Customer Reviews

Sony DRU840A 20x Internal Dual-Layer DVD Burner

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This was my first time installing internal PC hardware. The illustrated instructions are short and simple. I had it going in a very short time and have burned 4 DVD's (Maxell brand DVD+R) all with success. Used 8x writing speed to make sure my computer could keep up, so I have not tested it on higher speeds.
The bundled Nero software is also easy to use without reading any manual and made a very professional looking DVD menu easily.

I purchased this burner at Best Buy to replace my Lite-On Dvd burner which had died. The Lite-on didn't work well when it was healthy! The Sony which was only 54.00 installed in minutes and had me burning DVD's within half an hour. It burns fast and flawlessly... I have yet to make a coaster on this burner. Buy it, you'll love its' depenability.

I bought this DVD burner about a month ago and I have to say, it works great. Every piece of media I've thrown at it has been read from and written to without issues. It's very quiet when burning and, of course, very fast. I have yet to have one failed burn (except the one time I tried the "overburn" option on my burning program which supposedly allows you to burn a little extra data than the disc can handle, I don't know how it planned to accomplish this but it didn't work out in the end, maybe you need some kind of special media).

I'm using this on an Ubuntu Linux system (7.10 and then 8.04) (even though it says "Windows" all over the box, don't let that faze you if you're using Mac OS X, Linux, or any other operating system). I installed it internally into my Dell Dimension 8100 and it worked like a charm. Haven't tried it under Windows yet but I'm sure it works just as well.

Oh, and one thing I didn't notice when buying it is that it has an additional faceplate set, for those of you with a black case. The instructions for changing out the face plate were slightly incomprehensible, but I figured them out in the end.

Overall, I'm glad I payed the few extra dollars for a Sony. Their quality in computer components is still pretty damn good.

It works great. Much faster than the one we previously owned and now able to do dual layer DVDs. We would highly recommend this burner.

I needed a new drive because the Memorex drive that I spent top dollar on 2 years ago won't write to the newest 16x blank DVDs (the only ones available now!) and can not be updated to do so. Since the drive isn't that old, I even contacted Memorex to see if they could help me somehow - their indifferent customer service reps basically told me what I already knew - I'm SOL. (Note to self: NEVER buy Memorex hardware again!)

This drive installed easily - my WinXP SP2 box recognized it instantly. The bundled Nero 7 software is much improved over the Nero 6 software that came with my Memorex drive, especially in the way it updates itself. The drive has a good, solid, quality feel to it. It is surprisingly quiet, very fast, and entirely accurate. (No coasters yet!) I couldn't be happier.

I have tried before other brands like LG and Samsung and they always give me headaches and lots of bad burned discs. I bought a Sony originally for my PC and it works wonders, never gave me a bad disc so I decided to buy this for my Dad who wanted to backup some of his personal files. He owns an HP computer bought at Office Depot no more than 2 years ago and its burner turned out defective last month when we first tried to burn his files. It is just a piece of junk. Now with the Sony burner he was able to backup his files so easily. Installation was ok and simple, I think it depends mostly on the chassis, except that the tray is a little bit wider than the aperture on the front of the HP chassis we just had to switch position with the hard drive.

Sony is always a synonym of trust. And now the burners are cheaper than ever.

It is best to have 2 DVD writers, and not the same brand, so that at least one of them then will be likely to play any playable disc. One external DVD writer using USB 2.0 is nice, because you can move it between computers if the need arises. However that might be more expensive.

I.e., often it is best to order only one DVD writer with your computer, and for the other:

a) Surf the Amazon reviews and decide which brands are the best, excluding whatever brand came with your computer.
b) Take note of the 'Processor' speed of your computer
(Start...Accessories...System Tools...System Information. Never mind whether it is 'Pentium' or not. It is the 'Mhz' value for the 'Processor' that counts.)
c) Wait until one such brand with appropriate processor requirements is on sale at a good price and then buy it--whether it is 'internal' or 'external.'

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P.S.--Click the 'comments' link below for some excellent points on compatability by Phillip Rayner.
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In my case, I actually had no internal DVD writer, but one external HP DVD-1040. I wanted another for my now frequent DVD copying and to prevent early wear--and I did not want 2 externals. So when I spotted this internal Sony DRU-840 on sale for $50, I made my move.

I managed to install this myself, without reading the full instructions, and without finding the instructions to my Dell Dimension 2400 either.

The 'quick start' guides that come with the DRU-80 are encouraging, but not quite accurate for the Dell. Firstly, only one side of the case opens, not the entire case. This means that only one side of the bay is easily accessible, so screws etc. are put only on one side.

Secondly, the Dell tower has a plastic frame over the front, which needs to swing open, to allow for the new unit to slide in. To do so, you need to feel around the inside of that plastic frame, until you find one of two plastic clasps, and push it outwards. (A man with thick fingers might need a smaller person to do this. The upper clasp might also be released by pressing on a steel spring that can be seen, but on mine that doesn't work.)

Thirdly, after the installation, I had to use a utility knife to trim away some of the Dell's plastic frame, because it was in the way of the opening of the tray of the DRU-840A.

Incidentally:

--I originally assumed that I would need to remove the CD drive that came with my Dell. That might have been complicated. Fortunately, by poking around with a flat screwdriver, I discovered that a section of the Dell's plastic frame could be removed, to reveal a space for a second bay, without removing the existing CD writer! 'Slave' plugs, as depicted in the Sony quickstart guides, were all there and waiting.

--Then, as also clearly depicted in a Sony quickstart guide, the main thing is to determine whether your new DVD writer is to be a 'master' or a 'slave.' In my case, leaving in the old CD writer, and adding this new DVD writer onto the extra plugs on the same cable, clearly made this a 'slave' unit. This meant I needed to move the position of a white connector, on the back of the DVD writer, as depicted in the Sony quickstart guide.

--This Sony comes with a white plastic face, and includes a black plastic face. My Dell is black, but I left on the white face. It looks alright. Also, this gave me a white space just inside the tray on which to write with a Sharpie, 'DRU-840A.' Otherwise there is no label. (However you can always right-click on the drive's icon for its 'properties' inside of your 'My Computer' folder.)

So far, I have copied about two dozen DVD's with no trouble. Except sometimes, I have to re-insert a blank DVD a couple times for the software to recognize it as blank media.

I purchased this dvd burner because my old one was done. It was old and didn't like the new dual layer format. This product works well. Great value for a great price, and it's a Sony. Sony usually has good products that last and it is a name you can trust. Haven't had any problems. It also has a reversible faceplate, so you could have either black or white drive cover. It also had lightscribe, if you want to make more professional looking discs. Definately worth looking into when purchasing a dvd drive.

I too had a Dell with a dead DVD-RW drive. I purchased this unit as a replacement. It installed flawlessly and although I don't care too much for the software yet the unit works very well and that's what matters!

My old Pioneer DVD writer was too slow for my needs although for the last 3 years it had been a great workhorse. So I was looking for something faster. The SONY DRU840A perfectly fit my requirements. It is fast, no doubt about that, it is also very silent and at the price I paid ($42.00) it can't get any better than that.

Just a word of caution to buyers. If you already have a DVD writer installed on your PC and you are using XP Pro, after you install a second DVD writer for some reason the OS get confused and stops reading CD-Rs although writing is not a problem. But the issue is not due to the DRU840A. I believe the moment you install any 2 DVD burners on your XP Pro PC, you are most likely to notice this problem. I am unable to get rid of this, so as a workaround I transfer data from my CD-R to a flash drive and use it on my PC.