X-bit labs

MSI DR16-B2 DVD±RW Dual Layer Burner: Repeated Success or New Heights? (page 10)

Category: Storage

by Vasily Melnik

[ 09/27/2005 | 09:43 PM ]

Performance during Damaged CD-ROM Disc Reading

The CD-related part of the review is traditionally concluded with a test of the error-correction logic of the drive. We use a low-quality, scratched CD-ROM for that.

The MSI DR16-B2 took 3 minutes and 32 seconds to read the whole disc; the BenQ DW1620 did the same in 3 minutes and 41 seconds. In other words, the difference in time between these two drives is negligibly small. The number of unread blocks is the same in both cases (4 blocks). As a result, I can state that the drives have absolutely identical optical systems as well as error-correction algorithms.

The CD-related part of the review being over, the rest of it will be mostly dedicated to DVD media.

Performance during DVD Media Reading

The MSI drive had some problems at reading the single-layer molded DVD Video disc. Starting from the second third of the disc, the speed of the drive was fluctuating, the fluctuation being stronger on the outermost tracks. The BenQ also faltered once when it dropped its read speed down suddenly, but the drive then quickly restored its speed and finished the test without errors. The difference between the two drives is 22 seconds, but the fact that the read speed of the MSI drive is unstable is much more disturbing than those extra 20 seconds.

Both drives read the dual-layer medium with ease, producing straight and tidy graphs, without any noticeable slowdowns. And they took exactly the same amount of time – to a second – to read the whole dual-layer disc.