Customer Reviews

DVD+RW DRIVE SONY 4X(DVD-R)24X(CDR)10X(CDRW)32X(CD) ATAPI

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

It took less than 20 minuites to install the drive, software & make a 15Gb partition on the second HD for temp. storage. When I tried to copy The Italian Job (1969 version) the SONY software would not get past the Anti-Copy. Next step was to uninstall the SONY software, then go to 321studio.com and download a trial version of DVD X-Copy Express. This lets you make 3 copies for evaluation of the product. I copied 3 DVD Movies, each to a single GQ DVD-R disk with compression done by the software with no problems. The copies played with no dicernable loss in quality through both the 510A & DVD/CD players. I could also play all 3 in a SONY DVP-NS725P player with progressive scan to a Mitsubishi 55 inch HDTV & 5.1 audio to a ONKYO A/V Receiver. No changes to the computer setup had to be made, it is a P3 1GHz CPU 1 Gb Ram WIN XP Home & 2 40 Gb HD's & 20 inch monitor. the system handeled the task very well.

I picked up the Sony drive a couple of weeks ago and it works great. It took me 10 minutes to install it and XP recognized it right away. It works with both +R/+RW and -R/-RW media. I personally use +R media for video and -R for data and image files. The drive is fast, looks great, and only drive that burns +RW at 4X (although 4X +RW media is still quite expensive).

Of course, it still has flaws too. First off, the price - it's pretty expensive. You could probably pick up the Pioneer DVR-A06 for a little bit cheaper. Secondly, the software package is pretty weak too. Sonic MyDVD is good for the beginner, but lacks features for the intermediate user. I use DVD Complete and Nero for my purposes. With a price tag this high, they couldv'e thrown in Nero which isn't expensive. Also, a small thing for some people might be that it does not have a headphone jack on the front of the drive, although I don't use the dvd drive to listen to CDs, so didn't matter to me.

All in all, a little expensive, but well worth it. Makes great dvds and is fast - plus eliminates confusion of which media to buy.

This review applies to the external USB / Firewire version of this drive, a Sony DRX-510UL.

Unlike the competition, Sony DVD burners will not let you create a DVD+RW disk that looks like a DVD-ROM. This means the DVD+RW disks it creates will not play in many DVD players, especially those made before 2001. For these players, you'll have to try burning DVD-R disks instead, and this gets expensive since the disks are not reusable.

Search Google for 'compatibility bitsettings' (use the quotes) to locate a detailed description of this restriction, which applies to most, if not all, DVD burners made by Sony, but not to other DVD burners.

Furthermore, though I had no problems burning Memorex 4X DVD+R or 4X DVD+RW media, or TDK CD-R, CD-RW media in this drive, I had a lot of problems burning Memorex 4X DVD-R media. Check the Sony Storage support web site for recommended media before buying.

This Sony drive is fast and flexible, and it works well with recommended media. But if you want to create compatible, reusable, DVD+RW video DVDs, I wouldn't recommend this drive until Sony releases engineering information to developers explaining how to change the compatibility bitsettings on burned disks.

You cannot get around this hardware restriction by using DVDXCopy or Nero Burning ROM or any other utility.

I purchased this drive to backup my computer and save myself the trouble of using a whole lot of CD-Rs. Unlike the CD burner that I replaced, this drive actually burns at or near its maximum speed and can sustain that speed. It takes about 15 minutes to burn a full DVD+R, and about 30 minutes to burn a DVD+RW (2.4x). I haven't been able to find 4x DVD+RW media (it may not exist yet), but the drive is rated to handle it.

Keep in mind that this drive will basically read almost any format on the market today. It can read and write both CDs and DVDs. The maximum CD write speed is 24x. Coupled with DVD X-Copy or X-Copy Xpress, the drive can be used to make backups of your own DVD movies.

The software package is ok. Noteable inclusions are Sonic My DVD and Record Now DX. Sonic is an adequate and easy to use solution for DVD authoring, while Record Now is a basic burning program. Both get the job done for me. Also included is Cyberlink Power DVD, which is a fairly robust DVD playing software.

To make things simple, I'll list the positive aspects:
-I've only made one coaster in 3 months usage (my own fault though)
-The drive is fast and so far reliable
-It works, what else is there?

And the negative aspects:
-The seek time is something like 200 ms. It isn't a long time, but the drive does take a little time to recognize the media in the tray.
-I occasionally receive "I/O Error" messages which prevent the drive from reading a disk. However, this is fixed just by opening and closing the tray again.
-Unless you get an OEM drive, the retail drive is ugly (in appearance), but that is only of minor consequence, and is my opinion.

I would strongly recommend the Sony DRU-510A. It is more expensive than some burners, but it really excels.

My configuration:
Dell 4500, 1GB of DDR Ram, 64MB video card, 60 and 80GB WD 7200 RPM Hard Drives, CD Burner and Windows XP Home Ed.

Pros:
Original Price: $286. Got a great deal: $44 rebate, $$$ credit for opening a Amazon Visa, $50 future credit for puchasing something over $$$$ and free super saver shipping!

