Holiday Shopping Roundup: Eight Dual Format Recordable DVD Drives
by Kristopher Kubicki on December 11, 2003 10:54 PM EST- Posted in
- Storage
Sony DRU-530A
Enter the sleeping giant, Sony. We would not be giving Sony enough credit if we didn't say they created effectively the dual format product category with the DRU-510A. Of course, it's easy to say that it was inevitable, as Sony happens to participate officially and unofficially in both the DVD+R and DVD-R forums.In any case, on the heels of the success of the DRU-510A, we present the DRU-530A. Sony's experience in the DVDR market shines in both its software bundle and documentation. Sonic RecordNow, Sonic DLA, Sonic MyDVD, PowerDVD 5 and MusicMatch were all bundled with the drive. Documentation seems to cover everything, but troubleshooting. However, it should be mentioned that Sony has a technical support contact number plastered all over the box art and literature. Hopefully, Sony will also do well in our Technical Support portion of this roundup.
| Sony DRU-530A DVD-/+R Drive | |
| Interface | IDE |
| CD Write Speed | 40X (CAV), 32X, 24X (PCAV) 16X, 12X, 8X, 4X (CLV) |
| CD Rewrite Speed | 24X (PCAV) 16X, 10X, 4X (CLV) |
| CD Read Speed | 40X Max (CAV) |
| DVD-R Write Speed | 4X, 2X, 1X (CLV) |
| DVD-RW Rewrite Speed | 2X, 1X (CLV) |
| DVD+R Write Speed | 8X (Z-CLV) 4X, 2.4X (CLV) |
| DVD+RW Rewrite Speed | 4X, 2.4X (CLV) |
| DVD Read Speed | 12X Max (CAV) |
| Supported Modes | DAO / DAO-RAW 16 & 96 TAO SAO / SAO 16 & 96 Packet Write Multi-Session |
| Supported Formats | DVD+R (incremental) DVD+RW (random) DVD-R (DAO, incremental, multi-border) DVD-RW (restricted overwrite) CD-R, CD-RW, CD-ROM, CD-DA, CD-ROM XA, Mixed Mode, CD Extra Photo CD, CD Text, Bootable CD, Mount Rainer |
| Access Time | CD: 160ms DVD: 200ms |
| Buffer | 2MB |
The specifications on the DRU-530A look excellent, certainly comparable to the Plextor 708A. We noticed that the DVD read speed is not as quick as the MSI DR4-A, but everything else is a significant improvement over the DRU-510A.
The external design on the DRU-530A is identical to the DRU-510A, but the internal components are similar to that of the Plextor 708A. In true Sony fashion, there is no external headphone jack or volume adjustment. Regrettably, we noticed immediately in preliminary burns that the DRU-530A was not burning some of our 4X media at 8X, including the bundled media. This was very discouraging, particularly since the near-identical 708A burns the same media twice as fast.
Originally, the Sony DRU-530A debuted with a $300 price tag, but has since fallen to under $250 (and also has a $30 mail-in rebate). Still pricey, but competitive in price to the Plextor 708A. With identical chipsets and similar pickups, it's going to be a constant battle of price and support between these two drives.
Special thanks to Sony and Verbatim for providing us with lots of media for our benchmarks.
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rms - Saturday, December 13, 2003 - link
Why was there no identification/information on the physical drive used in these products? I'm disappointed.rms
artifex - Saturday, December 13, 2003 - link
Have you noticed that if you rip the ISO with DVDD, you need to burn it with that? I had trouble reading a DVD that I burned using Nero, but when I went back to DVDD for the burn it worked fine.KristopherKubicki - Saturday, December 13, 2003 - link
I use K3B and DVDTools for linux as well. Nero is good, depends on what you end up doing with it though. For ISOs and GIs, DVD Decryptor and Alcohol 120% are my particular choice of poisons.Cheers,
Kristopher
sprockkets - Saturday, December 13, 2003 - link
Haha, for some stupid reason that Sonic Software that came with my Lite On DVD+RW only drive said a new disc was already full or something stupid. Used nero from my other drive and works fine. Nero rocks, of course, under linux with SuSE and K3B and DVDtools it works fine too. Burns for me took around 13.5 min.KristopherKubicki - Friday, December 12, 2003 - link
Belzer, I emailed Nic about it. I was in fact using 2.24Kristopher
artifex - Friday, December 12, 2003 - link
Hmmm turns out my drive is identical to the BTC 1004IM. What can I say? I don't see any drives using that base in the comparison either, though I hardly feel prejudiced against, like the Lite-On people :)Anyway, looks like it does what I need it to, even has Mount Rainier support (My RW5125A didn't according to DVDinfoPro), for 1/2 the Plextor or Sony, so I should live with it for a while, right? I mean... I'm used to burning DVDs at 2.4x anyway, and now I can use the - formats (yuck, if I have to).
Belzer - Friday, December 12, 2003 - link
Kristopher: I think the MCC 003 should be identified as 8x in the latest (2.24) version of DVDInfoPro too.artifex - Friday, December 12, 2003 - link
Jeez, over $10? They must have a built-in Hollywood tax planned.I decided I couldn't wait. Fry's had a weird "Emprex" +- brand on sale for $90 before tax here in Dallas. I figure for under $100, I'll not worry about burning it up before Blu-ray... or whatever competes against it.
I'll let you know how it works... so far I see the websites on the box don't have any info on the drive :( It does seem to have a reasonably complete set of software, though. If nothing else, I can use it a little while and exchange it.
KristopherKubicki - Friday, December 12, 2003 - link
Belzer: Youre probably right. In DVD Info Pro, I got this (14)http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/storage/roundu...
Looks like the discs are just ahead of their time ;)
Kristopher
Belzer - Friday, December 12, 2003 - link
Thanks for the update, Kristopher! Sorry if I sounded rude in my last post.About the Verbatim media:
MCC 001 = 2.4x, MCC 002 = 4x, MCC 003 = 8x
Check Philips' list with approved media:
http://www.licensing.philips.com/services/db/midco...
or check this thread:
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=13821
or check Plextor's list of compatible media:
http://www.plextor.com/english/support/media_708Co...
or check for yourself with DVDIdentifier:
http://dvd.identifier.cdfreaks.com/
Verbatim probably hadn't the new 8x box art available yet so my guess is that they put the sample discs they sended to you in an old case.