Lite-On DX-4O1S USB 2.0 4x BD-ROM

Model: Lite-On DX-4O1S USB 2.0 4x BD-ROM
Manufacturer: Lite-On IT
Provided By: Lite-On IT America

Lite-On IT got its start in 1995 when its parent company, Lite-On Technology, gathered together a group of scientists and engineers to start an optical storage research and manufacturing business. Lite-On Technology quickly established itself as Taiwan’s largest CD-ROM drive manufacturer and by 1999 the business had spun off into a separate company, Lite-On IT. Since then, Lite-On IT has continued to grow. By working closely with companies like BenQ and Philips, they've expanded into the consumer and automotive electronics markets, becoming the world's second largest ODD manufacturer.

With the format war coming to an end, Lite-On has begun to focus on the emerging Blu-ray Disc market. This summer, the company introduced its first external BD-ROM drive, the DX-4O1S. While lacking the writing capabilities found on more expensive units, this read-only drive offers cost-conscious consumers the ability to watch Blu-ray movies on their computers. Along with 4x BD read speeds, the DX-4O1S is capable of reading DVD's at 12x and CD's at 32x. The drive also features an 8MB buffer, a USB 2.0 interface and CyberLink's popular PowerDVD software.

We've had Lite-On's external BD-ROM in the 'Labs for a few months now and have had the time to put it through its paces. To give you an idea of what to expect from the DX-4O1S, we'll take a look at its features and then see how it compares to some of the Blu-ray drives from LG and ASUS. Does the DX-4O1S have what it takes? More importantly, is it the best bang for your buck? Keep reading to find out.

What's in the box?:

• Lite-On DX-4O1S BD-ROM Drive
• CyberLink Software CD
• Installation Guide
• USB 2.0 Cable
• AC Power Adapter
• Drive Stand
• Warranty Information

Physical Features:

The drive Lite-On sent us for this review was manufactured in April of 2008 and had firmware 2P53. This is the newest firmware currently available for the DX-4O1S.

From the front, the DX-4O1S looks nothing like its internal counterpart, the DH-4O1S. Lite-On's new external BD-ROM sports a more sophisticated look thanks in part to its glossy plastic and chrome highlights. The DX-4O1S also has its share of logos. Along with the large "Lite-On" and "Blu-ray Disc" logos, you can see a few showing support for the Compact Disc and DVD-ROM formats.

While it's hard to see, there is a small LED below the DX-4O1S's tray. Off by default, this LED lights up a bright blue when the drive is loading or reading a disc.

The DX-4O1S's enclosure is radically different from Lite-On's other external drives. Relatively compact for an external unit, it measures only 145.8mm x 180mm x 41.4mm and weighs in at 800g. Like the front bezel, the enclosure is made out of glossy black and white plastic. While this looks nice, finger prints and smudges have a tendency to stand out, especially on the black plastic.

In case you missed the fact that DX-4O1S is capable of playing Blu-ray movies, there is an extra large Blu-ray Disc logo on top of the drive. On the bottom, the drive has four small rubber feet to keep it from sliding around when placed on a flat surface. The DX-4O1S can also be positioned vertically using the included drive stand.

The rear of Lite-On's new external drive has its share of connectors. Starting from the left, you can see its USB 2.0 connector, power connector and on/off switch.

Technical Specs:

The specs above have been taken from Lite-On's website and the documentation that came along with the drive.

More Features:

Nero InfoTool can be used to query the drive to see what its reading and writing capabilities are. According to InfoTool, the DX-4O1S has a maximum CD read speed of 32x and an 8MB buffer.

InfoTool also shows that the DX-4O1S is an RPC-2 DVD drive. This means that the drive's region is stored in the firmware. The drive's region can be changed five times and after that it cannot be changed anymore. While there isn't an RPC-1 firmware available for the drive, the number of factory and user changes can be reset using LtnRPC .

While InfoTool gives us a quick glance at the DX-4O1S's features, DVDINFOpro provides a little more information on some of its capabilities. By looking at the screenshot above you can see that Lite-On's new external drive can read most DVD and BD formats.

