning.

The drive is able to scan for PIE and PIF errors also it supports Jitter on DVD R/RW media, and C1 and C2 errors on CD-R/RW media.

DVD+R Disc Quality Scan

We scanned our test media at maximum speed. As we can see we can compare results from this drive with our Lite-On iHAP322, but nonetheless this feature is a useful one to have, and will give some indication if the disc is good or bad.

CD-R Disc Quality Scan

We scanned our test CD-R media at the maximum speed the drive would allow, which was 24x. Unfortunately we can’t compare this result with the results obtained with our Optiarc AD-7200A, but again this a useful feature to have.

Writing technique

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Now it’s time to take a closer look at the write technology used by the Lite-On eTAU108.

For these tests we used Nero DiscSpeed and Opti Drive Control, and wrote a full disc at the drive’s maximum speed.

CD Recordable:

According to the specifications of the Lite-On eTAU108, it should be able to write CD-R media at a maximum speed of 24x.

The Lite-On eTAU108 uses Z-CLV (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 24x. This gives an average speed of 14.89x and a total writing time of 5 minutes and 57 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

As we can see, the Lite-On eTAU108 wasn’t one of the fastest drive’s when writing CD-R media.

CD Re-writable:

According to the specifications of the Lite-On eTAU108, it should be able to write CD-RW media at a maximum speed of 24x.

The Lite-On eTAU108 uses Z-CLV (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 24x. This gives an average speed of 14.88x and a total writing time of 5 minutes and 56 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

We can see in the table above, that the Lite-On eTAU108 was the fastest drive when writing out CD-RW test media.

8x DVD+R/-R writing speed:

According to the specifications of the Lite-On eTAU108, it should be able to write DVD+R/-R media at a maximum speed of 8x.

DVD+R

The Lite-On eTAU108 uses Z-CLV (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 8x. This gives an average speed of 4.92x and a total writing time of 12 minutes and 44 seconds.

DVD-R

The Lite-On eTAU108 uses Z-CLV (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 8x. This gives an average speed of 4.93x and a total writing time of 12 minutes and 47 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

As we can see from our table, the Lite-On eTAU108 was above average when writing our test DVD R media.

8X DVD+RW writing speed:

According to the specifications of the Lite-On, it should be able to write DVD+RW at a maximum speed of 8x.

The Lite-On eTAU108 uses Z-CLV (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 8x. This gives an average speed of 4.79x and a total writing time of 12 minutes and 32 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

The Lite-On eTAU108 was the fastest drive when writing our test DVD+RW media.

6x DVD-RW writing speed:

According to the specifications of the Lite-On eTAU108, it should be able to write DVD-RW at a maximum speed of 6x.

The Lite-On eTAU108 uses Z-CLV (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 6X. This gives an average speed of 4.89x and a total writing time of 12 minutes and 39 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

The Lite-On eTAU108 was again the fastest drive we test when writing DVD-RW media.

6x DVD+R DL writing speed:

According to the specifications of the Lite-On eTAU108, it should be able to write DVD+R DL at a maximum speed of 6x.

The Lite-On eTAU108 uses Z-CLV (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity), to write at 6x. This gives an average speed of 4.44x and a total writing time of 24 minutes and 38 seconds.

6x DVD-R DL writing speed:

According to the specifications of the Lie-On eTAU108, it should be able to write DVD-R DL at a maximum speed of 6x, unfortunately the drive was only capable of 4x with our test media.

The Lite-On eTAU108 uses Z-CLV (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity), to write at 4x. This gives an average speed of 3.82x and a total writing time of 28 minutes and 49 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

The Lite-On eTAU108 was the fastest drive when writing our DVD+R DL test media, and well above average when writing our DVD-R DL test media even at 4x.

Summary:

The Lite-On eTAU108 has very good writing performance on CD-R media. Writing performance on DVD R media is also very fast for a slimline drive.

 

Let’s head on to the next page where we will check reading performance….

• Introduction
• Reading performance