Lite-On eSEU206 Portable 6x Blu-ray Disc Combo Drive

Model: Lite-On eSEU206 Portable 6x Blu-ray Disc Combo Drive
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 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 growing popularity of ultraportable notebook and netbook computers, Lite-On has set its sights on the portable optical drive market. This past fall, the company introduced its first external slim Blu-ray combo drive, the eSEU206. This lightweight, USB-powered drive is capable of 8x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 4x DVD±R DL and 5x DVD-RAM writing speeds and can read Blu-ray Discs at speeds as high as 6x. The eSEU206 also offers support for HP's LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling system as well as Lite-On's own SMART technologies. To top it all off, the drive comes with CyberLink's Blu-ray Disc Suite which includes software capable of playing back Blu-ray movies in 3D.

Needless to say, this is only a taste of what Lite-On's new BD combo drive has to offer. Over the next few pages we'll take a look at the eSEU206's features and then put it through its paces to see how it performs. Is the eSEU206 the best choice for the person on the go? Read on as we find out.

What's in the box?:

• Lite-On eSEU206 Portable 6x Blu-ray Disc Combo Drive
• Quick Installation Guide
• Software CD
• USB Y Cable

Physical Features:

The drive Lite-On sent us for this review was manufactured in July of 2011 and had firmware UL15. For this review I used firmware version UL16.

While not the smallest Blu-ray combo drive to come through the 'Labs, the eSEU206 is still very compact and lightweight. Measuring 145 x 21 x 155.8 mm and weighing in at a mere 350g, it easily fits in a laptop bag or briefcase.

The body of the eSEU206 is made out of silver plastic with a brushed metallic finish. There's also a strip of black plastic around two of the edges which has a rubberized coating. This makes it a little easier to hang onto the drive when moving it around.

The LED and eject button are located along the front of the eSEU206. This LED lights up green when both reading and writing. You can also see a few logos showing support for Blu-ray and LightScribe as well as the DVD+ReWritable and DVD Multi specifications.

Along the rear, you can see the eSEU206's USB 2.0 interface. This connector not only transfers data but provides power for the drive.

Like many portable drives, the eSEU206 comes with a USB Y cable, which lets you draw power from two USB ports instead of just one. I'm not really sure what Lite-On was thinking when they designed the one for the eSEU206, but they chose some very odd lengths. Despite the fact that there is nearly 20 inches of cable between the two Type A connectors, there is only 8 inches of cable between the first Type A connector and the mini-USB connector. As a result, the drive needs to be placed very close to the computer.

Technical Specs:

Most of the specs below have been taken from Lite-On's website and the manual that came with the drive.

LightScribe:

Like many of Lite-On's drives, the eSEU206 features support for LightScribe technology.  Developed by HP, LightScribe lets you burn durable, silk screen quality labels directly onto your CD's and DVD's using the same drive that burned the data. According to HP, it's as simple as burning the data, flipping the disc, and then burning the label.

Of course you can't do this with just any drive, media or software. While LightScribe capable drives use the same laser when burning both the data and label, they have to be able to accurately control the laser's focus and position as well as the spindle speed. They also must be able to recognize LightScribe media. These special discs have a thin dye coating on the label side that absorbs laser light. This triggers a chemical reaction that produces a color change, allowing the user to print text, artwork or graphics.

Even if you have a LightScribe capable drive and media, you will need software that supports it. Most major software companies have pledged support for the technology. However, at the time of this review, the list of compatible software is still relatively short. For the eSEU206, Lite-On turned to CyberLink. Using the bundled LabelPrint software you can create and burn LightScribe disc labels.

Once you've created your LightScribe label, you're ready to print it. Before you can do this though, you will need to choose the contrast. Keep in mind this option not only changes the level of detail, it also affects the amount of time it takes to print the label. The higher the quality, the longer the process will take.

The eSEU206 features what Lite-On calls SmartWrite technology. Previously known as HyperTuning, SmartWrite automatically creates writing strategies for unknown, or unsupported, DVD±R and DVD±R DL media. Simply enable SmartWrite, insert your disc and burn. The new writing strategy is then created on-the-fly.

