Positive:

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

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

• Reads HD DVD-ROM SL and DL media at 3x

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

• Allows 12x writing on 16x DVD media

• Writes 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 and CD-R writing quality

• Solid construction with SATA interface

• Full featured Software Bundle from CyberLink

• Relatively inexpensive for a Blu-ray and HD DVD drive

Negative:

• Does not allow Bitsetting of DVD+RW media.

Conclusion:

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

The LG GGC-H20L’s ability to read High-Definition movies both in HD-DVD and Blu-Ray formats make this drive a must have for any desktop PC or Home Theater PC (HTPC).

Writing of DVD-R and DVD+R media with the LG GGC-H20L at 16x with very good writing quality gives this unit the ability to be a single drive solution for Blu-ray and HD DVD playback as well as a CD and DVD burner. 

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

The drive supports SATA interface for quick and easy installation (SATA cable included in the box) and with  a software bundle from Cyberlink for Blu-ray Disc, HD DVD playback, DVD and CD burning and authoring, really making the LG GGC-H20L a multi format drive solution.

To sum it all up, this is what we would say: “The LG GGC-H20L is a Blu-ray Disc & HD DVD reader giving you the ability to watch high-definition content on your PC, additionally its capability to write DVD and CD-R media with excellent quality establishing this drive as an All-In-One solution.” We therefore award the LG GGC-H20L the CDFreaks’ Safe Buy Award.

We found the retail version of LG GGC-H20L is listed at cheapest price of $229.99 at www.newegg.com (February 2008).

Thanks to:

Introduction