LG Electronics GGW-H20L Black Dual Layer BD-RE/HD DVD-ROM Writer

H Paul from VA

Member Since
Apr 2005

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User has 3 Months of experience with this product

The most sensible way to get into Blu-Ray, even just for watching movies

Strengths:

Very attractive front panel and solid/firm tray performance. Excellent value with bonus features such as HD-DVD reading capability.

Weaknesses:

Thin plastic film, not apparently for removal, reduces appeal of front panel. Also, bundled PowerDVD software is crippled for two-channel audio playback only, with limited (and pricey) upgradeability.

Posted May 30, 2008 - This is a great choice for maximum versatility when you want to get into Blu-Ray. Currently there are hardly any Blu-Ray players on the market that are compatible with the Profile 2.0 specification for the Blu-Ray format, and at that there are constantly evolving problems of compatibility with movie releases. Getting a Blu-Ray drive rather than a standalone player is a very sensible choice, as long as you can connect your computer to your HDTV. Using PowerDVD, you can get Profile 2.0 compatibility and the ease of easy software updates as they happen. So, having settled on a Blu-Ray drive instead of a standalone player, you then have to decide on whether to add burning capability. Simply put, the format war is over, and eventually you will want the ability to burn Blu-Ray discs just as you have the ability now to burn DVDs. Why wait? The price point of this product is so close to a read-only drive, and so far below a standalone player anyway, that you can justify getting a Blu-Ray burner today. Add to that the bonus of having HD-DVD compatibility, and you can get clearanced HD-DVDs with the same video quality as Blu-Ray releases. No other drive on the market combines Blu-Ray writing capability with HD-DVD reading capability. This purchase was a no-brainer for me, and after several months of steady use, it has not failed me at all. Highly recommended.

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zipmale from CA

Member Since
Dec 2005

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User has 1 Days of experience with this product

GGW-H20L Black Dual Layer BD-RE/HD DVD-ROM Writer

Strengths:

Cool design, compability with all DVD formats, fast speed of recording and reading, price

Weaknesses:

Incompability with some video cards, getting cheaper very quickly

Posted Mar 5, 2008 - This drive is awesome. It can read all possible DVD formats and it may record most of them as well. This is a new generation of affordable internal DVD recorders. I had difficulties watching HD DVD movie because my video card did not support HD DVD format but after downloading some utility (SlySoft AnyDVD) the problem was solved. I highly recommend this particular drive for any self-built PC.

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rambocat888 from MD

Member Since
May 2005

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User has 30 Days of experience with this product

LG Covers Both Sides of the Hi Def DVD Format War

Strengths:

This will play all of your standard and high def dvds. Also burns regular dvds and blu ray.

Weaknesses:

This doesn't burn HD DVD format. included PowerDVD software doesn't output DD or DTS 5.1 -- you need to get PowerDVD Ultra retail or downloaded

Posted Apr 14, 2008 - This is a great drive if you're looking to build a HTPC and have both bluray and HDDVD disks that you want to play. Even though bluray won the war, hddvd movies are still available and are really cheap so you can load up on HDDVD movies now and still have the flexibility to playback bluray disks in the future. This is a SATA drive so make sure you've got the right type of connections on your motherboard

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HPALS from NY

Member Since
Jun 2004

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User has 25 Days of experience with this product

LG Bluray Writer

Strengths:

Versatility, Easy to use

Weaknesses:

HD DVD ROM function-abandoned format

Posted Feb 24, 2008 - I installed this drive in my media center with an HDMI output. This is a device capable of writing Bluray-R and RW discs, both single and double layered ones. Also works equally fine with standard DVDs. It was easy to install and came with a great software. It is also capable of reading HD-DVDs but that format is obsolete now. This relatively newer technology appears to be the future of high definition video.

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AXT from CA

Member Since
Nov 2003

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User has 21 Days of experience with this product

Strengths:

Excellent product,Nice design, fast speed of recording and reading.Read Blu-ray and HD-DVD.

Weaknesses:

Not yet

Posted Apr 15, 2008 - It's very clear to watch on TV (LCD Toshiba 32 inch) but it's 720p not super clear that I expected.That's OK. The drive is fast and reads every disk I've put in it. Burns standard CDs and DVDs too. I'm very pleased. The LG warranty is 1 limited parts and labor.

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tengst from CO

Member Since
Dec 2003

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User has 1 Week of experience with this product

Almost affordable BluRay

Strengths:

Reads pretty much everything, writes all except HD-DVD

Weaknesses:

Still a bit pricey

Posted Apr 8, 2008 - It installs like any DVD (although it's SATA so make sure you have an available port, but no mucking with master/slave/cable select). It comes with a power adapter so you can use the power from your old DVD if replacing it. The unit looks pretty slick and doesn't feel cheap like some. It comes with a SL BD-RE (25GB) to play with right out of the box (which is good because BluRay recordable media is still way too expensive). If you want to watch BluRay on the PC (not just burn data to discs) make sure your processor and video card are up to the task. It takes a lot to handle the decoding (which it doesn't do) so either your processor or your video card have to do it. HD DVD playing is obviously for nostalgia's sake and I wouldn't think anyone would buy it for that at this point.

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skyfire from TX

Member Since
Dec 2003

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User has 3 Days of experience with this product

GGW-H20L HD-DVD and Blue Ray Burner

Strengths:

Fast. Looks slick.

Weaknesses:

HD-DVD is a dead format.

Posted Mar 27, 2008 - This is a Blue Ray burner and reader. It reads HD-DVD but cannot burn HD-DVD. This is a perfect combo of the two formats. Since HD-DVD format is a pretty much dead format, the HD-DVD feature will amount to being useless. Since this is priced most competitively, it is worth getting if you have HD-DVD movies you want to play on your computer. I recommend this highly.

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whinsch

Member Since
Oct 2003

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User has 3 Months of experience with this product

Great HD Multi Drive

Strengths:

Reads/Writes most formats, looks good

Weaknesses:

Cost

Posted 1 year ago - Got this to go with new HTPC I built. Have HD/BluRay disks, equipment already, so even though HD is gone, it's still very useful to me. Drive works fine with everything you use most, in terms of formats. You can't go wrong. Be prepared however for canges in the BluRay movie format which seems to keep evolving - using firmware updates which aren't a problem. I wanted a reasonable multiformat BluRay writer for use with my camcorder and this is just what I needed. It works well in this capacity. The major drawback is that is is a bit pricey, as are writable BD media (which will come down in price soon). Highly recommend this drive.

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shopper21

Member Since
Sep 2005

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User has 2 Months of experience with this product

GREAT VALUE

Strengths:

PRICE, VERSATILITY, SPEED, EASY INSTALLATION

Weaknesses:

NONE SO FAR

Posted 1 year ago - I was waiting for blu ray writers to come down in price and this definitley fit my budget. I picked it up for less than $300. I didnt need the ability to read & write HD discs but i'm sure thats a nice feature for those of you who have some HD discs or blank media. Overall I am very pleased so far with this drive.

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LG Electronics GGW-H20L Black Dual Layer BD-RE/HD DVD-ROM Writer

6x/6x/2x BD-RE, 4x BD-R DL, 2x BD-RE DL, 3x HD DVD-ROM - MPN: GGWH20L

The most sensible way to get into Blu-Ray, even just for watching movies

GGW-H20L Black Dual Layer BD-RE/HD DVD-ROM Writer

LG Covers Both Sides of the Hi Def DVD Format War

LG Bluray Writer