Lite-On eNAU608 8x USB 2.0 DVD±RW/RAM

DVD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero Burning Rom 9.4.26.0 and Drag-to-Disc 9.0:

To test the DVD writing performance of Lite-On's new drive I used Verbatim 16x DVD+R, 16x DVD-R, 6x DVD-RW and 8x DVD+RW media. To get the writing times, a 4.38GB image was burned to our test discs using Nero.

The eNAU608 uses P-CAV, or Partial CAV, when writing to DVD+R and DVD-R media at 8x. By looking at the screenshots above, you can see that Lite-On's new drive starts writing at 3.48x and accelerates, reaching its maximum speed at about the 4GB minute mark.

The eNAU608 also features 8x DVD+RW and 6x DVD-RW writing speeds. In both cases, the drive uses Z-CLV to reach its maximum writing speed.

The eNAU608 performed as expected in our DVD writing tests. While not as fast as some of the internal DVD writers we've looked at recently, it turned in some respectable times with DVD±R and DVD±RW media.

To check the media compatibility of the eNAU608, I ran a few tests using some of the media available in my area. The media types, along with the average time it took the drive to write our 4.38GB image, are listed below.

So what about writing quality? Thanks to KProbe, we can test a disc's PI (Parity Inner) and PIF (Parity Inner Fail) rates. For these tests I used a Lite-On SHM-165H6S (firmware HS0E) and read the discs at 4x with the PI and PIF ECC sums set to 8 and 1 respectively. For comparison, I also tested the discs on a BenQ DW1640. When combined with Nero CD Speed, the DW1640 is able to report PI Errors, PI Failures, Parity Outer Failures and even jitter levels. For this test, the discs are read at 8x with both the PI and PIF ECC sums set to 8.

So what are "good" results supposed to look like? With KProbe, the PI errors should not exceed 280 and the number of PIF errors should stay below 4. When testing with CD Speed, the number of PI errors should stay below 280 as well. However, because it scans with an ECC sum of 8, a higher number of PIF errors is acceptable, as long as they do not exceed 32. Since POF errors are uncorrectable, we really don't want to see any of them at all.

I also put these discs through a "stress test" by reading them back at 16x with the DW1640. By reading these discs back at this speed, we can see if there are any readability issues caused by the number of errors or high levels of jitter. 

The eNAU608's writing quality was pretty good with most of the DVD+R media we tested. Aside from a few small spikes, the PI/PIF rates stayed within acceptable limits.

Lastly, here are some results from our DVD-R test media. While the writing quality varied from one manufacturer to another, the results were fairly good for the most part.

To test the eNAU608's packet writing performance I used Drag-to-Disc 9.0. Verbatim 6x DVD-RW, Verbatim 8x DVD+RW and Maxell 5x DVD-RAM media were used once again.

Double Layer DVD Write Tests - Nero Burning Rom 9.4.26.0:

To test the double layer DVD writing performance of the eNAU608, I used DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media from Verbatim and RiDATA. I created about 8GB of random files and directories on my hard drive and then burned them to our test discs with Nero.

The eNAU608 performed relatively well when writing to DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media. Thanks to its 6x writing speed, the drive took 27:53 to write 8001MB of data to DVD+R DL media and 29:13 to do the same with DVD-R DL discs. So what about writing quality? Take a look below.

The eNAU608's writing quality wasn't as good as I had expected with Verbatim's DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media. Looking at the screenshots above, you can see that the error rates were a very high throughout some sections of the discs. In the case of Verbatim's 8x DVD-R DL media, there were also a small number of PO Failures which caused some readability problems.

Performance Revisited:

While Lite-On's new portable DVD writer had a few rough spots, it performed as expected throughout most of our tests. The eNAU608 turned in some relatively good times when writing to DVD±R, DVD±RW and DVD±R DL media. Writing quality was an issue though, as the PI/PIF rates were quite high with DVD±R DL discs. Nevertheless, the eNAU608 was fairly quick when reading DVD's.  In our tests, the eNAU608 was able to read data and video DVD-ROM's as well as most recordable media at 8x. 

The eNAU608 also did fairly well in our CD read tests. While its access times were a little higher than I would have liked, the drive read both data and audio CD's at speeds as high as 24x. Writing CD's wasn't a problem for the eNAU608 either. For a portable drive, it turned in some respectable writing times and the writing quality was quite good. With all of these things considered, the Lite-On eNAU608 gets a solid 8 out of 10 for its performance.