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Buyer's Guide: The Best Monitors 
LG GSA-E50L
| Caractéristiques | |||
| Blu-ray read / write | no / no | ||
| DVD read / write | yes / yes | ||
| CD read / write | yes / yes | ||
| Dimensions/Weight | NC x NC x NC mm / 390 g | ||
Pierre-Jean Alzieu
Test date: October 19, 2009
Test date: October 19, 2009
Burning
For the burning tests, we used the same free software - CDBurnerXP Pro.
When ripping an ISO image of our test DVD, we logged about the same data transfer rates as with the Samsung burner. But burning the resulting 3 GB ISO image was a different story. The LG GSA-E50L was in last place with a time of a little over 13 minutes, compared to 9 for the Buffalo Technology unit.
When ripping an ISO image of our test DVD, we logged about the same data transfer rates as with the Samsung burner. But burning the resulting 3 GB ISO image was a different story. The LG GSA-E50L was in last place with a time of a little over 13 minutes, compared to 9 for the Buffalo Technology unit.
The LG GSA-E50L is designed for use mainly as an occasional optical drive for netbook-type computers. As such, you'd expect it to be as small as possible, and most of all it light. Unfortunately that's not the case. It's larger than its competitors, and it weighs in at 390 grams, compared to 340 g for the Buffalo Technology burner.
The power solution is very simple - power is handled entirely by the computer. If the current provided by the USB port isn't enough, LG has provided an additional USB cable to plug into the unit's power connector. However most computers now have USB ports that supply ample power. This is why we prefer LG's solution over a "Y" USB cable whose second connector serves no purpose.
Read and write speeds, and power consumption
| Buffalo Tech. DVSM-PN58U2 LG GSA-E50L Samsung SE-S084B |
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Time taken to create an ISO image of our test DVD (s)
This external burner was one of the fastest at ripping an image of our test DVD, but the Samsung SE-S084B had a slight edge.
| Buffalo Tech. DVSM-PN58U2 LG GSA-E50L Samsung SE-S084B |
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Energy consumption (W.h)
The Samsung was also the least power-hungy unit during operation, making it more energy-efficient. By our calculations, the LG consumed 2.9 Wh compared to 2.7 Wh for the Samsung.
Particularly noisy
| Buffalo Tech. DVSM-PN58U2 LG GSA-E50L Samsung SE-S084B |
 |
Noise levels during operation (dB)
Though you can't find a really quiet optical drive, the LG GSA-E50L is especially noisy. Our sound level meter showed 49 dB during operation compared to 45.5 dB for the Samsung.
Pluses
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Good speeds for image creation
Minuses
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Noisy
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Heavy: 390 g
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Long DVD burn time
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High energy consumption
The LG GSA-E50L had good read rates, but its burn times put it in last place. Its biggest fault however is that it's particularly noisy compared to its competitors.