Write Quality Testing:

Like the DH-4O1S, the DX-4O1S is capable of performing write quality testing with Blu-ray Disc media. When combined with CD Speed, the drive is able to report the Long Distance Code (LDC) and Burst Indicator Subcode (BIS). While it's still too early to know what "good" results should look like, c't magazine has stated that the average LDC should stay below 13 and the maximum BIS should not exceed 8. In my own testing, I've found that the LDC reported by CD Speed is considerably higher than 13.

I should also point out that the latest version of CD Speed still has some nagging issues when performing write quality tests on the DX-4O1S. In particular, the software would hang at the 99% mark when testing Blu-ray Discs.

Software:

The DX-4O1S comes with a CD containing CyberLink PowerDVD BD 7.3. Along with Blu-ray Discs, it can be used to play back CD's and DVD's as well as other multimedia formats including DivX.

Unfortunately, the version of PowerDVD bundled with the DX-4O1S only supports 2 speaker output. If you want to take advantage of movies encoded with Dolby Digital or DTS, you'll need to buy the retail version of PowerDVD.

When it comes to features, the Lite-On DX-4O1S has all of its bases covered. This good looking, external BD-ROM drive is capable of reading both single and dual layer Blu-ray Disc media at 4x and is backwards compatible with most CD and DVD formats. The DX-4O1S also sports an 8MB buffer and comes with CyberLink's popular PowerDVD software. With all this, it's easy to see why the Lite-On DX-4O1S gets a solid 9 out of 10 for its features.

Lite-On's external BD-ROM drive was very easy to install. Thanks to its USB 2.0 interface, the entire installation process took only a matter of minutes.  With no jumpers to worry about, it was as simple as connecting the USB cable, plugging in the power cable, and powering the drive on. Once connected to our test computer, it took only a matter of seconds for plug and play to install the necessary drivers. After making sure that the drive was recognized correctly in the Device Manager, I was ready to start installing the software.

Software Installation:

As I mentioned earlier, the DX-4O1S comes with a CD containing CyberLink PowerDVD BD 7.3. If you have autorun enabled on your computer, the menu pictured below will automatically come up when you insert the disc.

As you can see, this menu is pretty straight forward. To start the setup process, simply select "Install PowerDVD 7.3 BD" from the menu. From there, it's as easy as choosing the location where you want to install the program and then waiting for the files to be copied over. Keep your serial number handy as you will need to activate PowerDVD the first time it is run.

The Documentation:

Most of the DX-4O1S's documentation is located in the "User's Manual." Similar to the ones included with Lite-On's other drives, this manual covers a number of topics. It starts out by getting the user familiarized with their new BD-ROM drive. The first section goes over the DX-4O1S's supported formats and system requirements. The manual also spends a few pages going over the locations and the functions of the buttons and connectors located on the front and back of the drive.

From here, the manual jumps right into the physical installation of the DX-4O1S. The instructions are pretty brief since there really isn't much to do other than plug in a few cables and turn the computer on. Nevertheless, Lite-On has provided a nice diagram showing how the drive should be hooked up. Last but not least, the manual finishes up with a few short sections on how to operate the DX-4O1S and troubleshoot any problems that might arise.

Lite-On's external BD-ROM also comes with a "Quick User's Guide." This fold out guide includes instructions on how to hook up the drive and install the bundled software. Along with the instructions, there are a number of diagrams showing what to do. For most people, the "Quick Start Guide" will be all they'll need to get the DX-4O1S up and running.

For ease of installation, the DX-4O1S is hard to beat. Thanks to its USB 2.0 interface, it's as simple as plugging in a few cables and flipping the power switch. Nevertheless, if you do run into trouble, the documentation Lite-On has provided is more than sufficient. With this in mind, the DX-4O1S scores a 9 out of 10 for the installation portion of this review.

While CPU, memory, OS and other variables don't often make a huge difference, there are some nonetheless. We have a computer that is used only for testing hardware. We do this so all tests can be compared reliably.

Test System:

For BD-ROM drives, the performance tests are normally broken down into three sections: CD read, DVD read and BD read. Each benchmark test has been run three times. The score given is an average of the three. DMA has been enabled in device manager for all IDE devices supporting it.

