Sony DRU-720A Internal DVD+R Double Layer/DVD+RW (4X+R, 16X+RW, 8X-R)

by Sony

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00078CTPY
• Item model number: DRU720A
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #93 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > Computer Components > Internal Optical Drives > Internal CD Drives
• Date first available at Amazon.com: December 24, 2004

Product Description

DRU720A Internal Double Layer DVD Writer - This drive boasts the latest in DVD writing speed and technology - the ability to burn to double layer DVD+R discs at 4x! This is great because double layer DVD+R media holds twice as much Data as normal DVD+R discs. This drive can also burn to single layer DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, CD-R, and CD-RW media. Giving you an array of options when it comes to data backup and multimedia creation! Software CD includes - Nero Burning ROM SE/Express, Nero BackItUp, NeroInCD, Nero Vision Express, Nero ShowTime, Nero Media Player, Nero Wave Editor, Nero Cover Designer, Nero Tool Kit

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pleasantly surprised..., May 6, 2005

By 

Music lover (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony DRU-720A Internal DVD+R Double Layer/DVD+RW (4X+R, 16X+RW, 8X-R) (Personal Computers)

I was holding off buying a DVD burner until I could get my hands on the (relatively) new Plextor 16x double layer burner at a reasonable price. However, it appears that Plextor burners (the benchmark for optical drives) are being plagued by quality problems at the moment, so I was forced to look elsewhere. I stumbled upon the Sony DRU720A at my local retailer, got a good price (not as good as the current offer here at Amazon!) and took it home, not expecting much.

My main purpose for the burner is to make backups of roughly 100 DVD's containing home video, transferred from VHS using a set top DVD recorder. So far, I have burned just short of 40 discs with the Sony, and I am pleasantly surprised! My Windows XP machine recognized the drive right away and the included Nero software installed without a hitch. I haven't tried all the software bits yet, mainly the DVD copy function which works great. I'm using Sony 8x DVD-R media off a spindle and haven't had a single failure yet.

Based on my experience so far I have no hesitation recommending this drive. And, at the price advertised above, this must be just about the best value for a brand name DVD burner out there right now.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Drive works well, but accompanying software has issues, June 19, 2005

By 

G. Chandrashekhar "seeker" (Sunnyvale, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony DRU-720A Internal DVD+R Double Layer/DVD+RW (4X+R, 16X+RW, 8X-R) (Personal Computers)

I bought the Sony DRU720A last month. First thing I did was to change the bezel cover to black (which is thoughtfully provided) to go along with my PC's color. All the necessary cables/screws/manuals are provided. It installed under Win 2000 without any trouble - double-check that the Transfer mode for the IDE Channel connected to the drive to "DMA Mode" as it makes a HUGE difference in the CPU usage for older computers. This is accessed in Win 2K by Control Panel -> system -> Hardware -> Device Manager -> IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers

I have used the drive to create and backup around 40 DVD's and CD's. The drive creates DVD+R's consistently at 16x without any problems. Also created CD-R's at 40x without any problems. In short it does everything I expected from it quite well (though haven't tried creating any Dual Layer DVDs yet).

My complaint (which is why 4 stars rather than 5) is with the accompanying Nero software suite. The suite is a mess of utilities and it takes a while to figure what is useful for what, or even what works (I cannot get the DVD player software to work). Recommend to update to the latest version from the Ahead software website (its free). The software is powerful enough for advanced users but is hard to use for users with simple tasks in mind - like quick backup or burning.

Overall, would definitely recommend the product. Just be prepared to have a little patience with the Nero suite.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars 9 months and 3 drives later (swapped by Sony for DRU810A) STILL not working!, March 31, 2006

By 

Altmed (California United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Sony DRU-720A Internal DVD+R Double Layer/DVD+RW (4X+R, 16X+RW, 8X-R) (Personal Computers)

The first drive worked great on the test, then the CD burner died the next time it was used... Then was replaced (by Sony) 2 more times with drives that were DOA. Sony takes forever to replace parts these days, and they lost the drive that THEY had the carrier pick up because it was packed incredibly poorly), and 2.5 months roughly after that I called to see why they hadn't sent another replacement drive... They said they "don't have any record of receiving the drive." I asked why they hadn't checked their account from the carrier THEY had pick up the drive in 2 months, and got no answer, other than they'd send out another drive & I'm STILL waiting for it!!! I've seen a number of "ban Sony" web sites (after researching this) and I can see why! Their customer service AND their product quality has definitely gone to the dogs IMHO. Where most companies I work with will ship-swap an item and have it to me often in days (Or in some cases even the next day), Sony will not do that, and it was like pulling teeth to get them to replace the last drive that had about 4" of play in the box on one side with NO padding at all between the box and the drive, so it likely ate it in shipping, and now they say they no longer even make this drive! They decided all by themselves to send an "upgrade" without checking to see if it was even compatible with the system it was being used in (even though they have a submission for errors to get their drives working and we went through a BIOS flash and STILL to no avail - this was with the first drive, which simply failed after one use!)

I'm steering clear of Sony for especially massive jobs from now on & buying hardware from more reliable sources with better return policies. Plextor has better customer/retialer service in my experience, so for any upgrades, OR any future hardware puurchases after this expereience, I'll be looking for "other than Sony" parts and customer service.