SmartWrite also works with supported media. When enabled, the drive will ignore the writing strategy stored in the firmware and instead create a new one. This is very useful if you are trying to record a disc that uses another company's MID code (I.E. fake TYG02 code discs).

OverSpeed:

The eSEU206 supports Lite-On's OverSpeed function. When enabled, the drive will try to write to your DVD±R media at a speed higher than what would normally be supported. To do this, OverSpeed relies heavily on SmartWrite. When a disc is written at a higher than normal speed, SmartWrite will automatically create a new writing strategy for it.

More Features:

By looking at the picture below, you can see that Lite-On's new DVD writer is identified as a "Slimtype eSEU206 2."

Nero also shows that the eSEU206 has a maximum CD writing speed of 24x and a 2048KB buffer. This buffer is also backed up by SMART-BURN buffer underrun protection. According to Nero, the eSEU206 can also write CD-Text and overburn. When testing the drive's capacity, it had no problems overburning up to 99 minutes with our CompUSA media. 

Using Alex Noe's Weak Sector Utility we were able to determine that the eSEU206 is a "two sheep" burner and is capable of backing titles protected by SafeDisc 2.90. Like most drives, it did not pass the "three sheep" test.

Here is a screen shot from Erik Deppe's Opti Drive Control. Among other things, this program queries the drive to see what its reading and writing capabilities are. Opti Drive Control had no problems detecting the eSEU206's reading and writing speeds and supported disc types.

Opti Drive Control also shows that the eSEU206 is an RPC-2 DVD drive. This means that the drive's region is stored in the firmware. The 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, there is a utility available that can make the drive region free.

While InfoTool gives us a quick glance at the eSEU206's features, DVDINFOpro provides a little more information on some of the drive's reading and writing capabilities.  By looking at the screenshot above you can see that Lite-On's new drive can read and write to most DVD formats and read back BD-R, BD-RE and BD-ROM discs.

The eSEU206 also supports a feature called "bitsetting." Using Nero, CD Speed or Lite-On's BookType Utility, you can set the book type for DVD+R, DVD+RW and DVD+R DL media. By doing so, your recorded discs will identify themselves as "DVD-ROM." This feature comes in handy if you have an older DVD player that has problems playing recordable media.

For the eSEU206's software bundle, Lite-On has turned to CyberLink. The CD that comes with the drive contains the CyberLink Blu-ray Disc Suite which includes PowerProducer, PowerDirector, Power2Go, PowerBackup, LabelPrint, and PowerDVD.

CyberLink PowerProducer 5 - With CyberLink's PowerProducer you can create your own movie discs quickly and easily. Right from the start, this wizard based software gives you a number of options to select from. From here you can choose to produce a new movie disc, edit an existing one or record video directly to DVD or BD.

PowerProducer lets you create a number of different movie discs. Looking at the menu below, you can choose to create a CD, DVD, or Blu-ray Disc. The software also supports various disc capacities and formats including DVD-VR, DVD+VR and BDAV.

While you can capture your own video, PowerProducer gives you the ability to import video files in a number of different formats. Once added to your production, you can use the built-in editor to trim, merge or split your video clips. PowerProducer also allows you to set chapters within the video content and add your own custom menus, backgrounds, fonts and titles.

You can also use PowerDirector's "Magic" editing tools to clean up video clips and images, condense long video segments and apply pre-designed style templates. When you're done editing your video, you have the option to save it to your hard drive, create a streaming file, write it back to DV tape, make a disc or upload it to YouTube.

CyberLink Power2Go 6 - Power2Go is the main disc burning program included with the eSEU206. With this software, users can create various types of CD's, DVD's and BD's or make backups of existing discs. Power2Go also offers enhanced security features, allowing you to password protect and encrypt the names of files on your discs.

