CDFreaks presents: LG GGW-H20L Blu-ray Writer Review

vbimport
#1

CDFreaks presents: LG GGW-H20L Blu-ray Writer Review

You can read the review here
Please feel free to leave comments in this thread; thank you

#2

This is the one I would buy, the prices are coming down to almost reasonable for me, and after reading your review I would not hesitate to get one. Thanks Kipper.:clap:

#3

This is the one I just said I am eyeballing on for 269.99 not to bad to be honest thanks Kip for the review as you know we were all dieing to see this one. :smiley:

#4

Welcome guys, this was a very enjoyable review to do. I like the drive so much I picked one up for myself too.

#5

Thank you for the nice review.

I’ve found some quirk that you might be interested in checking further:

As to it’s manual, this drive does CD-R writing at speeds of 4, 8, 16, 24, 32 and 40x. Now Discspeed confirms this (see first screenshot below and let’s me choose all speeds. So doing a simulated create disc selecting 16x speed leads to a 16x CLV writing curve.

However ImgBurn only allows speeds 24, 32 and 40x (see second screenshot). So does Nero (7).

Any ideas?

PS: This is true for any sort if dye (Cyanine, AZO or Phthalocyanine), so it’s not some kind of ATIP-style limit.

#6

How comes the Panasonic MEI-T02 BD-R media has been quoted as being written at 6x when really only 4x is supported and being used?

The IBG data from the burn + DVDInfoPro could have made another screenshot to show the actual write speed graph and I’m sure the Verbatim and Panasonic ones would look different - even though the total times are almost identical.

#7

Excellent review as always Kip, thanks! :flower:

#8

Thanks for the review, Kip. How does the drive do with Exact Audio Copy?

#9

Very nice review.

#10

Thanks for the nice review! I am new to the site, and was thinking of asking for opinions about SATA DVD-writers; since I am on an old BenQ 1640 and wanted to move to an all-SATA system for better cable management (all my HDDs are SATA). But this new toy looks really sweet :cool:, although the price is still a bit above my budget at the moment (where I live it’s pricier than the US list price). I think I’ll wait a couple of months more and then grab this drive when finances permit, rather than get just another DVDRW now.:iagree:

#11

hi,
thanks for review - great help for making a buy - no buy decission :cool:
i have already 2 of that drives - they are really great :iagree::iagree::iagree:!
i wonder if there is a region free and/or rip-(un)lock firmware version around ?

cheers - ahab666

#12

I recently purchased this drive and have been happy with it overall. I have played several blu-ray DVDs (Planet Earth, 3:10 to Yuma, National Treasure 2, etc.) without any problems. I’m using Windows Vista 64-bit with Cyberlink PowerDVD.

Recently I rented the blu-ray version of Jumper, but it wouldn’t play properly. The audio was fine, but the video was highly pixelated and had a large amount of noise/distortion in it. You could get the general picture but it was essentially unwatchable.

At first I thought we had gotten a bad DVD, so I took it back to Blockbuster and exchanged it for a new one. The second DVD is doing exactly the same thing.

I’m curious if anyone else has had a similar problem with this drive, or any suggestions on how to troubleshoot/fix the problem. I checked for new firmware on the LG web site but only found the manuals/documentation.

#13

[quote=Heartsbane;2087426]Recently I rented the blu-ray version of Jumper, but it wouldn’t play properly. The audio was fine, but the video was highly pixelated and had a large amount of noise/distortion in it. You could get the general picture but it was essentially unwatchable.[/quote]Please check this thread that has similar problem:
LiteON DH-401S & Movie ‘Jumper’, BDROM DL read problem

The problem is that this Jumper has the latest revision BD+ copy protection where PowerDVD alone couldn’t play it properly.

#14

i was thinking of gettiing this lg but i see i is sata connections to the computer…my computer has the old connections and not sata…is there a card or converter that will work for this lg dvd writter?

#15

[QUOTE=raymondtrudeau;2115627]i was thinking of gettiing this lg but i see i is sata connections to the computer…my computer has the old connections and not sata…is there a card or converter that will work for this lg dvd writter?[/QUOTE]

There are several things to consider besides the SATA connection; you might want to download these free tools from Corel and Cyberlink to see if your systems is ready for Hi-Def:

WinDVD High-Definition Advisor:

CyberLink BD Advisor

#16

Thanks for the links Kipper, I am a BD newbie and looking to buy my first burner this weekend. I love LG stuff, and this looks like the one to get, esp since I need to have HD-DVD for ripping.

Does anyone know of a model (doesn’t have to be LG) that is a 20x DVD burner and only reads BD and HD-DVD? I don’t really care for the BD-writer feature right now, since media is so expensive. I prefer to just rip to my Media PC and stream from it than fool with discs (not to mention such a drive would likely be $100+ cheaper).

#17

Hi mulox,

16x DVD burning is the fastest of any known drive so far and this may be the last drive to support HD-DVD reading.

[QUOTE=mulox;2135837]Thanks for the links Kipper, I am a BD newbie and looking to buy my first burner this weekend. I love LG stuff, and this looks like the one to get, esp since I need to have HD-DVD for ripping.

Does anyone know of a model (doesn’t have to be LG) that is a 20x DVD burner and only reads BD and HD-DVD? I don’t really care for the BD-writer feature right now, since media is so expensive. I prefer to just rip to my Media PC and stream from it than fool with discs (not to mention such a drive would likely be $100+ cheaper).[/QUOTE]

#18

It has been showing up for $229 at Frys pretty regularly including this week. And a 15 pack of memorex bd-r for 59 bucks. Its REALLY tempting. But black Friday is just around the corner… Decisions, decisions.
wildfrog

#19

[QUOTE=wildfrog;2143799]It has been showing up for $229 at Frys pretty regularly including this week. And a 15 pack of memorex bd-r for 59 bucks. Its REALLY tempting. But black Friday is just around the corner… Decisions, decisions.
wildfrog[/QUOTE]

224.99 and free shipping at the egg.

#20

I recently bought this drive, 3 different Memorex BD-RE disks do not work in it, but a LG branded BD-RE does work. Has anyone else had problems with Memorex BD-RE disks in the GGW-H20L drive?