Blast from the past: originally posted May 31 2001.
This time around we’re looking at the LG 8120B CD Rewriter. It writes at 12x, rewrites at 8x and reads at 32x. “X” represents a multiple of the original CD spec of 150 kb per second. It supports all major writing formats, and has an 8 MB buffer. LG drives are only available with an ATAPI interface, the 8120B working up to ATA33 speeds. It has a 110 ms access time and a 4800 KB/s transfer speed, according to the company’s specs.
I purchased the retail package, as I couldn’t get an OEM model. Upon opening the flashy box I examined the contents: a 40 pin IDE cable, three pin audio cable, four mounting screws, Adaptec Easy CD Creator 4.0 standard, a multi-language manual, one CD-R, one CD-RW and the drive itself.
Installation was straight forward, as the drive was set to Master. I plugged it onto my Promise Ultra100 ATA controller and everything was working. For testing I used CD Speed 99 v0.80, which is the most common benchmark. As well I ran Nero 5.5, Direct CD 3.0 and Clone CD 2.8.5.2; the drive wrote CD-Rs and CD-RWs at it’s rated speed. I put in a blank, selected 12x recording and burned a full CD. As well it copied every disk I threw at it in Clone CD without difficulty. Let’s take a look at the CD Speed results; since this is my first optical drive review I don’t have a comparison, other than the company’s specifications.
One other point about the 8120b’s performance; throughout testing I found the drive to be fairly quiet.
CD Speed 99
26 May 2001 – 15:06:31
CD-ROM drive information
VendorLG
ProductCD-RW CED-8120B
Firmware Version1.02
CD information
TypeData
Length73:55.13
Test results
Transfer rate
Average22.20x
Start14.50x
End24.43x
Reading typeP-CAV
DAE quality
ScoreN/A
Accurate streamNo
As you can see, it’s seek times are a little better than advertised, with the random seek at 97 ms. The transfer rate falls short at 24.43x being it’s best; not really 32x now is it. Respectable scores none the less. Let’s turn to the DAE ( digital audio extraction ) scores.
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Offset
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2764 bytes (691 samples)
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Sequential Read Test
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Average Speed: 13.26 X
Data Errors: 0
Sync Errors: 0
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Harmonica Read Test
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Average Access Time: 147 ms
Data Errors: 0
Sync Errors: 0
Total Data Errors: 0
Total Sync Errors: 0
Quality Score: 100.0
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On The Fly Copying Simulation
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Copying at 4 X
OK
Copying at 6 X
OK
Copying at 8 X
OK
Copying at 10 X
OK
Copying at 12 X
too slow
Copying at 16 X
too slow
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CD Text
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Drive is capable of reading CD Text information
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Subchannel Data
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Test 1
Track (01): 01
Relative position (01:05.00): 00:57.14 -> incorrect!
Absolute position (01:07.00): 01:05.14 -> incorrect!
Index (5): 3 -> incorrect!
Test 2
Track (17): 01 incorrect!
Relative position (01:33.00): 00:57.14 -> incorrect!
Absolute position (33:35.00): 01:05.14 -> incorrect!
Index (1): 3 -> incorrect!
Test 3
Track (36): 01 incorrect!
Relative position (00:00.00): 00:57.14 -> incorrect!
Absolute position (70:02.00): 01:05.14 -> incorrect!
Index (1): 3 -> incorrect!
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Leadin
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Drive can read max. 150 sectors (-00:02.00) from the Leadin
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Elapsed Time: 0:20:37
A not too bad score of 13.26x for DAE, with 100 % on the quality. That’s about all there is to say about that.
All around the LG 8120B is a good buy, and performs well. I’d easily recommend it to those looking for a bargain, but it’s lack of disc protection such as Burn Proof takes away. The 8 MB buffer certainly provides ample room against buffer underruns, and to be fair I didn’t burn any “coasters” while testing.