While small in size, the Lite-On's new portable BD combo drive delivers an impressive number of features. Along with a great looking design, the eSEU206 offers some of the fastest reading and writing speeds available on a portable unit. The drive is capable of 8x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 6x DVD±R DL and 5x DVD-RAM writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 8x. More importantly, it can read Blu-ray Discs at speeds as high as 6x. The eSEU206 also features support for LightScribe as well as many of the technologies we've come to expect from Lite-On, including more advanced ones like SmartWrite and OverSpeed. With all this, it's easy to see why the Lite-On eSEU206 gets the full 10 points for its features.

Lite-On's new portable BD combo 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. 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 eSEU206 comes with a CD full of software from CyberLink. If you have autorun enabled, 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 click on the "Install CyberLink BD Suite" button. After selecting your preferred language and entering your customer information, you'll be presented with a list of components to choose from.

From here you can choose to install the LabelPrint, Power2Go, PowerBackup, PowerDirector, PowerDVD or PowerProducer . To complete the installation, select the components you want and click next a few more times. Once the files are copied over, you can start burning your own discs.

The Documentation:

The bulk of the eSEU206's documentation is located on the software CD in electronic format. Similar to the ones included with Lite-On's other drives, the "User's Manual" covers a number of topics. It starts out by getting the user familiarized with their new portable BD combo drive. The first section goes over the eSEU206's supported formats, recording modes, 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 eSEU206. The instructions are pretty brief since there really isn't much to do other than plug in the USB cable and turn the computer on. Nevertheless, Lite-On has provided a few diagrams showing how the drive should be hooked up. The manual continues on by going over the basic operation of the eSEU206. Along with information on how to use and maintain the drive, it includes instructions to create and burn your own LightScribe labeled discs. Last but not least, there is a short troubleshooting section containing a list of common problems as well as their solutions.

Lite-On's portable BD combo drive also comes with a "Quick Installation Guide." This fold out guide takes the user step by step through the installation process. While a little short on words, there are plenty of diagrams showing what to do. For most people, the "Quick Installation Guide" will be all they'll need to get the eSEU206 up and running.

For ease of installation, the eSEU206 is hard to beat. Thanks to its bus-powered, USB 2.0 interface, it's as simple as plugging in a single cable. If you do run into trouble, the documentation Lite-On has provided is more than sufficient. With this in mind, the eSEU206 scores a solid 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 Blu-ray Disc Combo drives, the performance tests are normally broken down into five sections: CD read, CD write, DVD read, DVD write and BD read. Each benchmark test has been run three times. The score given is an average of the three.

CD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the CD-ROM benchmarks, CD Speed v4.7.7.16 is  used to test read speeds, access times and CPU usage. For DAE testing, CD Speed is used to give an overall speed rating.

CD Write Tests: To test the write speeds, Nero Burning Rom is used to write 650MB and 700MB to our test media. Times are recorded. To test rewrite scores, Nero is used again to time how long it takes to write 400MB of random files and directories. Then CyberLink's InstantBurn is used to test packet writing speeds. The same files are copied and pasted in Windows Explorer and timed.

DVD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the DVD benchmarks CD Speed v4.7.7.16 is used to test read speeds, access times, and CPU usage.

DVD Write Tests: To test the DVD write speeds, Nero Burning Rom is used to write a 4.38GB image to our test media. Times are recorded. Then CyberLink's InstantBurn is used to test packet writing speeds. For this, 4GB of random files and directories are copied and pasted in Windows Explorer and timed.

BD Read Tests: For the read performance section of the BD benchmarks, CD Speed v4.7.7.16 is used to test read speeds, access times, and CPU usage.

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - 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.

 

The eSEU206 performed as expected when reading pressed CD's. The drive started reading at 18.17x and quickly accelerated, reaching a maximum transfer speed of 24.03x.

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - 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.

The eSEU206's average speed was slightly higher when reading CD-R media. It also had no problems recognizing our 99 minute CompUSA media. The eSEU206 read our test disc from start to finish, reaching a maximum transfer speed of 26.50x.

 

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - 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.

