In House Review - LG GSA-H22N 18x "Super-Multi"

[Ian]

Today, CDRLabs brings you an in depth look at LG's 18x "Super-Multi" drive, the GSA-H22N. Sporting some pretty impressive specs, the drive is capable of 18x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD±R DL and 12x DVD-RAM writing speeds and has a maximum DVD read speed of 16x. The GSA-H22N also includes features like 48x CD reading and writing speeds, 32x rewriting speeds and a software bundle from Nero and CyberLink.

In this review we'll take a look at some of the features found on the GSA-H22N and see how it compares to some of the 16x and 18x DVD±RW drives from the competition. Does LG's new drive have what it takes? You'll have to read the review to find out.

[url=http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/index.php?reviewid=296]
LG GSA-H22N 18x "Super-Multi" DVD±RW/RAM[/url]

If you have any comments or questions about this review or the LG GSA-H22N, please post them in the forum using the link provided below.

[Dartman]

Thanks for the review Ian, I guess you wont need that Memorex version
Is this the one you were going round with trying to get the dma mode sorted?
Anyways, looks like it works pretty well now no matter what.
Have to watch for a sale and give one a try, OOOH! post 1 thousand, WEEE!

[MediumRare]

Thanks for the review, Ian. I really appreciate the continuity of the tests you do on these drives- it makes it easy to do comparisons, even after several years!

This drive looks pretty good as long as you avoid DL media!

What I don't understand is that some drives can now write to a disc faster than they can read it (write-only memory?) Isn't it time to introduce 18x or 20x reading speeds as well?

One question: in the summary you state Overburns to only 93:58 as a low, but this test wasn't mentioned in the main body. Is this a relict? (a couple of typos per PM).

OOOH! post 1 thousand, WEEE!

Congratulation!

G

[Ian]

Thanks for catching the typos MediumRare. The overburning number is now correct in the features section as well.

In general, I've been less than impressed with new drives and their writing quality with DL media. It's bad enough that drive manufacturers are forcing you to use 8x rated discs but you'd think they could at least deliver decent writing quality.

Drives with faster read speeds are on the way. As someone else noticed the other day, ASUS's new 18x DVD writer also reads at 18x.

[Grain]

Thanks Ian. In the media quality section it shows TYG02 burnt at 18X, is that correct, or should it be TYG03?

[Scour]

Thanks for this great review, Ian


Not perfect, but still better than many competitors. My prob is that I don´t know what to buy, because newer LGs (H42 and H50) are on the way. If I don´t know this, I would buy the H22

I´m a bit confused about Asus 1814, I saw this specs on german Asus-page:

http://www.asus.de/products4.aspx?l1=6& ... odelmenu=1

Max. 18X DVD±R/ 8X DVD+RW/ 6X DVD-RW/ 8X DVD±R (DL) -
Max. 48X CD-R/ 32X CD-RW -
Max. 16X DVD-ROM/ 40X CD-ROM -
Max: 14X DVD-RAM Write

So it can still read only 16x?

[2Dogs]

My OEM LG GSA-H22N, ordered from newwegg just arrived tonight. It shows a manufacture date of November 2006, and comes with firmware 1.01. Interestingly, there is no digital audio output. I wonder if this has been dropped or if it's an OEM thing.

In any case, I was happy to see that MCSE allowed me to remove the rip lock, even though the H22N is not shown as a supported model. (praise be to ALA....42!)

As soon as my Samsung is done burning some stuff I'm looking forward to checking out the ripping speed with the stock 1.01 firmware and then again with the patched.

Keep up the great reviews!

[Ian]

Thanks Ian. In the media quality section it shows TYG02 burnt at 18X, is that correct, or should it be TYG03?

Yep, you're correct. That's fixed now.

Everywhere I look, I see conflicting specs for the Asus 1814. I tend to believe what was in ASUSWORLD though. There it said it read at 18x. I guess we'll see when the drive shows up.

As far as the H42 goes, it uses a Renasas chipset, like the GSA-H12N. Different version of course. Personally, I like LG's Renasas based drives better.

http://dvd-r.jpn.org/GSA-H42N/index.html

[Ian]

According to this, the DRW-1814BLT reads DVD-ROM's at 16x and DVD+R/-R media at 18x.

http://www.asus.co.jp/news_show.aspx?id=5516

[Scour]

The specs are confusing

[Gabe]

Nice review

I have the H22L, it´s a nice drive, but the writing-quality with some media should be better.

The main negative point is that LG looks not interested to make good FW-support for the newer drives

[Bhairav]

Nice review Ian.
Was going to start a new thread for this, but I figured this thread ought to suffice: Which would you prefer, the H42N or the H22N?

Both are available here for pretty much the same price. I was leaning toward the H42N. Wise choice?

[Ian]

I've seen some good results from the H42N and the Renasas based drives have traditionally performed well but I haven't personally tested the drive yet so I can't honestly say which is better.

[Black Blade]

I have two H22N's, one a few months old and the other a few weeks old. The older of the two, is giving me problems lately...I use Nero to burn DVD-R's (TDK 16x white printables). It more often than not freezes at 1% making yet another coaster. I have flashed the burners with the newest firmware just now, so will try it out as soon as I finish this thread, but was just wondering if anybody else has problems of this nature. I still have some Taiyo Yuden 8x-r's kicking around and will try a few of them as well, but I really really hate it when they are turned into coasters!