CD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the CD-ROM benchmarks, CD WinBench 99 and CD Speed are used to test transfer speeds, seek times and CPU usage. For DAE testing, CD Speed is used to give an overall speed rating.

DVD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the DVD benchmarks CD Speed is used to test transfer speeds, seek times, and CPU usage.

BD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the BD benchmarks, CD Speed is used to test transfer speeds, seek times, and CPU usage.

CD Winbench 99 Scores:

The CD Winbench test is as close as we can get to testing every day usage. It fires off eight different applications using scripts. This tries to mimic the activities of a person loading these programs onto their own computer.

Lite-On's external BD-ROM did surprisingly well in our CD Winbench tests.  In the transfer speed tests, the DX-4O1S started reading at about 14.5x on the inside of the CD and was able to reach 28.8x on the outside of the disc. As you can see, this resulted in a very good overall CD Winbench score.

CD Speed v4.7.7.7 - Pressed CD:

For this test I used a pressed CD containing one Mode 1 data track. The disc is 74:38 in size and is full of data and directories.

 

	Lite-On DX-4O1S	Lite-On DH-4O1S	LG GGC-H20L	ASUS BC-1205PT
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	24.10x 14.02x 31.88x	24.11x 14.05x 31.89x	30.98x 17.83x 40.61x	25.14x 14.62x 33.26x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	120ms 143ms 230ms	122ms 151ms 248ms	112ms 132ms 194ms	144ms 165ms 305ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 3% 6%	0% 1% 2% 3%	1% 1% 7% 9%	0% 1% 3% 6%

The DX-4O1S didn't perform as well as I had expected when reading pressed CD's. While rated at 32x, Lite-On's new external drive came up a little short of this number in our tests. On a more positive note, the DX-4O1S's seek times were pretty good. 

CD Speed v4.7.7.7 - CD-R Media:

For this test I made a copy of our pressed test CD. I used 12x rated Memorex Gold 74 minute media for the tests.

 

	Lite-On DX-4O1S	Lite-On DH-4O1S	LG GGC-H20L	ASUS BC-1205PT
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	24.63x 14.17x 32.64x	24.64x 14.20x 32.66x	31.14x 17.77x 40.91x	25.42x 14.68x 33.66x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	121ms 150ms 244ms	122ms 150ms 254ms	111ms 141ms 212ms	147ms 169ms 317ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 3% 6%	0% 1% 2% 3%	1% 1% 7% 9%	0% 1% 2% 4%

Like the other drives, the DX-4O1S was a little faster when reading CD-R media. Thanks to this small speed boost, the drive was able to reach a maximum transfer speed of 32.64x.

While Lite-On's new BD-ROM drive had no problems recognizing our 99 minute CompUSA media, it slowed down considerably when reading it back. As you can see, the drive reached a maximum transfer speed of only 13x.

CD Speed v4.7.7.7 - CD-RW Media:

For this test I made a copy of a pressed test CD. I used some PNY 80 minute CD-RW media for the tests. 

 

	Lite-On DX-4O1S	Lite-On DH-4O1S	LG GGC-H20L	ASUS BC-1205PT
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	24.19x 14.14x 31.95x	24.20x 14.14x 31.96x	30.59x 17.64x 40.04x	18.79x 10.96x 24.57x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	122ms 152ms 243ms	120ms 149ms 230ms	113ms 132ms 199ms	130ms 141ms 221ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 3% 5%	0% 1% 2% 3%	1% 1% 8% 9%	1% 2% 3% 4%

The DX-4O1S is also rated at 32x when reading CD-RW media. While it came close, it wasn't able to reach this number in our tests.

CD Speed v4.7.7.7 (DAE) - Pressed CD:

For this test I used Pure Funk. The CD is almost exactly 74 minutes. This helps to squeeze the maximum performance out of the CD.

Exact Audio Copy can tell us a lot about a drive's capabilities. You can see from the screen shot that the Lite-On DX-4O1S supports accurate stream, caches audio data and has the ability to retrieve C2 error information from audio CD's.

