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One of the most obvious differences between an external optical drive and its internal brethren is in appearance. A device that’s going to sit out in the open for anyone to see, after all, has to look the part. Lite-On’s latest EZ-Dub optical drive accomplishes this with a fashionable white and black aesthetic that would surely do Apple proud. It’s an update from the more staid look of the previous EZ-Dub model, which was also nearly two inches longer and a half-inch taller. As with the older model, this EZ-Dub comes with a stand, so you can set the drive on its side to save desktop space.
Another distinction of external drives is convenience. The EZ-Dub connects to a PC via USB and is ready to go with you anywhere. Lite-On also equips the drive with two touch-sensitive buttons to make common optical chores easier: a Dub button for disc-to-disc copies and a File button for backing up files to a disc. Pressing the button automatically launches the bundled EZ-Dub software, and then it’s just a couple steps to completing the aforementioned tasks. In the end, it saves a bit of time, but these tasks aren’t all that laborious when you use the traditional means: The drive also comes bundled with the Nero 7 Essentials package.
Of course, what should matter most about any optical drive is its performance. The EZ-Dub is rated for 20x DVD+R write speeds, just like the Samsung SH-S203 that we’ve been recommending for many months. But Lite-On’s drive took a full minute longer than Samsung’s to write 4.38GB to a single-layer DVD+R (6 minutes vs. 5 minutes). And when writing to a double-layer disc, Lite-On’s drive took 17:56 (min:sec) to Samsung’s 13:10. Still, these scores are solid, if not stellar—and if what you’re after is an external drive solution, Lite-On’s EZ-Dub is a credible choice.
Good locks; useful stand. Speedy for an external drive.
Not as fast as the best internal drives (duh); Dub and File buttons, though neat, are not really that necessary.
| Benchmarks | ||||
| Lite-On 20A4PU EZ-DUB | Samsung SH-S203B | |||
| DVD+R Write Speed Average | 12.10x | 13.45x | ||
| DVD+R Read Speed Average | 12.07x | 12.13x | ||
| Access Time (Random/Full) | 115/205ms | 116/198ms | ||
| DVD+DL Write Speed Average | 6.79x | 9x | ||
| Best scores are bolded. All tests were conducted using the latest version of Nero CD-DVD Speed and Verbatim media. Our test bed is a Windows XP SP2 machine using a dual-core 2.6GHz Athlon 64 FX-60, 2GB of Corsair DDR400 RAM on an Asus A8N-SLI motherboard, an ATI X1950 Pro videocard, a Western Digital 4000KD hard drive, and a PC Power and Cooling Turbo Cool 850 PSU. | ||||
rgbfoundry
April 07, 2008 at 2:47pm
I don't know why such a lackluster CD burner got an "8" rating. USB? Wow! Software launching buttons? Wow! Worse performance than their top, evangelized drive? Hmmm.
As far as fashionable design? Save that for the boring Lacie Porsche drives where they at least TRY to be designerly. In case you haven't noticed, Apple's boxy products look a lot better than this. You'd never find 4 screen printed logos on the front of the product.
This thing really is nothing more than an internal drive in an enclosure that makes it external.
These are the kind of reviews that make me doubt MaximumPC. Like when Wired Magazine gave the Airport Express an 8 out of 10 stars. Palm grease.
