LG Electronics GGCH20L Black Blu-ray/HD-DVD Reader & Dual Layer DVD±RW Writer

LG HD-DVD / Blu-Ray DVD Player

Posted Feb 2, 2008 - I built a HTPC, with one of the requirements to play back both HD-DVD & Blu-Ray discs. I wanted to play the sideline during the HD battles, yet be able to enjoy HD content. If I were to buy two standalone players, I'd spend about $600, and have to deal with having two players. For less than half of that, I could have the convenience of a single drive that would play both formats. And on top of this, it would also act as a Burner for normal DVDs. Installation was a snap. The package came with a SATA cable and a IDE power adapter. My home-built computer recognized the drive right away. I then installed the bundled CyberLink PowerDVD Ultra software. This is where the fun started! I was asked to download the latest updates right away, which was kind of a pain. They did include a utility to test whether my system was ready to play HD-DVD & Blu-Ray discs, and everything passed. I like this utility. I am using Windows Vista Ultimate. I was able to play a HD-DVD disc (Planet Earth) with no video issues, but had problems with the audio. The only option for audio was 2-channel! The OEM version of PowerDVD Ultra only does stereo playback! Argh! However, after reading some user forums, I found that if you select SPDIF output, you can downmix to dolbydigital / dts 5.1. Whew! However, the downside to a HTPC at current moment is there is no way to get true HD audio out of your computer. The Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD formats cannot be passed over SPDIF as the bitrates are too high. Instead, they need to go out over HDMI or analog. The computers cannot output HD audio over HDMI right now, as while the video cards can mix in the audio into the HDMI output, this is only SPDIF audio. I tried using analog, but just had too many issues with Vista. As a result, I am only using the standard digital audio formats, and not the new high-definition ones.

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Awesome Blu-ray / HD-DVD Deal

Posted Feb 2, 2008 - This drive does what it's supposed to. You just have to be aware of the challenges involved in trying to get HD movies to play at their best. I use it as part of a living room HTPC connected by a DVI-to-HDMI cable to a Panasonic 1080p plasma. For the easiest installation and best movie experience you will need an HDCP-enabled graphics card, a sound card with analog speaker output (PowerDVD Ultra downsamples any audio going out digitally), and a full retail version of PowerDVD Ultra for analog multichannel support (the included OEM version only supports 2-channel). I was also somewhat disappointed to learn that Windows XP MCE 2005 does not support playback of Blu-ray or HD-DVD within it's MCE interface. PowerDVD has to load the disc and play it directly, so you have to leave the MCE interface. Fortunately, I was able to program my remote for PowerDVD, but not every HTPC may be able to do that. So the HD movie experience is not seamless if you still have XP MCE in your HTPC. So, is all this hassle still worth it for HD-DVD / Blu-ray movie watching? You bet it is!! If set up right, you will have a flawless picture, and crisp HD audio! You will never want to go to the cinema again!!

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GGC-H20L Black Blu-ay/HD-DVD Reader - - Fantastic Drive.

Posted Jan 1, 2008 - Why settle for a single format when you can have both at the same price without compromising quality? Future-proof your system with this drive. As for playback - I can say it is problem free for blu ray (don't have HD-DVD media yet). Picture is amazing on 120" screen from 720p projector. Worth the money to upgrade from std DVD.

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LG 16x Internal Blu-ray/HD DVD

Posted Jan 30, 2008 - The LG driver works great on my HTPC connected to a HDTV. I am able to use my media remote (with the right firmware). I was not a big fan of LG, but this item changed my mind about LG. Now I looking into LG products in a different way.

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HD content can display over any connector to HDTV

Posted Feb 13, 2008 - Great device for reading those HD movies of any flavor, be it HD-DVD or Blu-ray. Install Slysoft's AnyDVD-HD and you can watch your Hi-def movies no matter what connector you use to output to your TV.

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Dual HD Formats for a lot less money

Posted Apr 1, 2008 - This well-priced combo player does everything that it's supposed to do, but it's important to remember that your computer has to have the right software to play back BluRay and HD-DVD. To get a 1080p picture, you also have to have a graphics card, driver, connection and display that are all HDCP-compliant. Finally, shunting the picture to your big-screen TV in the living room will also require considerable time and troubleshooting. BluRay studio movie manufacturers have gone to a lot of trouble to restrict that severely; there are workarounds, but they aren't always successful. On a more superficial note, I wish LG offered it with a chrome/gray-colored front bezel so it would look more seamless with the rest of my computer.

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GGC-H20L Blue-ray/HD-DVD Combo Drive

Posted Dec 20, 2007 - One of the best drive I have bought for years. The playback for Blue-ray and HD-DVD flawless on my pc. You need PowerDVD or some program that let you play HD movies. The PowerDVD that came with your drive is not the full blown version. You may consider buying a full blown PowerDVD for the best experience without any hiccups. This drive ONLY burn DVD and not Blue-Ray or HD-DVD. It connects using SATA to your motherboard or pci card. Make sure you have SATA.