 

CD Speed	Lite-On DX-4O1S	Lite-On DH-4O1S	LG GGC-H20L	ASUS BC-1205PT
Average: Start: End: DAE Quality: Accurate Stream:	24.35x 15.55x 32.15x 10 Yes	24.36x 15.92x 32.17x 10 Yes	30.77x 18.14x 40.36x 10 Yes	25.06x 15.11x 33.14x 10 Yes

The DX-4O1S did fairly well in our DAE tests. While not nearly as fast as the drive from LG, it had no problems ripping pressed audio CD's at 32x.

CD Speed v4.7.7.7 (DAE) - CD-R Media:

For this test I used a copy of the Pure Funk CD. It's burned onto the same Memorex Gold 74 minute media used in the data CD tests.

 

CD Speed	Lite-On DX-4O1S	Lite-On DH-4O1S	LG GGC-H20L	ASUS BC-1205PT
Average: Start: End: DAE Quality: Accurate Stream:	24.13x 15.61x 31.79x 10 Yes	24.13x 16.04x 31.81x 10 Yes	30.48x 18.16x 39.91x 10 Yes	24.87x 15.04x 32.81x 10 Yes

Lite-On's BD-ROM drive was a little slower when ripping audio CD-R discs. While the drive came very close, it wasn't able to reach 32x this time around. So how did it do in CD Speed's advanced DAE tests? Take a look below.

The DX-4O1S completed CD Speed's advanced DAE tests with an average score of 22.94x. While the drive went through all of the tests without creating any errors, it was unable to pass all of the on the fly copying tests. If you look at the advanced features, you can see that the DX-4O1S was able to read the CD-Text, subchannel data and lead in but failed to read the lead out section of the CD.

CD Speed v4.7.7.7 - DVD-ROM:

For this test I used a single layer, single sided data DVD-ROM disc that is 4.37GB in size.

 

	Lite-On DX-4O1S	Lite-On DH-4O1S	LG GGC-H20L	ASUS BC-1205PT
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	9.18x 5.09x 12.27x	9.19x 5.10x 12.28x	12.29x 6.79x 16.43x	9.44x 5.24x 12.62x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	113ms 135ms 222ms	112ms 128ms 205ms	122ms 142ms 220ms	152ms 184ms 337ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	6% 12% 22% 52%	3% 7% 12% 23%	5% 8% 15% 23%	7% 12% 22% 42%

The DX-4O1S performed fairly well when reading single layer DVD-ROM's. In our tests it started reading at 5.09x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 12.27x. Looking at the other scores, you can see that the drive's seek times were also quite good.

CD Speed v4.7.7.7 - DVD-R and DVD-RW:

First, we'll look at the drive's DVD-R and DVD-RW reading performance. For this I made copies of our DVD-ROM test disk using some general use 8x DVD-R and 2x DVD-RW media from Verbatim and then ran our usual DVD read tests with CD Speed. For the DVD-RAM tests, media from Maxell was used. The results are below.

Verbatim DVD-R
 

	Lite-On DX-4O1S	Lite-On DH-4O1S	LG GGC-H20L	ASUS BC-1205PT
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	9.02x 5.00x 12.05x	9.03x 5.02x 12.08x	9.24x 5.11x 12.35x	9.46x 5.26x 12.65x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	118ms 135ms 215ms	118ms 151ms 207ms	99ms 124ms 185ms	168ms 199ms 351ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	6% 13% 23% 44%	3% 8% 13% 23%	3% 7% 13% 24%	7% 13% 23% 45%

Verbatim DVD-RW
 

	Lite-On DX-4O1S	Lite-On DH-4O1S	LG GGC-H20L	ASUS BC-1205PT
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	6.22x 3.45x 8.32x	6.23x 3.46x 8.33x	7.69x 4.24x 10.29x	6.31x 3.49x 8.44x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	128ms 173ms 249ms	127ms 174ms 343ms	114ms 141ms 209ms	176ms 418ms 378ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	6% 13% 23% 42%	4% 8% 13% 23%	5% 8% 15% 24%	7% 13% 23% 42%

The DX-4O1S had no problems reading DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-R DL media. In our tests, the drive read DVD-R discs at 12x, and both DVD-RW and DVD-R DL media at 8x.

