In House Review - Lite-On DH-20A3H 20x Super AllWrite DVD±RW

[Ian]

CDRLabs finishes up the week with a review of Lite-On's new 20x "Super AllWrite" drive, the DH-20A3H. While affordably priced, the DH-20A3H sports some pretty impressive specs including 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 DH-20A3H includes support for HP's LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling system.

In this review we'll take a look at some of the features found on the LH-20A1L and see how it compares to some of the 18x and 20x DVD±RW drives from the competition. Does the LH-20A1L have what it takes? You'll have to read the review to find out.

[url=http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/index.php?reviewid=310]
Lite-On DH-20A3H 20x Super AllWrite DVD±RW/RAM[/url]

If you have any comments or questions about this review or the Lite-On DH-20A3H, please post them in the forum.

[Grain]

Thanks for the review, excellent as usual. Am I correct in reading that it has no tangible improvements over the 20A1 series? Also, I must have missed it, which chipset does it use?

[Ian]

They improved the drive's DVD-RW writing performance a little, but that's really about it. For whatever reason though, they made it slower when ripping CD's.

The 20A3 series uses the MT1858 (PATA) and MT1859 (SATA) chipsets. The 20A1 series used the MT1898 and MT1899 chipsets. Oddly enough, the 20A4 series also uses these.

The biggest difference is the overall design. The chassis is no longer BenQ-like. To me, it seems like they're cutting costs as it feels lighter.

[Grain]

The biggest difference is the overall design. The chassis is no longer BenQ-like. To me, it seems like they're cutting costs as it feels lighter.

That's too bad. I guess it was just a matter of time before the $30-40 price tag of new drives affected the build quality.

[Scour]

Nice review again

The writing-quality looks good for me, but I´m getting more and more confused about the many 20x-drives with same specs

[carl]

DL writing with the A3 drives is currently a weak pont. It is being looked at by Lite-On engineers. There are test firmwares that improve things somewhat but I expect they will find a solution for this soon. Overall DVD writing quality has improved with the test firmwares.

[Ian]

DL writing with the A3 drives is currently a weak pont. It is being looked at by Lite-On engineers. There are test firmwares that improve things somewhat but I expect they will find a solution for this soon. Overall DVD writing quality has improved with the test firmwares.

It's a weak point with most drives... not just Lite-On's. I'm not sure if this is something with the Mediatek chipset, which a lot of companies are using, or just that they aren't putting as much effort into supporting DL media.

[Scour]

Yes, I agree, DL is for many drives a prob.

I´m not sure, if only the drive-manufacturers are to blame or mostly the media-manufacturer; good DL-media is rare.

And yes, MTK-chipsets looks not so good with DL, NEC and Renesas looks better imho

[Ian]

The YP5Y firmware has (officially) been released. I have not tried it yet.

http://www.liteonit.com/DOWNLOADS/ODD/D ... e/YP5Y.zip