 

The eSEU206 also reads CD-RW media at 24x. As you can see, it had no problems reaching this speed in our tests.

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 (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 eSEU206 supports accurate stream, caches audio data and has the ability to retrieve C2 error information from audio CD's.

 

For a portable drive, the eSEU206 did very well in our DAE tests. The drive started out at 10.88x and reached a maximum speed of 24.25x.

CD Speed v4.7.7.16 (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 I used in the CD Speed tests.

The eSEU206 was a little slower when extracting audio from CD-R media. This time around, it reached a maximum DAE speed of 23.98x. So how did it do in CD Speed's advanced DAE tests? Take a look below.

Lite-On's portable BD combo drive completed CD Speed's advanced DAE tests with an average score of 17.29x. While the drive was able to go through 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 eSEU206 was able to read the CD-Text, subchannel data and lead in, but failed to read the lead out section of the CD.

CD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero Burning Rom 9.4.26.0 and InstantBurn 5:

For this test I randomly generated 700MB of files and directories to test the time it takes the drive to write and close a CD. All of the files are between 1MB and 25MB in size and no more than 10 directories deep. All of the times below include not only the actual writing time, but the lead in and out times too. This gives a more realistic idea of how long it takes to write a CD.

The eSEU206 has a maximum CD writing speed of 24x. To reach this speed, it uses P-CAV, or Partial Constant Angular Velocity. By looking at the screenshot, you can see that the drive starts writing at 10.98x and accelerates, reaching its maximum speed at about the 72 minute mark. This gave Lite-On's new drive an average writing speed of about 18.74x.

To test the drive's writing times,  I wrote our test data to some Taiyo Yuden media rated at 52x. The results are below.

The eSEU206 took a little more than five minutes to write an entire 701MB CD. While most of the internal writers we've looked at lately can do this in half the time, this is pretty good for a portable drive.

To test the drive's writing quality I used Nero CD Speed. This utility can be used to test the number of C1 and C2 errors as well as the jitter level on a disc. For these tests I used a Lite-On LTR-52327S and read the discs at 32x. 

HP 52x (CMC)

MBI 52x

Taiyo Yuden 52x

The eSEU206's writing quality was very good. By looking at the screenshots, you can see that the discs burned by the drive had a low number of C1 errors. More importantly, there were no C2 errors at all. 

For the rewriting tests I created 400MB of files on the hard drive and wrote them in DAO mode using Nero. To test the packet writing speeds I copied and pasted the same files off the hard drive onto a CD-RW disc using InstantBurn from CyberLink. Verbatim's 24x Ultra Speed CD-RW media was used for these tests.

While the eSEU206 uses P-CAV when writing to CD-R discs, it uses Z-CLV, or Zone CLV, when rewriting at 24x. By looking at the screenshot above, you can see that it uses a total of three "zones" to reach its maximum speed. The drive starts writing at 10x and jumps to 16x at about the 18 minute mark. The eSEU206 writes at this speed until about the 65 minute mark. When it reaches this point, its writing speed increases to 24x and stays there until the end of the session.

Lite-On's portable Blu-ray combo drive did fairly well in our rewriting tests. The drive took 4:10 to write 400MB with Nero and 3:58 to do the same with InstantBurn.

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - DVD-ROM:

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

 

The eSEU206 performed pretty well when reading single layer DVD-ROM's. In our tests it started reading at 3.28x and reached a maximum transfer speed of about 8.00x.

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-RAM:

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 disc using some general use 8x DVD-R and 6x 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
 

	Transfer Speed			Access Times			CPU Usage
	Average	Start	End	Random	1/3	Full	1x	2x	4x	8x
Lite-On eSEU206	6.19x	3.44x	8.27x	153ms	180ms	264ms	9%	16%	28%	56%

Verbatim DVD-RW

	Transfer Speed			Access Times			CPU Usage
	Average	Start	End	Random	1/3	Full	1x	2x	4x	8x
Lite-On eSEU206	6.19x	3.43x	8.28x	152ms	182ms	267ms	10%	17%	31%	58%

Verbatim DVD-R DL

	Transfer Speed			Access Times			CPU Usage
	Average	Start	End	Random	1/3	Full	1x	2x	4x	8x
Lite-On eSEU206	4.60x	2.56x	6.13x	147ms	166ms	274ms	8%	18%	n/a	n/a

The eSEU206 had no problems reading DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-R DL media. In our tests, the drive was able to read DVD-R and DVD-RW media at 8x, but slowed to 6x when reading DVD-R DL discs.

