Positive:

• Reads BD-ROM SL and DL media at 4.8x

• Reads BD-R at 6x and BD-RE media at 2x

• Very fast 2x Writing speed on BD-RE media

• Writes both DVD+R and DVD-R media at 16x

• Allows 12x writing on 16x DVD media

• Excellent write quality on CD-R media at 40x

• Has Lightscribe support

• Very fast audio extraction

• Quiet drive operation

• Writes DVD-RW media at 8x

• Supports 5x writing on DVD-RAM

• Very Good to Excellent DVD writing quality

• Full featured Software Bundle from CyberLink

• Relatively inexpensive for a Blu-ray burner

Negative:

• Does not keep Bitsetting of DVD+R/RW media after rebooting.

• No HD-DVD Disc reading support

Conclusion:

 Let us summarize the most important positive and negative points below:

The LG GBW-H20L’s ability to write CD, DVD and Blu-Ray media with great quality makes this drive a must have for any desktop PC or Home Theater PC (HTPC).

Writing of DVD-R and DVD+R media at 16x with good to excellent writing quality gives this unit the ability to be a single drive solution for DVD burning. 

Writing of CD-R/RW media, 40x and 24x respectively with excellent quality throughout our testing is more than an added bonus, the LG GBW-H20L is also a very fast CD-R/RW reader; in addition the drive shows excellent audio extraction results.

The drive supports an SATA interface for quick and easy installation (SATA cable included in the box) and includes a software bundle from CyberLink for Blu-ray Disc viewing, burning and authoring, this really makes the LG GBW-H20L a multi format drive solution.

We have only found a few negatives with this drive, Bitsetting is still not being saved after rebooting though programs like ImgBurn and Nero will hold the settings once set. Our BD-R Dual Layer disc was only read at 2x though the specs say the drive is capable reading these medias at 6x.

To sum it all up, this is what we would say: “The LG GBW-H20L is a multi format CD, DVD and Blu-ray disc burner with fast media reading; this will give you the ability to burn and watch high-definition content on your PC, additionally its capability to write DVD and CD-R media with good to excellent quality establishing this drive as an All-In-One solution.” We therefore award the LG GBW-H20L the CDFreaks’ Editors Choice Award.

We found the retail version of the LG GBW-H20L listed at its cheapest price of $279.99 at Best Buy (August 2008).

Thanks to:

Introduction