In House Review - Lite-On LH-20A1H 20x Super AllWrite DVD±RW

[Ian]

CDRLabs has taken an in depth look at Lite-On's new 20x "Super AllWrite" drive, the Lite-On LH-20A1H. This highly anticipated drive features some of the fastest reading and writing speeds available. The LH-20A1H is capable of 20x 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 drive also has many of the features we've come to expect from Lite-On, along with more advanced ones like SmartWrite. To top it all off, the LH-20A1H includes support for HP's LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling system.

In this review we'll take a look at the features found on the LH-20A1H and see how it compares to some of the DVD±RW drives from the competition. Are 20x DVD±R writing speeds enough to put the LH-20A1H on top? You'll have to read the review to find out.

[url=http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/index.php?reviewid=297]
Lite-On LH-20A1H 20x Super AllWrite DVD±RW/RAM[/url]

As usual, if you have any comments or questions about this review or the Lite-On LH-20A1H, please post them in the forum using the link provided below.

[Ian]

I received a new firmware (LLT1) from Lite-On last night that supposedly fixes the LightScribe bug. I haven't had a chance to try it yet.

[MediumRare]

Thanks for the look at this drive, Ian. Please keep us posted on the Lightscribe bug.

There's one relict left from the previous review: The GSA-H22N handled scratched discs relatively well.

Look like this drive is an excellent reader. It declasses the other drives shown in audio extraction.

I watched a few scenes from Transformers: The Movie...

Do you ever tire of this movie? You use it in every review...

The CD-Speed scans with the BenQ showed some peculiar results. There are systematic spikes in the PI and PIF counts in all the +R media shown. They don't show on the -R scans. Do these correlate with features in the writing curve, e.g. OPC dips?

Also noteworthy is that the jitter shown by the BenQ is ca. 2% lower for -R media than for +R. I've seen this with DVD-Scan results too, so this isn't a peculiarity of BenQ scans.

G

[Ian]

The CD-Speed scans with the BenQ showed some peculiar results. There are systematic spikes in the PI and PIF counts in all the +R media shown. They don't show on the -R scans. Do these correlate with features in the writing curve, e.g. OPC dips?

Also noteworthy is that the jitter shown by the BenQ is ca. 2% lower for -R media than for +R. I've seen this with DVD-Scan results too, so this isn't a peculiarity of BenQ scans.

Transformers the movie rules! Seriously, the reason is use it is that its already in the drive for the transfer rate tests.

I've seen those spikes with some other Lite-On drives. It doesn't correlate with anything I can see in the writing curve, but if I had to guess, it is due in some way to OPC.

[Wischmop]

The drive seems to be good, but the complaints about some probs like very different writing quality and the horrible noises that some units make from the LH18-series says to me "Stay away from Liteon"

[Ian]

I received a new firmware (LLT1) from Lite-On last night that supposedly fixes the LightScribe bug. I haven't had a chance to try it yet.

I finally had some time to give this firmware a try. It didn't fix the problem.

[Kawosa]

I have 2 of the LH-20A1H drives and neither will burn a good dual layer video. I've removed one and put the old NEC back in to continue burning good videos. I won't even mention the known LScribe issue.

This drive is a POS! Buyer beware!