Maxell 5x DVD-RAM
 

	Transfer Speed			Access Times			CPU Usage
	Average	Start	End	Random	1/3	Full	1x	2x	4x	8x
Lite-On eSEU206	4.66x	3.00x	5.03x	154ms	172ms	285ms	8%	15%	27%	n/a

Lite-On's new drive has a maximum transfer speed of 5x when reading DVD-RAM discs. By looking at the screenshot you can see that it starts reading at 3x and then accelerates, reaching 5x at about the 1.6GB mark. 

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - 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 disc using some 8x DVD+R and 8x DVD+RW media from Verbatim. I then ran our usual DVD read tests with CD Speed. The results are below.

Verbatim DVD+R
 

	Transfer Speed			Access Times			CPU Usage
	Average	Start	End	Random	1/3	Full	1x	2x	4x	8x
Lite-On eSEU206	6.19x	3.43x	8.27x	153ms	175ms	263ms	9%	16%	29%	57%

Verbatim DVD+RW

	Transfer Speed			Access Times			CPU Usage
	Average	Start	End	Random	1/3	Full	1x	2x	4x	8x
Lite-On eSEU206	6.21x	3.45x	8.30x	150ms	178ms	265ms	10%	17%	31%	57%

Verbatim DVD+R DL

The eSEU206's performance was very similar to what we saw with DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-R DL media. The drive read DVD+R and DVD+RW media at 8x and DVD+R DL discs at 6x.

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - 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.

 

	Transfer Speed			Access Times			CPU Usage
	Average	Start	End	Random	1/3	Full	1x	2x	4x	8x
Lite-On eSEU206	5.93x	3.26x	7.92x	126ms	152ms	250ms	13%	16%	28%	80%

The eSEU206 didn't slow down very much when reading single layer DVD videos. It started out at about 3.26x and reached a maximum read speed of 7.92x. Lite-On's new drive was also relatively quick when reading dual layer discs. By looking at the screenshot below, you can see that its transfer speeds peaked at about 6x.

To see how well the eSEU206 worked as a DVD player, I watched a few scenes from Transformers: The Movie and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith using the bundled version of PowerDVD. The drive had no problems playing back these movies and was fairly quiet.

DVD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero Burning Rom 9.4.26.0 and InstantBurn 5:

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 eSEU206 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 about 3.45x and accelerates, reaching its maximum speed at the 4GB mark.

The eSEU206 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 eSEU206 performed as expected in our DVD writing tests. While not as fast as some of the internal Blu-ray drives 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 eSEU206, 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? Using CD Speed we can test a disc's PI (Parity Inner), PIF (Parity Inner Fail) and Jitter rates. For these tests I used a Lite-On iHAS424 and read the discs at 8x with the PI and PIF ECC sums set to 8 and 1 respectively.

So what are "good" results supposed to look like? When testing with the iHAS424, the PI errors should not exceed 280 and the number of PIF errors should stay below 4. 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. 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 eSEU206'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 eSEU206's packet writing performance I used InstantBurn 5. 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 eSEU206, I used 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 eSEU206 performed as expected when writing to DVD+R DL media. In our tests, the drive took 27:47 to write 8001MB of data to Verbatim's 8x DVD+R DL discs. So what about writing quality? Take a look below.

The eSEU206's writing quality was pretty good with Verbatim's 8x DVD+R DL media. The PI/PIF rates stayed within acceptable limits and there weren't any readability problems. The results were also fairly good with RiDATA's 8x DVD+R DL media. However, there was a large PI/PIF spike where the writing speed dropped from 4x down to 2.4x.

