Lite-On LH-20A1S DVD Burner Mini Review

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Author

Dee
Senior Administrator and Reviewer
Article posted 17 Jun 07 13:30

CD-R/RW Writing performance

 

The specifications of the Lite-On LH-20A1S state that the drive is able to write CD-R discs at 48x and CD-RW at 32x. Let us find out how the drive really performs in speed and quality.

Writing Data CD-R discs:

Write quality:

We will test CD-R discs from many different CD-R manufacturers. To really measure the write speed, we used the “create data CD” function in Nero CD-Speed. The discs were written at the maximum speed that the drive supports. For the quality test, we used K-Probe 2 which is a tool developed by a Lite-On employee. It runs under Windows and works with drives made by Lite-On. Also note that different drives and different reading speeds may affect the results obtained when scanning the discs. We used a Lite-On SOHR-5238S drive with firmware 4S09 and scanned the discs at 48X speed.

A written CD-R disc will always have some C1 errors; C1 errors are easily corrected by the drive’s error correction capabilities. The next level of errors is C2, while C2 errors could also be corrected by most drive’s error correction capabilities; they are not wanted on a good quality disc. A good disc should not contain any C2 errors, and preferably have an average C1 error amount of below 2.0 for the best discs, or at least below 10.0 averages for good quality discs. After C2 errors, there are only un-correctable errors that will make a disc unusable.

Below are the obtained results:

Brand:

Unbranded Printable. Thanks to SVP UK for sending us this media

Manufacturer:

Taiyo Yuden

Code:

97m24s01f

Disc Type:

CD-R

Recording Layer:

Dye Type 1: Long Strategy (Cyanine, AZO)

Capacity:

79:59.72 (703MB)

Certified Speed:

48x

Write Speed:

48x (CAV)

Write Time:

2m:39s

C1 Average/Sec:

0.10

C2 Average/Sec:

0.0

An excellent result to start our CD-R quality tests, (highly recommended).

Brand:

Verbatim Super AZ0+Crystal DL – Thanks to Verbatim UK for sending us this media.

Manufacturer:

Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation

Code:

97m34s23f

Disc Type:

CD-R

Recording Layer:

Dye Type 3: Long Strategy (Cyanine, AZO)

Capacity:

79:59.70 (703MB)

Certified Speed:

52x

Write Speed:

48x (CAV)

Write Time:

2m:38s

C1 Average/Sec:

1.93

C2 Average/Sec:

0.0

The write quality on the Verbatim 52x media is very good.

Brand:

RICOH – Thanks to RICOH Europe (BV) for sending us this media.

Manufacturer:

Moser Baer India Limited

Code:

97m17s06f

Disc Type:

CD-R

Recording Layer:

Dye Type 6: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine)

Capacity:

79:59.74 (703MB)

Certified Speed:

1x-52x

Write Speed:

48x (CAV)

Write Time:

2m:39s

C1 Average/Sec:

1.80

C2 Average/Sec:

0.0

Our RICOH media manufactured by Moser Baer India has burned with very good quality.

Brand:

BenQ – Thanks to Daxon (Taiwan) for sending us this media.

Manufacturer:

Daxon

Code:

97m22s67f

Disc Type:

CD-R

Recording Layer:

Dye Type 7: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine)

Capacity:

79:59.70 (703MB)

Certified Speed:

48x

Write Speed:

48x (CAV)

Write Time:

2m:40s

C1 Average/Sec:

0.34

C2 Average/Sec:

0.0

Once again we have an excellent result, (highly recommended).

 

Brand:

Infiniti Printable – Thanks to Medea
International (UK) for sending us this media.

Manufacturer:

SKC

Code:

97m26s26f

Disc Type:

CD-R

Recording Layer:

Dye Type 6: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine)

Capacity:

79:59.09 (703 MB)

Certified Speed:

52x

Write Speed:

48x (CAV)

Write Time:

2m:38s

C1 Average/Sec:

1.64

C2 Average/Sec:

0.0

Another excellent result (highly recommended).

Writing Quality with Re-Writable discs:

Brand:

Verbatim Ultra speed 32x – Thanks to Verbatim UK for sending us this media.

Manufacturer:

Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation

Code:

97m34s25f

Disc Type:

Ultra Speed CD-RW 32x

Recording Layer:

Phase Change

Capacity:

79:59.74 (703MB)

Certified Speed:

32x

Write Speed:

32x (Z-CLV)

Write Time:

3m:41s

C1 Average/Sec:

1.48

C2 Average/Sec:

0.00

The result is excellent (highly recommended).

Summary:

CD-R writing quality and media compatibility is very good/excellent with the Lite-On LH-20A1S and CD-RW was also excellent with our tested media.

Now let’s head on to the next page where we will test DVD recordable performance….

9 Comments

guest
Posts: 15284
Posted on: 23 Sep 07 22:32
Did i saw an dvd scan taken at 48x ??? Are editing those pictures to mislead poeple or wot!?
thenameis_Jay
Posts: 6
Posted on: 20 Dec 07 12:10
I have to disagree with you Wendy. 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
guest
Posts: 15284
Posted on: 20 Dec 07 13:40
Bulkpaq is cheap media that is known to be causing bad burns many times, so that could be the cause!
shaolin007
Posts: 883
Posted on: 20 Dec 07 15:57
What happened to the "advanced tests" part of the review?
thenameis_Jay
Posts: 6
Posted on: 28 Dec 07 08:28
Afterburner I could understand IF I'd gotten to the end of the burn and it didnt play or there were errors. But, to not even get past 9% of the burn kind of suggests to me that Lite_on are lying or mistaken when they say it is compatible with most discs. 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!!
guest
Posts: 15284
Posted on: 06 Jan 08 12:49
thenameis_Jay is making me think twice about getting this drive...
guest
Posts: 15284
Posted on: 18 Jan 08 20:19
thenameis_Jay Judging the drive just by some cheap media isn't very logical. Try at least four different DVD media (incl. brands)
TheOne_66
Posts: 52
Posted on: 28 Mar 08 18:28
Why does it seem that the scans were on a LH-20A1P not a LH-20A1S
guest
Posts: 15284
Posted on: 16 Jun 08 07:06
When I Check in the Bios there a problems with the firmware. It should be displaying some options below like the hard drive or any other drive like Device Type, PIO MODE and DMA Mode. It does not do that. I would Like to know why. I think that liton is a cheap brand with know factory defects. This is the worse type of device i have ever seen, i got mine a month now and it takes 2 mins to lead in the disk when burning.

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