Lite-On LH-20A1S detail information
| Posted by | Wendy Collins |
| Posted on | 17/06/07 13:30 |
| Number of views | 42086 |
| Manufacturer | Lite-On |
| Product | Lite-On LH-20A1S |
| Description | 20x 8x 8x / 20x 8x 6x / 12x /16x + 48x 32x 48x Serial ATA DVD-Dual, supports DVD-RAM |
For these tests we will use Nero CD/DVD-Speed to read various CD and DVD’s, including audio discs and DVD-media. As already mentioned in the introduction, this drive supports:
- DVD-ROM 16x
- CD-ROM 48x
Pressed discs:
For this test we used a pressed CD-ROM disc containing the Roxio Media Creator 7.5 install CD that is close to 75 minutes in length. Below you will see the produced result:

The Lite-On LH-20A1S reached 47.31x read speed. Let’s compare it with some other drives below.
|
Pressed |
Average |
Start |
End |
Seek |
Seek |
Seek |
|
NEC |
34.71x |
20.01x |
45.97x |
135ms |
145ms |
222ms |
|
Philips |
35.70x |
20.13x |
47.29x |
106ms |
124ms |
176ms |
|
Samsung |
35.75x |
17.35x |
47.38x |
95ms |
95ms |
169ms |
|
Samsung |
35.58x |
19.75x |
47.10x |
99ms |
95ms |
169ms |
|
Samsung |
36.25x |
17.36x |
48.08x |
109ms |
115ms |
187ms |
|
Pioneer |
31.25x |
18.12x |
41.36x |
105ms |
122ms |
198ms |
|
Lite-On |
35.77x |
20.70x |
47.31x |
100ms |
109ms |
163ms |
The Lite-On LH-20A1S proved to be the fastest drive at reading our test CD-ROM. Access and seek times were good.
CD Recordable discs:
For this test we made a copy of the original Roxio Media Creator 7.5 install CD. The disc we used was a Ricoh 52X certified CD-R disc manufactured by Moser Baer India.

The Lite-On LH-20A1S reached 47.69x read speed. Let’s compare it with some other drives below.
|
CD-R |
Average |
Start |
End |
Seek |
Seek |
Seek |
|
NEC |
35.53x |
20.67x |
46.77x |
187ms |
146ms |
218ms |
|
Philips |
36.54x |
20.94x |
48.27x |
104ms |
113ms |
169ms |
|
Samsung |
30.82x |
16.85x |
40.66x |
88ms |
90ms |
157ms |
|
Samsung |
30.65x |
17.28x |
40.52x |
92ms |
90ms |
162ms |
|
Samsung |
30.84x |
16.51x |
40.73x |
105ms |
108ms |
178ms |
|
Pioneer |
31.95x |
18.38x |
41.36x |
116ms |
132ms |
199ms |
|
Lite-On |
36.13x |
21.09x |
47.69x |
97ms |
107ms |
158ms |
The Lite-On LH-20A1S was among the fastest drives with our CD-R test disc, seek times were once again very good.
CD Re-writable discs:
Again, we made a copy of the original Roxio Media Creator 7.5 install CD; this time we used a Verbatim Ultra Speed (32X) CD-RW disc made by Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation.

The Lite-On LH-20A1S reached 34.11x read speed. Let’s compare it with some other drives below.
|
CD-RW |
Average |
Start |
End |
Seek |
Seek |
Seek |
|
NEC |
30.63x |
17.94x |
40.08x |
171ms |
166ms |
317ms |
|
Philips |
30.75x |
17.67x |
40.55x |
106ms |
115ms |
170ms |
|
Samsung |
30.84x |
17.52x |
40.68x |
87ms |
90ms |
159ms |
|
Samsung |
30.65x |
16.43x |
40.44x |
91ms |
90ms |
163ms |
|
Samsung |
31.17x |
16.75x |
41.15x |
102ms |
107ms |
176ms |
|
Pioneer |
24.96x |
14.61x |
32.94x |
117ms |
131ms |
205ms |
|
Lite-On |
25.87x |
15.32x |
34.11x |
110ms |
125ms |
205ms |
The Lite-On LH-20A1S was among the slowest drives when reading CD-RW media.
100 minute CD-R:
The Lite-On LH-20A1S reached an impressive 52.65x when reading our test 100 minute CD-R and had no problems reading our 100 minute test CD-R.
Audio – Digital Audio Extraction:
To test the digital audio extraction performance of the Lite-On LH-20A1S, again we used Nero CD/DVD-Speed to measure the transfer rate. The audio disc we used is slightly larger than the disc used for the other tests, to be exact it’s nearly 79 minutes in length (78:53:31).

The Lite-On LH-20A1S reached 48.91x when reading our test audio disc. Let’s compare it with some drives below.
|
Audio |
Average |
Start |
End |
Seek |
Seek |
Seek |
|
NEC |
31.30x |
17.89x |
40.13x |
122ms |
142ms |
222ms |
|
Philips |
37.42x |
20.09x |
49.65x |
107ms |
125ms |
173ms |
|
Samsung |
31.55x |
17.57x |
41.85x |
86ms |
101ms |
172ms |
|
Samsung |
31.39x |
17.68x |
41.61x |
88ms |
104ms |
181ms |
|
Samsung |
31.46x |
17.67x |
41.77x |
111ms |
128ms |
192ms |
|
Pioneer |
31.61X |
19.04X |
42.44X |
132ms |
152ma |
223mS |
|
Lite-On |
36.88x |
21.32x |
48.91x |
96ms |
106ms |
161ms |
The Lite-On LH-20A1S was among the fastest drives when reading our audio test CD.
DVD reading performance:
Again, we will use Nero CD-Speed to measure the reading performance, this time for various types of DVD discs. The drive should read pressed single layer DVD-discs at 16X.
Pressed DVD Video:
For our DVD reading performance tests we are going to start with a single and Double Layered DVD video discs. While only 1X speed is required to watch DVD movies, it’s useful to be able to read the discs at higher speeds if you’re going to extract (rip) the content of the disc to your hard drive.

