The specifications of the Optorite TED80Y1 state that the drive is able to write CD-R discs at 24x and CD-RW at 24x. Let’s find out how the drive really performs in speed and quality. Writing Data CD-R discs:
For our writing tests, we use Nero CD-DVD Speed ‘Create Data Disc” function.
The drive used 5 minutes and 16 seconds to write the disc at 24x.
Actual write speed 24.09x
Write Quality:
We will be testing discs from 6 different CD-R manufacturers. To measure the write speed we used the ‘Create Data Disc” function in Nero CD-DVD Speed. The discs were written at the maximum speed that the drive supports. For the quality test, we used K-Probe 2 which is a tool developed by a Lite-On employee. It runs under Windows and works with drives made by Lite-On. Also note that different drives and different reading speeds may affect the results obtained when scanning the discs. We used a Lite-On LTR-52246S drive with firmware 6S0F and scanned the discs at 48X speed.
A written CD-R disc will always have some C1 errors. C1 errors are easily corrected by the drive’s error correction capabilities. The next level of errors is C2, while C2 errors could also be corrected by most drive’s error correction capabilities; they are not wanted on a good quality disc. A good disc should not contain any C2 errors, and preferably have an average C1 error amount of below 2.0 for the best discs, or at least below 10.0 averages for good quality discs. After C2 errors, there are only un-correctable errors that will make a disc unusable.
Below are the obtained results:
| Brand: | Sony |
| Manufacturer: | Sony Corporation |
| Code: | 97m24s16f |
| Disc Type: | CD-R(B-) |
| Recording Layer: | Dye Type 6: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine) |
| Capacity: | 79:59:74 (702.80 MB) |
| Certified Speed: | 48x |
| Write Speed: | 24x |
| Write Time: | 5m:18s |
| C1 Average/Sec: | 9.42 |
| C2 Average/Sec: | 0.00 |
Sony media ‘“ C1 errors elevate as speed increases.
| Brand: | RiDATA |
| Manufacturer: | RiTEK Corporation |
| Code: | 97m15s17f |
| Disc Type: | CD-R(A-) |
| Recording Layer: | Dye Type 7: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine) |
| Capacity: | 79:59:70 (702.80 MB) |
| Certified Speed: | 48x |
| Write Speed: | 24x |
| Write Time: | 5m:28s |
| C1 Average/Sec: | 17.64 |
| C2 Average/Sec: | 0.00 |
RiDATA media ‘“ Very high C1 error count and the unacceptable C2 errors show up.
| Brand: | Memorex |
| Manufacturer: | RiTEK Corporation |
| Code: | 97m15s17f |
| Disc Type: | CD-R(A-) |
| Recording Layer: | Dye Type 7: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine) |
| Capacity: | 79:59:70 (702.80 MB) |
| Certified Speed: | 48x |
| Write Speed: | 24x |
| Write Time: | 5m:28s |
| C1 Average/Sec: | 3.62 |
| C2 Average/Sec: | 0.00 |
Memorex Black CD-R media ‘“ Nice!
| Brand: | FujiFilm |
| Manufacturer: | Taiyo Yuden Company Limited |
| Code: | 97m24s01f |
| Disc Type: | CD-R(A+) |
| Recording Layer: | Dye Type 1: Long Strategy (Cyanine,AZO) |
| Capacity: | 79:59:72 (702.80 MB) |
| Certified Speed: | 48x |
| Write Speed: | 24x |
| Write Time: | 5m:16s |
| C1 Average/Sec: | 1.16 |
| C2 Average/Sec: | 0.00 |
FujiFilm media ‘“ manufactured by Taiyo Yuden Company Limited. Another good media for this drive.
