Ian,
I just noticed that even on my LiteON 52/24/52 and LTD 163D, they can't always keep up with the opening FMV sequence of "Star Trek Klingon Academy" which AFAIK is spooled from the CD.
They do a damn good job of trying though, but there's always a hitch or two during viewing.
How about including that as part of the optical drive performance?
Or some kind of SVCD?