Positive:

·         Supports DVD±R/±R DL/RAM writing at 20x/8x/12x

·         Supports DVD+RW/-RW writing at 8x/6x

·         Supports CD/RW writing at 48x/32x

·         Can write DVD±R certified media at higher speed

·         Supports Bitsetting for DVD+R/RW/DL media

·         Supports disc quality scanning

·         Can read 100 minutes CD-Rs

·         Reads DVD±R/±RW/±RL at 16x/12x/12x

·         Reads DVD-Video SL/DL at 16x/12x

·         Good community support and 3rd party programs that works with the drive

·         Good retail and software package

·         Almost good writing quality on DVD±R/±R DL media

Negative:

·         Does not support Mt. Rainer

·         Reads CD-RW only at 32x

·         Fails sometimes to write DVD media at their rated speed

·         Single LED for reading and writing

·         Questionable writing quality on some CD-RW media

·         High lead in writing time

Conclusion:

Let us now summarise the most important positive and negative points below:

The Main Positive Points:

The Lite-On LH-20A1P is one of the worlds first DVD-writers supporting 20x writing speed on DVD+R/-R media and one of the fastest drives we have tested so far.

The Lite-On LH-20A1P is an excellent reader. It reads most media groups at high speed and reads all media groups reliably.

The Lite-On LH-20A1P writes most DVD±R/±RW/±R DL media with good quality. Sure, we have seen much better quality burns with other drives but we can say that the writing quality is above average.

It has a very good set of features and supports many media formats. Lite-On drives also enjoy good community support and 3rd part programs here at CD Freaks.

The Main Negative Points:

The Lite-On LH-20A1P reads CD-RW only with up to 32x speed and the writing quality on these media could be better.

Also the Lite-On LH-20A1P fails sometimes to write media at their rated speed or slows down during the burning process without a reason while other burns appear to be perfect. It doesn’t affect the writing quality but it’s simply annoying.

To sum it all up, this is what we would say: “The Lite-On LH-20A1P is an overall average performing drive. Its very good feature set together with 20x DVD+/-R writing speed and its good community support makes it a recommendable drive for everyone, burning enthusiasts and the average home user.”

At Geizhals.at we can find the Lite-On LH-20A1P starting at €24.84.  

You may discuss/comment this review below or in this forum thread.

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Introduction