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - BD-ROM:

To test the eSEU206'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.

 

The eSEU206 performed relatively well when reading single layer BD-ROM discs. In our tests, it started reading at 2.60x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 6.23x.

Lite-On's BD combo 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.

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - 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 single layer BD-R and BD-RE media from Memorex and TDK and then ran our BD read tests with CD Speed.

TDK BD-R DL

Lite-On's new drive had no problems reading BD-R, BD-RE and BD-R DL media. In our tests, the eSEU206 read BD-R discs at 6x and both BD-RE and BD-R DL media at 4x.

Performance Revisited:

Lite-On's new portable BD combo drive performed pretty well throughout most of our tests. The eSEU206 had no problems playing back Blu-ray movies and was relatively quick when reading BD-R, BD-RE and BD-R DL media. The drive also did reasonably well in our CD and DVD read tests. It read CD's at speeds as high at 24x and single layer DVD's at 8x. Writing CD's and DVD's wasn't a problem for the eSEU206 either. For a portable drive, it turned in some respectable times and the writing quality was fairly good for the most part. With all of these things considered, the Lite-On eSEU206  gets a solid 9 out of 10 for its performance.

The eSEU206 is a good example of what we've come to expect from Lite-On's portable optical drives. Along with a good looking design, this compact and versatile BD combo drive offers a long list of features as well as some of the fastest reading and writing speeds available on a portable unit.

Using the bundled software, the eSEU206 played all of the Blu-ray movies I had on hand, including those protected by BD+ and with BD-Live enabled features. The drive also performed fairly well in our transfer rate tests, reading single layer BD-ROM's and BD-R discs at 6x and BD-RE and BD-R DL media at a respectable 4x.

For a portable drive, the eSEU206 performed very well when writing to DVD±R discs, taking less than 11 minutes to burn an entire 4.7GB DVD.  It also turned in some respectable times when writing to other types of media and its writing quality was fairly good, even with DVD+R DL discs. When it came to reading DVD's, the eSEU206 was able to read single layer DVD-ROM's and DVD-Videos as well as DVD±R and DVD±RW media at 8x.

Reading CD's wasn't a problem for the eSEU206 either. In our tests, it read pressed and recordable CD media at speeds as high as 24x. This level of performance carried over to our DAE tests, where the drive ripped audio CD's at 24x. As a writer, the eSEU206 performed as expected. The drive was relatively quick when writing to CD-R and CD-RW media and its writing quality was quite good.

When it comes to features, Lite-On's new BD combo drive definitely delivers. A truly portable drive, the eSEU206 is powered completely off a computer's USB bus. Without the need for an AC power source, you can burn and play DVD's wherever you go. The drive also includes support for Lite-On's SMART technologies as well as HP's LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling system. Last but not least, Lite-On has included a great software bundle from CyberLink.

The Lite-On eSEU206 is available now and can be purchased from Amazon or the retailers listed on Pricegrabber for less than $110.

Highs:

• Reads single layer BD-ROM's and BD-R media at 6x
• Reads BD-RE and BD-R DL media at 4x
• Writes to DVD-R and DVD+R media at 8x
• Writes to DVD+RW media at 8x
• Writes to DVD-RW media at 6x
• Reads single layer DVD-ROM's at 8x
• Reads DVD±R media at 8x
• Reads DVD±RW and DVD±R DL media at 6x
• Reads and writes to DVD-RAM media at 5x
• Features 24x CD-R and 24x CD-RW writing speeds
• Good CD and DVD writing quality
• Supports SMART-BURN, SMART-X, SmartWrite and OverSpeed technologies
• Compact and lightweight design
• Powered off the USB bus
• Supports bitsetting for DVD+R/RW and DVD+R DL media
• Includes CyberLink Blu-ray Disc Suite
• Supports LightScribe technology
• Affordably priced

Lows:

• Poorly designed USB cable
• Writes to DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media at only 4x