Customer Reviews

Sony DRU-710A Internal Double Layer DVD Writer

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I've had HP DVD Writer (n300) for a while, but haven't been happy with it. I had to have some luck with medias to burn them right. However, this Sony DVD writer burn and read all DVD+R I have. No sweat in installation at all either. It's a great drive with a solid stability. You won't regret buying this product.

This drive has exceeded my expectations. It is fast, reliable, comes with an excellent software bundle, and is VERY competitively priced.

After reading some other negative reviews, I have a couple of hints. First, use NAME BRAND blank media. You would be amazed at how much of a difference this makes in compatibility. Phillips, Memorex, TDK.... these are the brands you want to go with. Some of the lesser known brands do not write properly and work in fewer TV dvd units. Keep in mind that the quality/features of your TV dvd player may be a factor in whether or not burned dvd's will work at all. Second, if you are having problems burning/verifying a dvd, make sure it is set to 8x speed, as most media available right now is only good up to that speed. If you try to set the speed at 16x you will undoubtably mess up your burn.

So... in other words... buy high quality media, keep your settings where they should be, and have fun using this drive, because it is great!

I was a little unsettled initially when I attempted to make a back-up copy of a DVD and kept getting write errors (I think similar to other reviewers here). I was using decent 8X DVD+R discs. I first tried different kinds of DVD burning software from download.com, thinking that was the problem, however the problem still existed. Then I noticed that all of the various DVD burning software I was using had the write speed set to max. Since this is one of the newer drives, the max speed for DVD+R discs is 16X, which is way too fast for most blank DVD media out there. I turned the speed setting down and the problem was fixed--no more errors. I recommend others try the same if you experience write errors with this drive.

Therefore, I rate this drive 4.5/5.0. The drive is excellent and does what it is supposed to, so why not 5.0/5.0? Well, I wish that the drive was bundled with different software. I prefer 1 Click DVD (it's very easy to use yet has plenty of options if you need them). For those requiring greater speed, I recommend buying two Sony drives so that you can make copies directly and bypass the hard drive.

My wife bought me the drive (yes, I dropped the hint on the make/model -well, if by hinting you mean printed it out on 11x17, leaving it on her desk, covering her keyboard :) )
Anyway, it was purchased in the middle of December 2004, and has more than paid for itself by making DVDs, backing up my favorite DVDs (special software in some cases, of course) etc. I have had absolutely NO problems with it. I use name-brand blanks (FujiFilm, Sony, Memorex, etc) CDs and DVDs. Its worked like a top. The only coasters I made were my fault, thanks to tinkering. If you leave the defaults alone, you should be fine. But the drive has capabilities to play with, if you so desire.
I kick it along with a 2ghz Windowz 2000pro machine sporting half a gig of RAM (next order of business, more RAM).
I'd buy another in a heartbeat. No problem.
Note, its not my first Sony Drive, but I've also owned quite a few of drives from various manufacturers (including generic CD burners, etc), and I tend to push things to their limits. If it can break, I'll certainly break it. If I break it, and its my fault, then I don't blame the manufacturer (but it had better be able to do what they say it can).
Questions? feel free to write!
broke@tampabay.rr.com

I bought this drive about 5 months ago. Just this week it stop recognizing original CDs and CD-rs. When I try to burn a CDr in Nero, Nero spits it out and says insert a blank CD. Tried every different brand, updated the firmware, and finally called Sony to RMA the drive. I spent over 2 hours on the phones with techs who have gone over every single thing I've already done before giving me an RMA number. It's been a nightmare and I wouldn't buy another Sony product because of the poor quality and bad service.

this is a great product.

I have no problems in burn DVDs data films etc..

Very easy to install and it was reconized by my XP.

I really recommend this product for everyone, I have a Sony CD-RW for more than 5 years and is still working nicely. I hope this DVD drive will do the same.

Thumbs UP for Sony and this DVD-RW.

Pros:
Fast
Burns DVDs Great
Sony

Cons
Doesnt Read some cd's on first insert, have to reinsert cd's then it works. Reads all DVDs perfectly doh.

I got this drive about 10 months ago to burn slide show DVD's from my photos and AVI movies from my digital camera. Worked fine for this purpose. However, when I tried to play back the DVD's on my computer, they would not play. They would play fine on a stand alone DVD player, just not on the Sony drive. I e-mailed Sony, and they responded promptly with a list of things to check on my computer. I went through their list and followed their suggestions regarding checking computer settings, etc. This didn't fix the problem, so I called the TOLL FREE number they provided in their e-mail. It took 3 calls to get the problem fixed, but each time I got a knowledgeable technician (who actually spoke good English). Each time they gave me something else to try, and after the third time, they came up with the solution to my problem. Turns out the Roxio software that came with my computer's original CD drive had interfered with the Sony DVD drive. So I got the Roxio files cleaned up from my system and now the Sony drive works fine.

I just wanted to let everyone know about the good experience I had with Sony technical support. This is a good product.

I actually have two of these drives in my PC.

They work great for data disks... I usually use +R and when burning at 16x on just about any media, they're readable on any other PC. I also use a lot of +RW and have never had any problems. I've used -R a few times and had no problems. I've not tried dual layer yet so can't comment.

For DVD Video... anything I burn higher than 4x is unreadable by any other stand alone player I've ever tried (I've tried several - relatives and friends, too.)
. The burns go fine, but when put into the player, the players can read the menus and whatnot but when playing the video, there's usually lots of weird pixelations and freeze ups. If I burn at 4x or 2x there are no problems at all, though.

Forums and whatnot say that Sony support doesn't want to hear your problem if the media your using isn't on the drive's 'media compatibility list'. It's interesting to note, then, that even though they sell this as a 16X drive, the highest rated media on the list is only 8X. So I guess if you have *any* 16X problems, don't ask Sony for help.

This is a defective drive. I was able to burn a couple of disks and then it stopped working. I have checked discussion boards and there are hundreds of entries on this drive with the same problem. It will not read any disks and is now useless. I had a lot of faith in Sony products until now. I think since they are out sourcing to China the qualllity of there products have dropped significantly. I just wanted to warn you all before you bought this bad product and that you should check for yourselves. This deserves a less than a 1 star rating!!!