Maxell 5x DVD-RAM
 

	Lite-On DX-4O1S	LG GGC-H20L	ASUS BC-1205PT
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	4.61x 2.65x 5.01x	4.62x 3.00x 5.02x	4.93x 4.84x 4.88x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	139ms 165ms 253ms	138ms 156ms 209ms	175ms 3ms 1ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x:	9% 17% 31%	17% 27% 44%	16% 30% 55%

One advantage the DX-4O1S has over the DH-4O1S is that it can read DVD-RAM discs. By looking at the screenshot you can see that it starts reading at 2.65x and accelerates, reaching 5x at the 1.6GB mark. 

CD Speed v4.7.7.7 - DVD+R and DVD+RW:

Next we'll look at the drive's DVD+R and DVD+RW reading performance. For this I made a copy of our DVD-ROM test disk using some 8x DVD+R and 2.4x DVD+RW media from Verbatim. I then ran our usual DVD read tests with CD Speed. The results are below.

Verbatim DVD+R
 

	Lite-On DX-4O1S	Lite-On DH-4O1S	LG GGC-H20L	ASUS BC-1205PT
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	9.02x 5.01x 12.06x	9.03x 5.02x 12.07x	9.22x 5.10x 12.33x	9.45x 5.25x 12.64x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	119ms 138ms 218ms	118ms 132ms 205ms	99ms 129ms 194ms	168ms 202ms 353ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	6% 13% 22% 42%	3% 8% 13% 23%	3% 7% 15% 25%	7% 12% 23% 43%

Verbatim DVD+RW

	Lite-On DX-4O1S	Lite-On DH-4O1S	LG GGC-H20L	ASUS BC-1205PT
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	6.22x 3.45x 8.32x	6.22x 3.44x 8.32x	7.70x 4.25x 10.29x	6.31x 3.49x 8.44x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	125ms 164ms 243ms	126ms 167ms 235ms	114ms 136ms 196ms	175ms 213ms 367ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	6% 13% 22% 42%	3% 7% 12% 23%	5% 8% 15% 25%	7% 12% 22% 41%

Verbatim DVD+R DL

The DX-4O1S performance was very similar to what we saw with DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-R DL media. The drive read DVD+R discs at 12x and both DVD+RW and DVD+R DL media at 8x.

CD Speed v4.7.7.7 - DVD-Video:

For these tests I am using the US version of Transformers: The Movie on DVD. The disc is over 4GB and single sided.

 

	Lite-On DX-4O1S	Lite-On DH-4O1S	LG GGC-H20L	ASUS BC-1205PT
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	9.09x 5.04x 12.15x	9.09x 5.05x 12.16x	6.06x 3.36x 8.11x	3.89x 2.15x 5.20x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	112ms 128ms 209ms	111ms 128ms 212ms	194ms 237ms 330ms	176ms 208ms 353ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	6% 12% 22% 42%	3% 7% 13% 22%	5% 7% 18% 25%	7% 13% 26% n/a

The DX-4O1S didn't slow down very much when reading single layer DVD videos. It started out at about 5.04x and reached a maximum read speed of 12.15x. Lite-On's new drive was also fairly quick when reading dual layer discs. By looking at the screenshot below, you can see that the drive's transfer speeds peaked at about 8x.

To see how well Lite-On's new drive worked as a DVD player, I watched a few scenes from Transformers: The Movie and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace using the bundled version of PowerDVD. The DX-4O1S had no problems playing back either movie and was fairly quiet.

CD Speed v4.7.7.7 - BD-ROM:

To test the DX-4O1S's BD-ROM reading performance, I used the Blu-ray Disc version of The Fifth Element. This single layer disc is about 23GB in size.

 

	Lite-On DX-4O1S	Lite-On DH-4O1S	LG GGC-H20L	ASUS BC-1205PT
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	3.18x 1.77x 4.24x	3.18x 1.77x 4.24x	3.61x 2.01x 4.82x	3.91x 2.19x 5.22x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	102ms 153ms 240ms	102ms 158ms 236ms	118ms 175ms 228ms	79ms 207ms 360ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 3% 5%	0% 1% 2% 3%	0% 1% 1% 2%	0% 1% 3% 6%

The DX-4O1S performed relatively well when reading BD-ROM discs. While not as fast as the drives from LG and ASUS, it reached a maximum transfer speed of 4.24x.

