Lite-On SATA 20x Super All Write LightScribe Internal DVD-Dual Layer RW Drive (LH20A1L06)
Friday, September 12, 2008 2:44
Binding : Electronics
ProductGroup : CE
Manufacturer : Philips
Brand : Lite-On
Label : Philips
Publisher : Philips
Model : LH20A1L06
Studio : Philips
- SMART-BURN
- SMART-X
- ABS system reduce vibration and noise during recording and reading
Super All Write & Lightscribe 20X Internal DVDl RW Double Layer + Super All-Write + Lightscribe, Retail Black & White Bezels .
Only lasted about 91 days (2010-02-13)
I got the drive for the LightScribe capabilities, and it worked perfectly for about 91 days. I used it a lot.
After the warranty was up the unit stopped reading and writing discs. Nice coincidence huh? The computer would recognize the drive, but it would never read a disc or write a disc. My conclusion was the laser was fried from continual use.
No help from LiteOn either. After diagnosing over the phone with me, they told me what I had already concluded and I had to just buy a new one. Luckily these are cheap, I went with an HP replacement and a Samsung second drive this time.
I will never buy another LiteOn drive again.
Lite On LH-20A1L (2009-10-24)
I purchased the Lite On LH-20A1L in October, 2007 and it has been pretty resilient with virtually anything I threw at it - until now. Typically, DVD±RW drives will last for about a year before they start to give any kind of problem. So that has to be said in recognition of all of these drives. To that end, this drive only marginally outlasted a Plextor PX-716A I also bought in 2005.
I went with this SATA LightScribe because my new Gigabit S3 motherboard largely featured SATA ports for drives AND because I wanted to try out the LightScribe feature for labelling my disks. However, the LightScribe feature quickly became useless because of ridiculously expensive media, the poor print quality, and the inordinate time it takes to "print" an image. So don't waste your money on drives with this feature.
With that said, this drive will handle almost any media you throw at it, for about a year. After that, all bets are off. After about a year of ownership, I did notice that the drive won't burn Verbatim DVD+R DL discs. I had a similar problem with my Plextor PX-716A, which after a year, completely refused to read any kind of CD-R/RW disc. Oddly, the Plextor will burn Verbatim DVD+R DL discs, so I keep it around.
If you're completely prepared to deal with the problems the drive will give you in about a year, then the Lite-On LH-20A1L is a great buy. It's wicked fast (wicked noisy too) and has a vast range of compatibility - especially with those cheap discs that more expensive burners turn into coasters. If however you're worried about Double Layer disc compatibility, I'd say avoid this one.
Bad choice! (2009-06-15)
first, this was not the model I asked for, decided to keep It since I was told that this model was better than the one they used to have. This product came with nero 9. I been through hell trying to set It up on my dell desktop, I,M STILL ON IT!
Quite and effective (2009-02-16)
This combo drive is really fast and quite. Great for what you pay for it.
Cheap and works great, but a little flimsy. (2009-01-19)
I've burned probably about a hundred DVD's on this now and they all turned out fine. For some reason the drive tray won't stay open for very long anymore though and keep closing, so I have to be quick to put in or take out a disc.
In conclusion, this was well worth the money.
