LG GSA-E50L (GSA-T20L)

[mobilenvidia]

I noticed this drive on Sale, and was in need of an updated drive to do all my mass of burning I've been doing lately.

So NZ$130 (~US$85) I though was a steal for an external Slim no power needed DVD Burner.

So what does this thing do, to get a mention here, I hear you ask.

Here are the specs:

External USB 2.0 case.

Draws power from a powered USB port (older laptops may not have this), but also comes with a power cable to grab power from another USB port (not sure why this is needed as I'm sure you'd just plug the 1 cable here)

Only exceptions would be, if powered USB port is only 1.1 or you can draw power from another USB (another machine)

This things burns this at max speeds:

DVD -R 8x

DVD +R 8x

DVD -R DL 6x

DVD +R DL 6x

DVD +RW 8x

DVD -RW 6x

DVD-RAM 5x

CDR 24x

CDRW 16x

Ofcourse no BlueRay or HD-DVD burning or reading capability.

This is far too expensive right now.

So from the above it burns all DVD/CD format.

The ability to burn +-DL @ 6x will be a bonus for me as soon as this speed media comes out.

Now the bonus I wasn't expecting or really needing.

This drive also supports 'Secure Disc', away of passwording and encrypting DVD content.

I only knew it had this after I opened Nero and the 2 new features popped up.

The drive also has Lightscribe, this I'll probably only use once just because I can.

I use a felt pen to scribble what is on the DVD.

Some folk will love this feature with the ability to design the DVD cover with what ever.

Now here is what I did, I bought this drive to put into my laptop.

It's a slimline drive, and it comes in a laptop size/format.

I took all the screws of the cover then out of the little motherboard that controls the USB to IDE port.

I then noticed that the drive is actually a GSA-T20L (but with a GSA-E50L Firmware)

I then took off the little caddy that holds the DVD in the case.

I then took out my Old Matsushita DVD burner out of my i9400 and took the little screw bracket of this.

This little bracket I then placed on the LG burner, put it back in the i9400 and booted up.

Drive was recognised properly and worked like a charm.

The drive can Auto bitset DVD +R media without any hacks or firmware mods.

This for me is a huge bonus, the Matsushita meant running a wee app to do so.

Bitsetting fools a DVD player into thinking your DVD +R is a DVD-ROM

Now the only gripe I have with this drive, is it has 5 region changes before locking into the last change.

I cannot understand why this is on a laptop which are normally taken around the world.

There is no region free firmware hacks yet for this drive, so this might be a big downer for some.

In the box came a CD full of software, from memory (didn't install any of it), only real useful thing for some is Lightscribe capable Nero.

Over all this is a great drive, either in it's external form or in the laptop it's self.

I may have the only internal GSA-T20L, as the only retail version is the GSA-T20N (no Lightscribe)

The drive was so cheap, and it came with an external case which I placed the old Burner in and gave to a needy friend.

When burning only a slight whir is heard another bonus, the matsushita was only slightly noisier though.

I would rate this drive 8.5/10 (the Region lock after 5 changes gets a whole point loss)

[Guest Fasrvwgav]

I have 2 USB cables plugged on to external HDD, it's for faster data transfer i guess, Also i can use it along with Readyboost.

I don't belivie it has anything to do with power supply.

[mobilenvidia]

I must do a speed test with this and my 2x2.5" external HD's wich also has dual cables.

The external DVD burner comes with a USB-USB cable and a USB to power plug (round plug)

[hakz]

Hey, does the GSA-T20L bitset Dual layer DVD+Rs to DVD-ROM?

thanks

Edited October 24, 2008 by hakz

[mobilenvidia]

From memory it does, did make some DVD9's ages ago.

It definitely does for DVD5 disks.

[Guest wakerman]

merda