Lite-On iHES208 8x Blu-ray Combo Drive

Nero CD Speed v4.7.7.16 - BD-ROM:

To test the iHES208'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 iHES208	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S	LG GGW-H20L
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	6.05x 3.38x 8.08x	3.62x 2.02x 4.83x	6.99x 4.14x 7.99x	3.61x 2.01x 4.82x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	71ms 188ms 253ms	93ms 4ms 3ms	91ms 171ms 479ms	117ms 175ms 223ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 0% 1% 3%	0% 0% 1% 2%	0% 0% 1% 2%	0% 1% 1% 2%

The iHES208 performed very well when reading single layer BD-ROM discs. In our tests, it started reading at 3.38x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 8.08x. Unfortunately, the drive wasn't nearly as fast when reading dual layer BD-ROM's. Looking at the screenshot below, you can see that the iHES208 reached a maximum transfer speed of only 4x.

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 Panasonic and then ran our BD read tests with CD Speed.

Memorex BD-R
 

	Lite-On iHES208	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S	LG GGW-H20L
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	4.59x 2.62x 6.10x	6.09x 3.47x 8.08x	7.02x 4.25x 7.98x	4.55x 2.58x 6.04x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	91ms 195ms 291ms	104ms 4ms 3ms	95ms 165ms 464ms	121ms 167ms 217ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 1% 3%	0% 0% 1% 2%	0% 1% 1% 2%	0% 0% 2% 2%

Memorex BD-RE

	Lite-On iHES208	LG BH08LS20	Sony BWU-300S	LG GGW-H20L
Transfer Speed Average: Start: End:	4.59x 2.62x 6.10x	3.64x 2.07x 4.84x	2.00x 1.99x 2.00x	2.30x 2.29x 2.30x
Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full:	88ms 184ms 273ms	116ms 4ms 3ms	101ms 219ms 391ms	150ms 263ms 766ms
CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x:	0% 1% 1% 3%	0% 0% 1% 2%	0% 1% 2% 4%	0% 1% 2% 2%

Panasonic 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 iHES208 was able to read both BD-R and BD-RE media at 6x and BD-R DL discs at 4x.

Performance Revisited:

While Lite-On's new BD combo drive had a few rough spots, it performed as expected throughout most of our tests. The iHES208 had no problems playing back Blu-ray movies and reached some impressive speeds when reading single layer BD-ROM's and BD-R/RE media. The drive also did reasonably well in our CD and DVD read tests. Along with some fairly good seek times, it read CD's at speeds as high at 48x and single layer data DVD's and DVD±R media at 16x. When it came to writing CD's and DVD's, the iHES208 held its own throughout most of our tests. However, there were writing quality issues with some CD-R and DVD±R DL media. With all things considered, the Lite-On iHES208 gets a 7 out of 10 for the performance section of this review.