Lite-On's external BD-ROM drive had no problems playing back The Fifth Element and The Simpsons Movie using the bundled version of PowerDVD. Just keep in mind that if your monitor is connected to your video card using DVI or HDMI, both need to be HDCP compliant to play AACS protected titles. If not, you can still play them by switching the connection to VGA or using software like SlySoft's AnyDVD HD.

CD Speed v4.7.7.7 - BD-R and BD-RE:

Next we'll look at the drive's BD-R and BD-RE reading performance. For this I created a few data discs using BD-R and BD-RE media from Memorex and Sony and then ran our BD read tests with CD Speed.

Memorex BD-R
 

	Lite-On DX-4O1S	Lite-On DH-4O1S	LG GGC-H20L	ASUS BC-1205PT
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	3.19x 1.82x 4.24x	3.19x 1.82x 4.24x	4.55x 2.57x 6.04x	3.93x 2.24x 5.22x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	101ms 169ms 270ms	100ms 164ms 270ms	135ms 182ms 230ms	91ms 226ms 381ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 2% 5%	0% 1% 1% 3%	0% 1% 2% 3%	0% 1% 2% 5%

Memorex BD-RE

	Lite-On DX-4O1S	Lite-On DH-4O1S	LG GGC-H20L	ASUS BC-1205PT
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	3.19x 1.82x 4.24x	3.19x 1.82x 4.24x	2.30x 2.29x 2.30x	3.93x 2.24x 5.22x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	100ms 164ms 276ms	104ms 170ms 268ms	157ms 255ms 404ms	93ms 230ms 377ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 2% 6%	0% 1% 2% 3%	0% 1% 2% 2%	0% 1% 2% 5%

Sony BD-R DL

Lite-On's new drive had no problems reading BD-R, BD-RE and BD-R DL media. In all three cases, the DX-4O1S reached a maximum transfer speed of 4.24x.

Performance Revisited:

Like its internal counterpart, the DX-4O1S performed as expected throughout most of our tests. Lite-On's external BD-ROM drive had no problems playing back Blu-ray movies and read both single and dual layer BD media at 4x. The DX-4O1S also had some fairly good seek times and was able to read read single layer DVD's and DVD±R media at 12x and both data and audio CD's at speeds as high as 32x. With all things considered, the Lite-On DX-4O1S gets a solid 8 out of 10 for the performance section of this review.

Earlier this year, I reviewed Lite-On's internal BD-ROM drive, the DH-4O1S. While not the fastest or most feature packed drive to come through the 'Labs, it offered Blu-ray Disc playback at an affordable price. The DX-4O1S delivers much of the same, but this time, in a stylish, external package. Using the bundled software, this read-only drive played all of the Blu-ray movies I had on hand, including those protected by BD+. The DX-4O1S also did fairly well in our transfer rate tests, reading BD-ROM's as well as BD-R and BD-RE media at 4x.

Lite-On's external drive was also relatively quick when reading DVD's. In our tests, the DX-4O1S was able to read single layer DVD-ROM's and DVD-Videos at 12x and had some very good seek times. It also read DVD±R discs at 12x but slowed to 8x when reading DVD±RW and DVD±R DL media. Reading CD's wasn't a problem for the DX-4O1S either. However, with a maximum read speed of only 32x, it definitely won't win any speed contests.

In the end, it usually comes down to price. The DX-4O1S is currently the most affordable external Blu-ray drive on the market. Prices vary depending on the seller, but the DX-4O1S can be picked up for less than $160 on Pricegrabber.

Highs:

• Reads BD-ROM's and BD-R/RE media at 4x
• Reads single layer DVD-ROM's at 12x
• Reads DVD±R media at 12x
• Reads DVD±RW and DVD±R DL media at 8x
• Reads DVD-RAM media at 5x
• 8MB buffer
• Low seek times
• Can do write quality testing with BD media
• Includes software from CyberLink
• Nice looking design with blue LED
• Easy to install thanks to USB 2.0 interface
• Affordably priced

Lows:

• Reads CD's at only 32x