It has been nearly ten months since we reviewed Lite-On's first 20x DVD writer, the LH-20A1H. Since then, manufacturers like LG and Samsung have raised the bar, introducing 20x DVD writers with new features and faster DVD±R DL writing speeds. Surprisingly, Lite-On hasn't risen to the challenge. While the DH-20A3H sports an updated chipset and chassis design, the drive doesn't offer a significant advantage over Lite-On's earlier 20x DVD writers.
TheDH-20A3H performed pretty well when writing to DVD+R and DVD-R media at 20x. At this speed, it took the drive a little more than five minutes to write an entire 4.7GB DVD. The DH-20A3H also had no problems holding its own when writing to DVD-RW and DVD-RAM media. However, due to its Z-CLV writing method, it wasn't as fast as some of the other drives when writing to DVD±RW discs. Writing to DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media wasn't a problem for the DH-20A3H either. While not nearly as fast as the drives from LG and Samsung, it was able to write an entire 8.5GB DVD in about 17 minutes.
When it came to media compatibility, the DH-20A3H gave us some mixed results. While the drive wrote tomost of our test media at its rated speed or better, only two types worked at 20x. Then again, you can enable the drive's OverSpeed function and write to all 16x DVD±R media at its maximum speed. The DH-20A3H's writing quality was also fairly good with most of the DVD±R media I tried. However, with some DVD±R DL discs, the PI/PIF rates were higher than we'd like to see. Hopefully, Lite-On can address this in a future firmware update.
Lite-On's new drive did very well in our DVD read tests. It was able to read single layer DVD-ROM's and DVD-Videos at 16x and had some very good seek times. The DH-20A3H also reached some pretty impressive transfer speeds with other types of DVD media. In our tests, it read DVD±R discs at 16x and DVD±RW, DVD±R DL and DVD-RAM media at an impressive 12x.
Reading CD's wasn't a problem for the DH-20A3H either. In our tests, the drive read pressed and CD-R media at speeds as high as 48x and CD-RW discs at 39x. Surprisingly, the drive reached a maximum DAE speed of only 40x. While not slow by any means, Lite-On's previous DVD writers were able to rip audio CD's at 48x. When it came to writing CD's, the DH-20A3H performed as expected. The drive turned in some fairly good times when writing to CD-R media. However, itsZ-CLV writing method put it at a slight disadvantage in our rewriting tests.
Like Lite-On's previous DVD writers, the DH-20A3H isn't short on features. Along with old favorites like SMART-BURN and SMART-X, it supports two of Lite-On's more advanced technologies, SmartWrite and OverSpeed. The drive also has a good number of writing and rewriting speeds to choose from and has the ability to set the book type of DVD+R/RW and DVD+R DL media. Last but not least, the DH-20A3H features HP's LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling system. An alternative to markers and stick-on labels, LightScribe lets you burn graphics and text onto the tops of specially coated discs.
In the end, it usually comes down to price. For what it offers, Lite-On's new drive is surprisingly affordable. Current prices vary depending on the seller, but the retail version of the DH-20A3H can be picked up for less than $40 on Pricegrabber.
| Lite-On DH-20A3H 20x DVD±RW/RAM |
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| Features: Installation: Performance: |
10 8 7 |
| Overall: | 8 |
Highs:
- Writes to DVD-R and DVD+R media at 20x
- Writes to DVD+RW media at 8x
- Writes to DVD-RW media at 6x
- Writes to DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media at 8x
- Reads and writes DVD-RAM media at 12x
- Reads single layer DVD-ROM's at 16x
- Reads DVD±R media at 16x
- Reads DVD±RW and DVD±R DL media at 12x
- Features 48x CD-R and 32x CD-RW writing speeds
- Good selection of writing and rewriting speeds
- Low seek times
- Supports SMART-BURN, SMART-X, ABS, SmartWrite and OverSpeed technologies
- Good selection of writing and rewriting speeds
- Supports bitsetting for DVD+R/RW and DVD+R DL media
- Includes software from Nero
- Supports 99 minute CD-R media
- Includes both black and beige bezels
- Affordably priced
Lows:
- High media requirements when writing at 20x
- Questionable writing quality with some DVD±R DL media
- Slower than other drives when writing to DVD+RW and CD-RW media
- Has a 2048KB buffer