DVD Video (single layer)

DVD Video (double layer OTP)

DVD Video (double layer PTP)
The Lite-On LH-20A1S is not riplocked and read our single layer disc at 16x and our double layer test discs at 12x
|
DVD |
Average |
Start |
End |
Average |
Start |
End |
|
NEC |
11.83x |
6.56x |
15.77x |
8.89x |
4.94x |
11.82x |
|
Philips |
12.00x |
6.64x |
15.99x |
9.05x |
5.00x |
12.04x |
|
Samsung |
12.12x |
6.78x |
16.16x |
6.44x |
3.60x |
8.57x |
|
Samsung |
12.06x |
6.66x |
16.07x |
6.41x |
3.58x |
8.52x |
|
Samsung |
12.22x |
6.75x |
16.29x |
6.38x |
3.61x |
8.29x |
|
Pioneer |
11.99x |
6.74x |
16.03x |
9.36x |
5.31x |
12.44 |
|
Lite-On |
12.16x |
6.77x |
16.23x |
9.08x |
5.11x |
12.08x |
The Lite-On LH-20A1S performed very well in our DVD-Video reading tests and was among the fastest drives.
DVD – DVD+R/RW:
For this test we used a Verbatim 16X DVD+R and a RICOH 8X DVD+RW with about 4.4Gb of data. Below are the results:

DVD+R

DVD+RW
|
DVD+R |
Average |
Start |
End |
Average |
Start |
End |
|
NEC |
11.95x |
6.59x |
15.98x |
9.79x |
5.37x |
13.08x |
|
Philips |
9.38x |
5.13x |
12.53x |
9.38x |
5.13x |
12.54x |
|
Samsung |
9.15x |
5.03x |
12.22x |
6.24x |
3.45x |
8.34x |
|
Samsung |
9.09x |
5.02x |
12.16x |
6.21x |
3.43x |
8.29x |
|
Samsung |
9.12x |
5.00x |
12.06x |
6.23x |
3.43x |
8.33x |
|
Pioneer |
9.36x |
5.19x |
12.23x |
6.25x |
3.47x |
8.35x |
|
Lite-On |
12.18x |
6.64x |
16.30x |
9.25x |
5.12x |
12.35x |
The Lite-On LH-20A1S was the fastest drive when reading our DVD+R test disc and among the fastest drives when reading our DVD+RW test disc. Now let’s see how it will perform with DVD-R/RW.
DVD – DVD-R/RW:
For this test we used a Verbatim 16X DVD-R disc and a Verbatim 6X DVD-RW disc filled with about 4.4Gb of data. Our test results are found below:

DVD-R

DVD-RW
There are hardly any differences in the speed, compared to reading the DVD+R/RW discs.
|
DVD-R |
Average |
Start |
End |
Average |
Start |
End |
|
NEC |
11.98x |
6.56x |
15.98x |
9.78x |
5.37x |
13.07x |
|
Philips |
9.37x |
5.13x |
12.53x |
9.38x |
5.13x |
12.53x |
|
Samsung |
9.18x |
5.08x |
12.26x |
6.24x |
3.44x |
8.34x |
|
Samsung |
9.12x |
5.05x |
12.19x |
6.22x |
3.43x |
8.31x |
|
Samsung |
9.14x |
5.03x |
12.21x |
6.24x |
3.44x |
8.34x |
|
Pioneer |
9.36x |
5.18x |
12.52x |
6.23x |
3.46x |
8.33x |
|
Lite-On |
12.18x |
6.55x |
16.29x |
9.22x |
5.12x |
12.33x |
Once again the Lite-On LH-20A1S was the fastest drive when reading our DVD-R test disc and among the fastest drives when reading our DVD-RW disc.
DVD±R DL discs:
DVD+R DL:

The Lite-On LH-20A1S read our DVD+R DL test disc at 12x reading speed.
DVD-R DL:

The Lite-On LH-20A1S read our DVD-R DL test disc at 12x reading speed.
DVD-RAM:

The Lite-On LH-20A1S read our DVD-RAM disc at 12x using a P-CAV reading method.
Summary:
The Lite-On LH-20A1S really does have excellent reading performance, proving to be a fast and reliable reader.
Now let’s head over to the next page where we will test CD-R/RW writing performance……

Are editing those pictures to mislead poeple or wot!?


I am in the process of sending back a 600 pack of 'Bulkpaq 8X DVD+R' to SVP because I cannot get a single disc to burn past the lead in stage. Tried with old AND updated firmware.
Unless I've been very unlucky I'd say its an awful drive






Since then I have now purchased Verbatim Discs with the completely identical results.
Absolutely horrible piece of hardware this Lite-on garbage turned out to be for me. Never again!!




Judging the drive just by some cheap media isn't very logical. Try at least four different DVD media (incl. brands)




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