LiteOn's latest external DVD-ReWriter is the DH20A4P. Supporting burning of DVD media with up to 20X, this drive should be one of the top as far as external writers are concerned. LiteOn has definitely done a very good job in the aesthetics, with the drive to easily find a position on your desk.

The EZ-DUB function is very handy for quick disc copy tasks and makes this drive unique in the market. It is also very useful for simple data compilations, when all you need is to drop some files on a DVD disc and go.

Starting with CD/DVD reading and error correction tests we have to say that the drive's performance was mediocre. Reading speed was good but the error correction mechanisms were not good enough. One of our defective discs was not readable by the DH20A4P, while other drives of the market can successfully read them all. Furthermore, there were some fluctuations in the reading speed, as the drive read the defective area of discs.

The writing speed of the drive did not manage to meet the specifications, as some discs, although recognized as "20X compatible" were burned at a maximum of 16-18X. In addition ,burning of some other discs produced fluctuations of the writing speed, thus slowing down the whole process.

Proceeding to the writing quality tests, the results were not very pleasing. Almost all DVDs produced POF (uncorrectable errors) and some of them produced extremely high levels of uncorrectable errors. Nevertheless, they were all readable the drive, except the DVD-RAM disc. CD writing quality was good, producing no uncorrectable errors.

Generally the drive didn't leave us the best impression. It is obvious that the firmware installed is still in early stages, and we hope that we will be able to run some tests again as soon as we have the drive flashed.