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Lite-ON 24/10/40X USB 2.0
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Posted by Robin van Lieshout
Posted on 21/05/02 11:47
Number of views 8001
Menu
 Conclusion
 Introduction
 The package
 Specifications
 Data reading tests
 Music reading tests
 Reading scratched discs
 Writing tests
 Protected data test
 CD-RW tests
 Media compatibility
 Special CD-R disc tests
 General usage
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General usage
 

General usage:

There is one thing that annoyed us while testing this drive, and it is that the drive is very noisy when operating at full speed, noisier than all other drives that we have used. The sound is similar to the sound of a very powerful fan blowing air. Another thing that I'll mention is the plastic tab that pushes down the cover open/closed sensor:



It seems to be pretty easy to break off. The drive is very easy to connect and disconnect since it's USB and may be connected/disconnected without switching off the computer. Most computers have USB connectors nowadays, and while most still have an USB 1.x interface, the drive will still work, just not at the full potential. It's nice for people with several computers, maybe they also have a laptop, because then it could be moved around without much work.

Conclusion:

Positive:

  • 24X writing, 10X RE-Writing, 40X reading speeds
  • Retail package.
  • Includes Nero Burning ROM 5.5 and InCD
  • Very attractive design!!
  • Good DAE performance
  • Pretty good error correction
  • Good write times with the right type of CD-R discs
  • Good CD-RW writing performance.
  • Supports 'Correct EFM encoding of regular bit-patterns" which means it could backup safedisc 2 games easily.
  • Will make backups of most protected games.
  • Supports RAW-DAO and subchannel data reading and writing.
  • Nice price compared to other similar drives.
  • Easy to install and good compatibility because of the USB 2.0 interface
  • Firewire and PCMCIA support with optional accessories.
  • Smartburn and Smart-X technologies
  • Very stable operation during our tests, both when reading and writing.
  • Supports reading and writing CD-TEXT
  • Supports overburning/writing 99 minutes CD-R discs.
Negative

  • Can't read protected audio discs
  • Only 2Mb buffer
  • CD-RW reading is locked to 16X
  • Bad CD-R media compatibility
  • The manual could have been better and in paper, not only on CD.
  • Noisy
  • Plastic tab on cover may break easily?
Should you get this drive? Yes, if you are in the market for an external drive this one have both good performance, a very attractive design and a nice price. We think Lite-On should also think a bit more on design for their internal CD-RW drives since they are pretty boring designed. The drive could have had a firmware upgrade to support more of the new types of media but beside that there is not any big negative points with this drive. So we see no reason to give this drive a bad score, overall we feel that this drive deserves a 9 out of 10 score. Why? It does not have any serious issues and is a complete retail package so 8 out of 10 would be a bit low, and it's not perfect enough to get 10 out of 10.

The lowest online price at www.pricewatch.com is $145 USD (date: 20.5.2002).
Special CD-R disc tests
Conclusion
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Reactions on this item
Posted by on Saturday 01 June 2002 15:52
Very nice review OC-Freak! Enjoyed reading it. Oh and nice pics by the way ;)
Posted by MP|3 on Saturday 01 June 2002 22:25
The pics were really a pain in the ass to get them right in the backend system ;)

Great review though.
Posted by on Wednesday 19 June 2002 08:58
In order to backup Cactus Data Shield Audio CD's. I've found it helps to insert the CD with autorun enabled and allow it to start the built-in player. Stop the player, load CloneCD and copy the CD (make sure you don't have any fast error skip stuff enabled). This (for me at least) results in a copy of the CD which completely works 100% (and in fact can be backed up or ripped perfectly). :)
Posted by on Monday 17 March 2003 13:46
I have the 40x write version of this drive but can only reach around 20x in EAC burst mode.

Any ideas what's wrong?
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