Received the drive in 2 days!

Drive was easy to install because it was a Dell, and the OS identified the drive right away.

I've been able to use the following media:
DVD+R: Memorex 4X DVD-R: Emtec 2X
DVD+RW Imation 2.4X DVD-RW: Haven't tried any

Thus I haven't trashed any discs yet.

Comes with the following software:
RecordNow DX, DLA, Simple Backup, Musicmatch Jukebox,
MY DVD, PowerDVD.

I've only used RecordNowDX to burn Data and Power DVD to view a DVD. They do their job.

Minuses:
Wish it was faster!

Takes ~ 13 min @ 4X to burn 4.3GB off of the primary drive
Takes even longer if you use slower media.

~ 30 min @ 4X to burn 4.3GB off of the secondary drive.
Probably takes longer due to the fact that programs,
buffer and temp dir is on the primary drive.
Don't know if it takes longer than 30 min if you use
slower media. My guess is that it does.

The version of Nero I have doesn't recognize the drive.

Face plate is white and the tray is silver.

My system: Dell 4400, 512 ram, pentium 4, 64 mb video 1.6 ghz.

I bought this product and had it installed in less than 20 minutes. Excellent, excellent product. It does everything it promises. I have used Sonic My DVD and PowerDVD that came with the programs. Both are excellent. On Sonic MY DVD, you can make custom DVD slideshows or movies with ease. I bought Roxio Easy CD/DVD creator 6 at the same time and it is still not working correctly. This forced me to use the enclosed software, which to my delight....works great.

Hope this helps.

Sometimes you learn the hard way. I purchased a combo deal at dvdxcopy...dvd gold copy + $99 burner. I spent four days trying to setup the software. To make a long story short, I ended up grading my entire computer system. I am running a P3 800mhz w/ 768MB of Ram (most people who burn dvds are running with a P4 512MB minimum). I thought it might be my slow computer...ends up that Windows ME is not very stable, so I upgraded to XP. After that upgrade, I tried installing the software again, I was able to backup 2 movies and the burner was giving me trouble. It was a Benq burner (also known as ACER). Now you know why they changed their name! I decided to give it one more shot and went out to purchase the Sony DRU-510A at a local electronic store. It was almost three times as expensive. The install was easy, I opted not to install any of the software. Sony was quite a penny pincher on that. The hardware itself is quite impressive. I reinstall xcopy gold and it burned beautifully! No problems so far! The read speed is quite slow but the write speed is super fast.

I've spent a great deal amount of time researching and learning by trial and error for the past 2 1/2 weeks. Save yourself the time and aggravation and get the best burner, its worth the money. You will also need to get yourself a good software program. I regret purchasing DVDXCopy from the direct site, only b/c they charge an arm and a leg whereas you can purchase it here and save yourself 1/2 the price. The support really stinks I spent 4 days on the phone and emailed everyday (the techie never replied) Don't get me wrong the software works, but only if you have the minimum requirements and even though the company states that Windows ME is compatible they blame the OS when you call up and tell them you have Windows ME. Go figure! Why even bother stating its compatible then? Also, a note on the Benq burner, on their forum they admit they are experiencing software conflicts with the burner and are "working on it". But yet, they continue to sell the combination deal.

The media I've been able to use on this burner is Philip DVD+RW, Memorex DVD+R 4x (I suggest using a slower speed like 2.4x), and Fujifilm DVD+R. I would also suggest purchasing DVD+RW to save yourself some money until your sure your burner will work consistently.

Having had the Sony DRU-510A for 2 days, I have been able to back up a dozen movies thus far.

My next mission is to find a cheaper blank media and see what's compatible with this burner!

For anyone who finds themselves in the situation I did:

Some additional research revealed that Veritas has licensed Simple Backup to Stomp (know as stompinc on the web). The list of supported drives at Stomp's website does not include this one; in fact, it doesn't include any Sony DVD writer. They do offer a discount on an upgrade to Backup MyPC. The list of supported drives for Backup MyPC includes the predecessor to this drive (DRU-500a), and the software does work on my system. Of course you are still paying for a capability Sony claims comes bundled with the drive ...

I bought this drive in October of 2003 and it worked fine up until today May 2003. It just died all of a sudden and was flashing an orange light on the front of it. It never really did recognize my DVD-RW dics properly. Thank God I still had a few months of warranty left on it. I called Sony Tech and they told me to return the drive but I would have to pay for shipping. That is crazy! Why the **** would I have to pay for the shipping? THIS MODEL IS A LEMON. DO NOT PURCHASE. I definately will not purchase any other Sony drives and I would be cautious of other Sony products as they make you pay for shipping their broken products back to you.

I am pretty happy with this burner, it supports all kinds of media, and it is super fast (with Nero software), thanks to its 8MB cache. Only one issue is, do not forget to turn on Ultra DMA mode for this drive. Initially it was installed as a secondary IDE device, somehow it defaults to PIO mode, which makes every thing 1x speed. Finally manually switch to Ultra DMA, everything flies.