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GGCH20L Black Blu-ray/HD-DVD Reader & Dual Layer DVD±RW Writer

Posted 1 year ago - Excellent drive for the price. After discovering my laptop could display 1080P video I began a search for a means to play the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD movies while on business trips. I came upon this drive and coupling it with a Vantec Nexstar DX external enclosure, I was able to play movies from the drive through the USB port. I have tested several discs in all formats with a spedific focus on Blu-Ray and HD-DVD using Corel's WinDVD 9. I have been nothing less than absolutely pleased. The Vantec enclosure I mentioned is a 5.25-inch, SATA drive enclosure with a USB 2.0 interface. The combination of the two, drive and enclosure, make for an excellent, portable device that can bring HD to any machine capable of displaying the media.

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lg ggc-h20l blu-ray/hd combo lightscribe dvd rom/dvd+-rw burner

Posted 1 year ago - like i wrote i just installed last night;but without the included software as i already have nero,and anydvd;which both should have blu-ray software.i hear that the included software is okay,but i want full audio an not just stereo as the power dvd provides.i`ll comment back later after i try a blu-ray tonight!my friend has one as does my brother, which neither one of them have a blu-ray whatsoever(can some say maybe a couple of free blu-ray movies!)i have a intel q6600 2.4 liquid cooled to 3.4ghz,2 8800 gtx evga graphics cards in sli,2 gigs of corsair pc10000(1250 speed),2 western digital 150gig raptor x`s in raid 0,680i evga mainboard with northbridge and sothbrigde,also liquid cooled(danger den)stuff,24 inch gateway hdcp ready monitor;and all kinds of cool stuff(i.e. logitech orbitcam,tv tuners,mics,card readers,klishp 5.1 speaker system;etc.,etc.!hope this rig works well!imagine what a porno machine this will be in hd!

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Great drive

Posted 1 month ago - I bought this refurb, so I wasn't really expecting software and I know nothing about the bundled software. I am running this drive on a Vista 64 Pentium dual-core 4 GB of RAM. I have a Asus EAH3450 graphics card with HDMI out to my 42 inch LCD HDTV. Using Arcsoft Totalmedia Theater 3 in Windows Media Center it works perfect. This drive plays everything with no problems- DVD, Blu Ray, HD DVD. I haven't tried burning DVD or CD or using the lightscribe feature yet, but I'm sure it will work.

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Works Well And Priced Well

Posted May 8, 2008 - Use PowerDVD 7 Deluxe HD. My WinXP Media Center Edition 2005 HTPC(Home Theater Personal Computer) is connected via HDMI on HDCP-compliant ATI card in PC. Get Slysoft's AnyDVD software if your hardware chain is not fully HDCP compliant.

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An interesting blend of quality and evil

Posted Feb 23, 2008 - I was hesitant to buy this drive on account of the HD-war that was going on, but the thought of playing both Blu-ray AND HD-DVD without spending $700 on a standalone was appealing. So I gave in and this little drive has surprised me. From a hardware perspective, this drive rocks. It has everything I need for my HTPC to do its thing. It even includes an impressive suite that helps upgrade the firmware automatically (which Vista hates BTW). From a software standpoint, PowerDVD just pisses me off. The MPAA and ACSS people have made it extremely hard for consumers to use their purchased media by manipulating PowerDVD into a crippled mess of software. The only thing I can say is, at least it's the software's fault (which can be upgraded or changed) and not a hardware fault. On the up and up, I love it.

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GGCH20L

Posted Feb 22, 2008 - This drive is a all in one solution since it can read all existing disks and burn DVD, CD. I used it for one month and be very happy with it. The software in the box is not good enough, you need pay money to buy a full version. For Blu-ray and HD DVD movies play, your processor and graphycs card need to be strong enough.

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Blu-ray won the format war, but doesn't matter with this drive!

Posted Feb 20, 2008 - Currently PowerDVD doesn't support Web-enabled content, so I can't get full use of my Transformers HDDVD. That's a knock on Cyberlink not LG, though. Setup was pretty easy and I'm pretty happy all my drives (this and 2 hdds) are now on SATA.

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Strong HD Multi-Reader Performance at a Good Price

Posted Feb 19, 2008 - I have had a very good experience with the other LG SATA optical drive I have, so when this one came out, I figured it would be a great way to hedge my bet in the hi-def DVD format wars. I wasn't too fussed about this drive not being able to write in HD formats (LG makes a somewhat pricier one that does), but quick and accurate reading of HD formats and accurate DVD writes was essential. The drive was extremely easy to install, and once I loaded the Cyberlink Hi-Def Suite that came with the drive, I was watching Blu-Ray content on my PC. (Be sure your graphics card and monitor are HDCP-compliant, or you'll have problems.) I also used the drive and Cyberlink PowerProducer to burn a DVD, and it was fast and easy. Another great LG optical product!

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