LG GSA-H55LI detail information

Test machines

For this review we are testing the LG GSA-H55LI mounted inside of our Intel based system with the following components:

• Motherboard: ASUSTek, P5K Deluxe
• Processor:  Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, 2.4GHz
• Memory:  2GB G-SKILL  DDR2-800
• Video: GeForce 8600 GTS
• Sound:  SoundMAX integrated Digital HD Audio, onboard
• Hard Disks: 250GB Seagate SATA-II, X2
• Optical Drives: Lite-On DVDRS LH-20A1H, Pioneer DVR-212D, NEC DVD RW ND-4550A, BenQ DW1650, Lite-On CD-RW SOHR-5239V, LG GSA-H62LI and the LG GSA-H55LI

We will also be doing some comparison burns and scans on our second system; AMD based:

• Motherboard: Abit, KN8
• Processor: AMD 64X2 4400+
• Memory: 2GB, 4X512MB
• Video: NVIDIA GeForce 6800XT
• Sound: Realtek AC97 (onboard)
• Hard Disks: 250GB Seagate X2
• Optical Drives: Lite-On SHM-165H6S, Lite-On SOHR-5239V, Plextor PX-760A, ASUS DRW-1814BL, Sony DRU830A, BenQ DW1655.

Software

Windows Vista Business 32-bit is installed on both test systems.  We will also be using the following software for this review:

• Nero Burning Rom 7 Ultra Enhanced 7.9.6.0
• Nero CD-DVD Speed 4.7.5.0
• Nero InfoTool 4.4.1.0
• Slysoft CloneCD 5.3.0.5
• K-Probe 2.5.2

The LG GSA-H55LI retail ships with the software bundle which includes:

• CyberLink PowerDVD
• CyberLink PowerProducer
• Nero Express
• Nero InCD

We have included some screen shots of this Installation CD and its contents below:

As always LG is very generous with their included software bundle.

Installation and Supported Features

Installation was smooth and without problem; we hooked the drive up via the SIIG SCPE4B12S4 PCI IDE Controller Card.

Book type (bitsetting)

Automatic bitsetting is supported by the LG GSA-H55LI.  DVD+R, and DVD+R DL will burn with the DVD-ROM booktype; the drive will remember these settings so once you have them set you won’t need to change them unless you want to make future changes.

Using Nero CD-DVD Speed we can see that the Booktype settings are now set to DVD-ROM.

We can ensure that our discs were truly written with DVD-ROM book type by checking the “Disc Info” section from within Nero CD-DVD Speed.  The information should look like this:

Writing technology      

Let’s now take a look at the writing technology of the LG GSA-H55LI:

These tests were done using CD-Speed and we wrote a full disc at the drive’s maximum speed.

CD-Recordable

Specification on the LG GSA-H55LI state it should be able to write CD-R media at a maximum speed of 48X; let’s take a look and see how it did.

The LG GSA-H55LI uses CAV, (Constant Angular Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 48X. This gives an average speed of 36.59X and a total writing time of 2 minutes and 45 seconds.

CD Re-writable

According to the specifications of the LG GSA-H55LI it should be able to write CD-RW media at a maximum speed of 32X.

The LG GSA-H55LI uses Z-CLV, (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 32X. This gives an average speed of 25.80X and a total writing time of 3 minutes and 30 seconds.

20x DVD+R/-R writing speed

According to the specification of the LG GSA-H55LI, it should be able to write DVD+R/-R media at a maximum speed of 20X.

20x DVD+R

The LG GSA-H55LI uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at the maximum supported speed of 20x. This results in an average write speed of 14.91x and a writing time of just 4 minutes and 59 seconds.

20x DVD-R

The LG GSA-H55LI uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD-R at the maximum supported speed of 20x. This results in an average write speed of 14.95x and a writing time of just 4 minutes and 36 seconds.

8x DVD+RW

The LG GSA-H55LI uses Z-CLV (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+RW at 8x. The average speed is 7.73x and total writing time is 8 minutes and 16 seconds.

6x DVD-RW

The LG GSA-H55LI uses CLV (Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-RW at 6x. The average speed is 6.01x and total writing time is 10 minutes and 21 seconds.

10x DVD+R DL

According to the specifications of the LG GSA-H55LI, it should be able to write DVD+R DL at a maximum speed of 10X.

The LG GSA-H55LI uses P-CLV, (Partial Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 10X. This gives an average speed of 9.09X and a total writing time of 14 minutes and 04 seconds.

10x DVD-R DL writing speed

According to the specifications of the LG GSA-H55LI, it should be able to write DVD-R DL at a maximum speed of 10X.  However, we did not have any of the high speed –R media available for testing, so we have provided the write strategy on a 4X DVD-R DL media.

The LG GSA-H55LI uses CLV, (Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 4X for this media.   This gives an average speed of 3.94X and a total writing time of 27 minutes and 55 seconds.

12X DVD-RAM writing speed

The LG GSA-H55LI is, according to the specifications, is able to write DVD-RAM at 12X.

The LG GSA-H55LI uses P-CLV, (Partial Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 12X. This gives an average speed of 10.07X and a total writing time of 5 minutes and 44 seconds.

Now let’s take a look at the new SecurDisc Technology offered by LG Electronics and Nero.

Introduction

SecurDisc