| Brand: | FujiFilm |
| Manufacturer: | Prodisc Technology Inc. |
| Code: | 97m32s19f |
| Disc Type: | CD-R(C-) |
| Recording Layer: | Dye Type 9: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine) |
| Capacity: | 79:59:72 (702.80 MB) |
| Certified Speed: | 48x |
| Write Speed: | 24x (fallback to 16x at 65m mark) |
| Write Time: | 5m:35s |
| C1 Average/Sec: | 4.38 |
| C2 Average/Sec: | 0.00 |
FujiFilm media ‘“ manufactured by Prodisc Technology Inc. At the 65m mark this burn fell back to 16x producing a single C2 error.
| Brand: | Memorex |
| Manufacturer: | CMC Magnetics Corporation |
| Code: | 97m26s66f |
| Disc Type: | CD-R(A+) |
| Recording Layer: | Dye Type 6: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine) |
| Capacity: | 79:59:71 (702.80 MB) |
| Certified Speed: | 52x |
| Write Speed: | 24x (fallback to 16x at 71m mark) |
| Write Time: | 5m:28s |
| C1 Average/Sec: | 5.82 |
| C2 Average/Sec: | 0.00 |
Memorex media ‘“ manufactured by CMC Magnetics Corporation. This media fell back to 16x around the 71m mark but produced no C2 errors.
| Brand: | OfficeMax |
| Manufacturer: | Moser Baer India Limited |
| Code: | 97m17s06f |
| Disc Type: | CD-R(B-) |
| Recording Layer: | Dye Type 6: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine) |
| Capacity: | 79:59:74 (702.80 MB) |
| Certified Speed: | 52x |
| Write Speed: | 8x |
| Write Time: | 10m:47s |
| C1 Average/Sec: | 1.51 |
| C2 Average/Sec: | 0.00 |
OfficeMax media ‘“ manufactured by Moser Baer India Limited. Very low C1 and no C2 errors however this media is only supported at 8x.
Writing Quality with Re-Writable discs:
Due to requests from our readers, we will add a few write quality tests with re-writable media. Settings and testing procedures are the same as used earlier in this review, so you may want to go back and read them if you are unsure.
CD-ReWritable media:
| Brand: | Memorex |
| Manufacturer: | Infodisc |
| Code: | 97m25s31f |
| Disc Type: | High Speed CD-RW 4x-12x |
| Recording Layer: | Phase Change |
| Capacity: | 79:59.73 (702.83MB) |
| Certified Speed: | 24x |
| Write Speed: | 16x |
| Write Time: | 10m:47s |
| C1 Average/Sec: | 494.40 |
| C2 Average/Sec: | 2.41 |
The Memorex branded Infodisc CD-RW does not fare well. This is just a ‘bad” burn.
| Brand: | Maxell |
| Manufacturer: | Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation |
| Code: | 97m34s23f |
| Disc Type: | High Speed CD-RW 4x-12x |
| Recording Layer: | Phase Change |
| Capacity: | 79:59.74 (702.83MB) |
| Certified Speed: | 4x-12x |
| Write Speed: | 12x |
| Write Time: | 7m:27s |
| C1 Average/Sec: | 627.10 |
| C2 Average/Sec: | 6.28 |
This is just not a good sign!
| Brand: | Verbatim |
| Manufacturer: | Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation |
| Code: | 97m34s25f |
| Disc Type: | Ultra Speed CD-RW 32x |
| Recording Layer: | Phase Change |
| Capacity: | 74:43.00 (656.40MB) |
| Certified Speed: | 32x |
| Write Speed: | 16x |
| Write Time: | 6m:56s |
| C1 Average/Sec: | 3.41 |
| C2 Average/Sec: | 0.14 |
The Optorite only supports this media at 16x. Again, this is not what we call a ‘good” burn.
Summary:
Overall the Optorite TED8Y01’s CD-R writing quality should be considered mediocre at best. The appearance of C2 errors on some disc types keeps this drive from receiving even a ‘good” rating. The writing quality on CD-RW is not even acceptable with 3 common disc types producing very high C1 and C2 errors and the supported speeds are limited. We would like to see the CD-R/RW writing improved.
So let us head on to next page and read about DVD-Writing performance…
