The LTR-32123S impressed us with its quick
write speeds: It took 3 minutes, 43 seconds to write 650MB of files to CD-R on
the fly, nearly half a minute faster than the speediest 24X drive on the chart,
though it comes up a few seconds short of a couple of other 32X drives.
In our CD-RW packet-writing testing, the Lite-On copied a folder
containing 100MB of files to a CD-RW disc in 1 minute, 6 seconds, tying it with
the CenDyne Lightning II CD-RW 32x12x40 for the fastest time we've seen.
Lite-On is one of a
handful of manufacturers offering the new, faster 12X CD-RW write speed (many
vendors are not rushing to incorporate 12X CD-RW because of the current
scarcity of 12X-rated media). However, as with all recent CD-RW drives that
offer increased speeds, you can still use older media, though the drive will
perform only at the media's speed rating.