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Lite On LH-20A1L


Date
: 06/30/07 – 04:43:42 AM

Author
:

Category
: Optical Devices

Page 1 : Introduction

What exactly does Lite- On mean? While this may remain a mystery, regardless of the obscurity behind the name, Lite- On is a renown worldwide supplier of computer peripherals. Their span reaches to include optical disc solutions and consumer appliances for both the computer and electronic industries. Lite- On is by no means new to Overclockers Online, in fact we have taken a look at quite a few optical disc drive solutions and have always been pleasantly surprised! No wonder Lite- On has been regarded as one of the top three world wide manufacturers of optical disc drives!

Today we will be taking a look at Lite- On's LH-20A1L06C, or the Super All Write which is capable of handling DVD +/- R, DVD +/- RW, Double Layer media, and DVD-RAM. This drive also supports LightScribe for personalized unique labels, SmartWrite and instead of ribbon cables, SATA cables!

Page 2 : Features and Specifications

Not all optical drives are created equal, and Lite- On really knows how to set themselves apart from the competition with the LH-20A1L06C A1L Super All Write drive!

And, specifications:

We have heard quite a bit about LightScribe, but what is it really? For the most part, we know that LightScribe is some sort of technology that allows writing directly on the disc, but beyond that, not much is certain. Lite-On's lengthy explanation can be found at this webpage.

Not a hard equation! In short, with LightScribe media, after the data is written to the disc, the alternate side can be etched using lasers to in a way, draw images. This of course opens up a whole slew of possibilities for labelling discs!

Page 3 : Package and Content

This particular drive has been through a lot, first it was shipped from Lite- On's California location to Simon Lau, Overclocker Online's Director, then to me and attacked by my dog!

This package isn't plastered with flashy graphics or shinny stickers, instead is simple and delivers the specifications without any frills.

The rear side goes into a bit more depth with specifications and also includes compatibility information.

To the top of the box, Lite- On really pushes LightScribe capabilities!

Opening up the box, Lite-On includes Nero 7 Essentials, installation hardware, an SATA cable, instructions, an alternate faceplate, the optical drive and two high quality Taiyo Yuden DVD disc.

The drive itself is fairly compact measuring 145(W) x 41.3(H) x 170(D) mm and as you probably have guessed, is fairly light as well. Of course, with a drive, there is little to talk about in terms of its looks as only the faceplate is shown to the world, so instead letâs take a look at the backside.

To the rear, the absence of the rows of pin for the typical ribbon cable is truly a welcoming sight, in place we have a SATA cable connector instead! Unfortunately, this means the drive requires an SATA power input, but nowadays, with an onslaught of new power supplies on the market, most of which equipped with multiple SATA power plugs, this should not be big of an issue.

Next, letâs take a look at installation!

Page 4 : Installation

For the most part, installation should be of little concern. This feat of mechanical dexterity can typically be accomplished within seconds, even by those who have never seen the inside of a computer. However, I will be installing it behind a Lian Li faceplate, making the process just a bit more complicated.

We will first need to remove the existing drive which as the picture suggests is behind the ages with its enormously inconvenient IDE cable. Once the previous drive has been removed, installation is as simple as sliding the drive in place, lining up the screws and adjusting so it sits flush with the case bezel, or on this case the faceplate.

As for swapping the faceplate, take a look at Simon Lau's review of the Lite-On LH20A1H drive.

With the new drive in place, we can finally begin testing!

Page 5 : Testing

We will begin with system specifications:

Taking a look at KProbe, we can dig up some more information about the drive such as firmware.

Page 6 : DVD +/- R

We will start with DVD +R. For this test, we will be using Taiyo Yuden blank media.

First, we are going to test write speeds by filling up the disc.

While the graph does not show above 16x, under the speed section on the right, we can see that the disc did infact burn at 20X speeds. 5 minutes to burn 4 GB, impressive!

As expected, read speeds were on par with advertised rates, 16x.

Next, lets take a look at quality. Often times when writing data at high rates of speed, errors tend to occur.

The overall quality of the disc was 93 out of 100, flawless by anyoneâs count and confirmed by a surface scan which echoed perfection.

Next, we will run the same batch of tests again, only this time with a Taiyo Yuden DVD -R disc.

Filling the disc with 4 GB of data took two seconds longer this time, but still incredibly fast.

Reading the disc was also flawless ending with a read rate of 16.29x.

Taking a look at quality the score dipped a bit lower to 84 out of 100.

While the score dipped, the disc was still perfect.

Page 7 : DVD -RW & DVD+R DL

With the cheap cost of DVD +/- R discs and other methods of storage, these two formats are rarely used due to their cost. To test DVD -RW speeds, we will be using a Memorex brand disc rated for 2x.

Again we will begin with filling the disc.

This time around, the disc took over half an hour to create, that is the price to pay for rewritable discs!

Because the disc is brand new, there is little sign of sporadic read transfer speeds, but as the disc ages and is subject damage both from use and the environment, read speeds will deteriorate along with the quality of the disc. As this is a brand new disc, the quality scores were again, as expected, perfect.

The disc scored a total of 90 out of 100, and according to the surface scan, was in excellent condition!

The last set of tests we will run for this review is with DVD +R Double Layer media. We will again be using a Memorex branded disc, only this time rated for 2.4x and can hold 8 GB of data.

Filling the disc took a total of 27 minutes, not bad considering the sheer amount of data!

Read rates were fairly consistant in relation to the write speeds.

The quality of the disc was also impeccable scoring 93 out of 100.

Once again, the surface scan confirms that the disc is in perfect condition.

Page 8 : Conclusion

We have taken a hard look at this drive and have run quite a number of tests resulting in an overwhelming amount of data, and now it is time to put it to words. So what is this drive really? For starters, this drive lives up to its name as being a Super All Write drive capable of burning multiple types of media along with being equipped with quite a few interesting features. Beyond the features, this drive is capable of writing data at blistering speeds while maintaining accuracy and quality. In my book, it doesn't get much better than this. Lite-On's LH-20A1L06C Super All Write drive performs as intended and does so at a low cost.

However, with the looming introduction of HD-DVD and Blue-Ray media, will any of this matter? Without a doubt, disc media technology of today will soon be reduced to nothing more than obsolete hardware waiting to be thrown out, but that is the future, and now is now, so until then, this drive is an excellent choice for those who are looking for a truly versatile drive for a low price.

Advantages

• Affordable

• Fast
• Supports plenty of formats
• LightScribe and SmartWrite

Disadvantages

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• Overclockers Online would like to thank Lite-On for making this review possible.