Sony DRX710UL DVD+R Double Layer External DVD+-RW Drive (16x)

by Sony

Product Details

• Item Weight: 7 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 5.5 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000636FJG
• Item model number: DRX-710UL
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 8, 2004

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Sony's newest Double Layer DVD recorder brings a whole new level of performance to DVD burning. Single layer DVD+R discs can now be burned at up to 16X speed, burning an entire disc in about 5 minutes. Double Layer DVD+R DL discs can also be burned with the DRX-710UL, giving you up to 4 hours of MPEG-2 video or up to 8.5 GB of data storage space on a single disc. The DRX-710UL burns standard 4.7 GB DVD+R and +RW discs and CD-R/RW discs. Sony has packed all this technology into an easy to install retail upgrade solution kit for your Windows 2000 or XP PC with award winning Nero software suite. VAIO accessories get you up and running quickly and easily.

• Burns DVD+R discs at 16X maximum
• Capable of burning a full disc in about 5 minutes.
• Burns 8.5 GB DVD+R DL (Double Layer)1 discs, capable of storing up to 4 hours of MPEG-2 Video on single sided disc with 2 recording layers. Recorded DVD+R DL discs are compatible with many consumer DVD players and DVD-ROM drives.
• Also burns standard 4.7 GB DVD+/- R and DVD+/- RW Discs and CD-R/RW.
• Maximum flexibility and compatibility -- Choose the optimal DVD recordable media for your project without sacrificing compatibility with your playback hardware
• Award winning Nero Software bundle for burning all your video, music and data to DVD or CD.

Product Description

Sony DRX-710UL External Dual-Layer DVD+RW Drive - This external DVD recorder lets you burn data & video to Dual-Layer DVD+R & +RW media. This gives you up to 8.5GB of storage on just one side! Leaving room for printed labels, or marking with a Sharpie on the other. It also records to nearly every other DVD & CD media type available! Up to 48x CD-R Up to 24x CD-RW Up to 48x CD-ROM Up to 16x DVD-ROM Buffer Underrun Protection Includes - USB cable, FireWire cable (6-pin to 6-pin & 6-pin to 4-pin), Software CD, User's Guide, Warranty Card, Nero Burning ROM 6 SE, Nero Express 6, Nero VisionExpress 2 (VCD/SVCD & DVD Authoring), InCD 4, Nero ShowTime, Nero BackItUp, Nero MediaPlayer / Wave Editor, Nero Cover Designer, and Nero Toolkit

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

216 of 221 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dual Layer, Dual Enjoyment., November 4, 2004

By 

Paul Gelfand (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony DRX710UL DVD+R Double Layer External DVD+-RW Drive (16x) (Personal Computers)

I purchased this product about a week ago, since I was looking for an external DVD burner to hook up to my laptop (IBM T-30 w/pcmcia firewire card) in order to consolidate a lot of cd's that I had lying around.


Out of the Box:
The first thing I noticed was the size of the burner, which is actually pretty big compared to everything else on my desk, but with the verticle stand, it's not a problem. The drive itself looks like a high quality product, Sony even went the extra step of giving it a gloss finish.

Included in the box is a USB cable, and a Firewire cable with a 4 pin connector on one side, and a 6 pin on the other (the back of the drive has both a 6 pin firewire connector, and a 4 pin, so if you only have one type on your computer, you can just flip the cable around). Btw, Sony calls the firewire cable an "i.LINK" cable for some reason. Also included is a packet with the warranty, and seperate packet for the manuals and software CD.


On the software CD:
Nero Burning Rom 6-SE
InCD 4
Nero Vision Express 2
Nero BackItUp
Nero Showtime


Installation:
The drive is purely plug and play, there are no drivers on the CD at all. Connect it by either the firewire or USB cable and it recognizes it very quickly. After the drive showed up in my computer, I popped in the software CD and installed the Nero software suite. I'm very happy that they included Nero, considering it's one of the best CD/DVD burning programs out there.


Performance:
I went out and bought a generic brand of 4x DVD-R's to test the drive out, put in Kill Bill Vol 2, and started burning. Even at 4x, the entire process took 15 minutes. I was anxious to try out the Dual Layer feature, so I went out and bought a pack of DVD+R DL's. These things are not cheap, each one retailing around $10 a disc. After deciding on what to back up, I went to burn it. It took a bit of time, since it's burning at 2.4x, but it went flawlessly. I was a bit nervous, since I would've been annoyed (to say the least) at coastering a $10 disc.



In conclusion, I am extremely satisfied with this product. I can't find a reason not to give it less than 5 stars. It's easy to setup, it's easy to use, and it performs like a dream.

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Software problem to be aware of, May 19, 2005

By 

D Darkman (New York State) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony DRX710UL DVD+R Double Layer External DVD+-RW Drive (16x) (Personal Computers)

The machine works wonderfully, looks good; but people should be aware of a small, potent problem with the software. If you have (say) an internal CD-RW drive, and you're running Nero for it, this Sony DVD burner comes with its own version of Nero that wipes out your other version. And, this version of Nero will REFUSE to recognize a non-Sony burner of any sort. So, that's the end of your internal CD-RW drive! I bought this Sony for an office, intending to move it from machine to machine as needed, but this awful feature means I can't use it that way, because I would end up incapacitating everyone's CD burners. So, I have to keep it dedicated to a single machine. Might as well have bought an internal! What a design flaw, in an otherwise wonderful device! Whether or not this issue is of immediate concern to you, you really ought to be aware of it before you buy the machine.

76 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid Product and the BIOS has been updated., December 11, 2004

By 

Gordon (Tucson, AZ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony DRX710UL DVD+R Double Layer External DVD+-RW Drive (16x) (Personal Computers)

Paul (review below) did such a fine job that I only have a little bit to add. First I want to add that my initial experiences with this DVD burner have surpassed all of my expectations. The Nero software they provide is excellent; the DVD burner is pleasure to use. And FAST too.

I want to mention that Sony has two updated BIOS releases that takes DVD-R writing speeds from 8x to 12x. There are other advances also. And the BIOS update is so easy to do.

(...)

There are two updates. One update (says it is for the 710A but the DRX-710UL has a 710A inside so it applies here) updates media compatibility and improves writing speeds. That update is named 710A_BYX2.EXE.

The second update is for us users that connect to the computer with a USB cable. That update is FWUPDATE.EXE and it resolves some issues with WinXP SP2 communications on the USB interface.

I have now done both updates on my burner. I ran FWUPDATE.EXE first, rebooted and then with the USB interface issues all updated, I ran 710A_BYX2.EXE.

The 710A_BYX2.EXE update paused for what seemed like a minute or two at the 100% progress mark, but just be patient and eventually you should get the "inquiry" message followed by the "update was completed successfully" message and an invitation to reboot.

Upon reboot after the 710A_ByX2.EXE update, WinXP saw my DVD Burner as a new device (again).

All in all, it is pretty slick. But, of course, proceed at your own risk after printing out and carefully following the provided (on the web-site) instructions for each BIOS.


I've been burning with Fuji (Taiyo Yuden) 8x DVD +R and -R as well as ProDisc 8X DVD-R and it simply couldn't be easier.