Published: September 1, 2009 | Source: Asus | Author: Matthew Kemp

Asus SBC-04DIS-U Slim External Blu Ray Reader

Testing Methodology

Usually at OC3D we strive to give you all of the facts and figures with our hardware reviews. However, with the SBC-04DIS-U, I don’t feel that potential buyers will be using the drive as a burner or reader of normal DVD’s and CD’s. As such, I will give a short analysis of the drive’s capabilities regarding burning and then get really into the stuff you want to hear: how the drive does playing Blu Rays.

Tests
Write test using Nero Burning Rom 7.
Burning CD Album – Intimacy – Bloc Party. 482MB 48:05 minutes.

Read Test using SiSoft Sandra and a DVD written with an artifically created 4.5GB text file.

Blu Ray Playback (Region B UK Discs):

• Monsters Inc
• Quantum of Solace
• Twilight
• Terminator 2 Skynet Edition
• The Matrix

DVD Playback

• The Matrix
• Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
• The Bourne Identity

Whilst the player is touted as a Blu Ray player, I think it is important to play some DVD’s as well to ensure you wouldn’t be disappointed when watching DVD’s. I will be using the graphic card’s scaler.

Test Setup

I feel it is very important to get the test setup correct when testing items such as a Blu Ray player. As such, the following setup will be used:

PC Setup

Dell 2407 WFP (QED QUNEX HDMI/DVI-P Cable (3MTR)

Intel Q6600 @ 3.3GHz
Abit IP35 Pro
8GB OCZ ReaperX PC6400 @ 1000MHz
MSI 8800 GTX
Lite-On SATA DVDRW (model LH-20A1S)
Seagate 7200.10 250GB HDD
Coolermaster Real Power Pro 1000w PSU
Asus HDAV 1.3 Slim
Belkin AV Home Cinema Surge Protector – 7 Socket

AV Setup

Panasonic Viera TH-42PZ80B Plasma

Yamaha DSP-AX863SE AV Amplifier
Mordaunt Short 906i Floorstanders (Bi-Amped, silver coated oxygen free copper)
Mordaunt Short 905i Centre Speaker (Bi-wired, silver coated oxygen free copper)
Mordaunt Short 905i Bipole Rears (300 strand oxygen free copper)
BK Electronics XLS200 DF (Mark Grant Canare LV775 10MTR)

Additional Cabling

2 x Tacima CS929 6 Way Mains Conditioner
Chord Company Silver Plus HDMI Cable (1.5MTR)
QED Performance HDMI-P Cable (1MTR)

This setup will enable full 1080p signal to be passed to the plasma TV and a high def audio signal to be bitstreamed for processing by the AV Amplifier for maximum quality.

Software

Asus have provided Cyberlink PowerDVD with the SBC-04DIS-U. This is an excellent software player and it’s great that Asus provide this with the player. However, I found that the version on the CD had quite major issues playing back newer Blu Rays such as Monsters Inc. As such, I downloaded the latest version of the software (which is not a free upgrade), and this resolved all issues with the playback. This is certainly something Asus should address when it comes to their retail packs.

The Asus Blu Tuner software is a very light piece of software that dimms and brightens the LED’s on the SBC-04DIS-U. This is simple and effective and a must if you have a dark room to watch your Blu Rays in.

Asus also provided their Turbo Engine software that increases the connection performance between the USB cable and the external drive”. Whilst I’m not sure exactly how accurate this promise is, I installed it as a default and had no issues at all with USB transfer speed.