X-bit labs

Three DVD-RW Drives from LG and Sony

Category: Storage

by Andrey Kuznetcov

[ 02/07/2005 | 12:27 PM ]

Today we are going to test three DVD-burners, one of which aspires after the title of the "most universal" due to its support of the whole variety of existing media formats. Let’s check out these babies right now!

Table of contents:

• Testing Participants
  
• LG GSA-4082B
  
• LG GSA-4160B
  
• Sony DW-D22A
  
• Testbed and Methods
  
• Nero Info Tool and DVDINFOPro
  
• Performance in CD WinBench 99
  
• Performance in Nero CD-DVD Speed: Basic Tests (CD)
  
• Performance in Nero CD-DVD Speed: Basic DVD Tests (DVD)
  
• Performance in Nero CD-DVD Speed: Advanced DAE Quality Test
  
• Performance in Nero CD-DVD Speed: Advanced DAE Error Correction Test
  
• Performance in Nero CD DAE
  
• Performance in Exact Audio Copy
  
• Performance in Nero Burning ROM
  
• Performance in Nero CD-DVD Speed: CD Quality Test
  
• Conclusion
  

Testing Participants

LG GSA-4082B

let's take a closer look at this product.

The drive produced by the joint venture Hitachi-LG Data Storage has a memorable appearance due to the exclusive design of the front panel. The manufacturer’s logo and the symbols denoting the class of the device are put on the front of the tray. An eject button and a LED indicator are found under the tray. The bottom part of the front panel is made of violet plastic – yet another distinctive feature of this model. On top of the case there are some pressed-out grooves that add robustness to the device. The traditional set of power and interface connectors, digital and analog audio outputs, plus a jumper for selecting the device’s status on the IDE channel, are located at the drive’s rear panel.

As for the “most-universal-drive” claim, we want to clarify what it means. We’ve got used to DVD±RW drives, but here the manufacturer itself calls the device a DVD-RAM drive, since the LG GSA-4082B is among the few devices available in the market that support almost all media formats – of both DVD and CD varieties. So, here’s a full list: DVD-RAM, DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD-ROM, CD-R/RW, CD-ROM Mode 1,2, CD-DA, CD-I FMV, CD-ROM XA, Mixed CD, CD Extra, CD Text, CD-Plus, Photo CD, Video CD.

The drive offers the following maximum read speeds: 32x CD-ROM and CD-R, 24x CD-RW, 12x DVD-ROM, 8x DVD-R/+R, 8x DVD-R/RW, and 3x DVD-RAM. The max write speeds are as follows: 24x CD-R, 16x CD-RW, 8x DVD+R and DVD-R, 4x DVD+RW and DVD-RW, and 3x DVD-RAM. The drive is equipped with a 2MB buffer. The declared access time is 125 milliseconds for CD-ROM, 145 milliseconds for DVD-ROM, and 165 milliseconds for DVD-RAM media. The drive supports the E-IDE/ATAPI interface and can be placed horizontally as well as vertically. The device’s dimensions are 146 x 184.7 x 41.3 mm; its weight is 920 gram. Among the supported technologies, a buffer underrun protection is listed, of course.

The manufacturer’s recommended retail price is $78.