Sony DRU-500A 24x10x32 Internal IDE DVD+RW/-R/CD-RW Drive

by Sony

Product Details

Product Manual [312kb PDF]

• Item Weight: 4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00007FJY2
• Item model number: DRU500A
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #218,655 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: November 8, 2002

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Early Adopters Pick: November 2002. The only DVD-R drive that supports all four of the most popular recording formats and solves existing compatibility issues.

Sony takes the risk out of buying a DVD recorder by bringing all the popular formats into a single drive. The amazing new DRU500A burns DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, and even CD-R/RW discs. The internal EIDE drive includes an impressive, industry-standard software bundle and is compatible with Windows 98 SE, 2000, Me, and XP operating systems.

Note: DVD+RW and DVD-RW discs recorded on this drive may not play back on some older or entry-level DVD systems. The write-once DVD+R or DVD-R discs are more compatible for interchange with other DVD systems. Before copying anything to a CD-R, CD-RW, DVD+R, or DVD+RW disc, please be sure you are not violating copyright laws.

From Digital Living Today

There are so many storage formats nowadays that it's sometimes hard to avoid having multiple machines to cover all the bases. Sony's solution is the DRU500A DVD burner drive, which does it all. The internal drive can read and burn any disc-based media out there, including CDs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, VCD, DVD, DVD-R, and DVD-RW. With all these choices you won't get stuck, and considering the DRU550A burns DVDs at 4X speed, and CDs at 24x, you'll find you're not kept waiting. While some users suggest the bundled software could stand some improvement, this well priced do-it-all is remarkable for its compatibility and Sony quality.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sounds good...Rates even better., December 22, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Sony DRU-500A 24x10x32 Internal IDE DVD+RW/-R/CD-RW Drive (Personal Computers)

I suppose this drive and the premise to buy it would be based on a lot of things. Do you really need it? Well it reads CD/CDR/CDRW and it burns them all as well. It plays DVD/DVDR/DVDRW/DVDetc..etc..etc and it burns them as well. When used in conjunction with 321 Studios DVD X COPY, well i have been told by a friend it makes PERFECT copies of your DVD movies. Enjoy the options or extras in your new LORD OF THE RINGS DVD? They will still be there when you burn it onto a new DVD with this drive. Considering I have just a CD and CDRW drives right now, this was a big step for me, But im sure one way or another, instead of paying 10-25 bucks to replace my scratched DVD's, I can just burn another copy and know it will work just fine in my DVD player. Its even a SONY, you just cant go wrong with SONY electronics.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The DVD burner I've been waiting for, December 24, 2002

By 

"pressevent" (Rockville, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony DRU-500A 24x10x32 Internal IDE DVD+RW/-R/CD-RW Drive (Personal Computers)

This is a fantastic unit, burns in both the 'plus' and 'dash' formats, the first of it's kind. AND it's a Sony. AND it's reasonably priced. In a way, it's a holy grail if you're a DVD format-phile. It comes with a fantastic software suite, and oh-by-the-way it's a CD-R/RW as well (24x/10x). Sony can't keep up with the immediate demand on this, it's such a good device.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Unit BUT Software Problems, January 29, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Sony DRU-500A 24x10x32 Internal IDE DVD+RW/-R/CD-RW Drive (Personal Computers)

If you intend to just use Record Now software it works great. If you intend to use the packet writing software DLA you better look elsewhere. If Veritas DLA is installed you cannot load a DVD movie. Support tells you to uninstall DLA when you want to load a DVD and reinstall when you need DLA support. This renders this unit useless if you need both functions. Support indicates they know about the problem but cannot tell you when a fix will be available. With support of all media formats this unit is superior. Until they resolve the software issues it is not.