Read Tests - Printed Media

Lower seek times are better.

Seek Times - Pressed CD 74:40.02
Drive Random Full
AOpen DDW8800 122ms 188ms
ASUS DRW-0802P 127ms 296ms
Gigabyte GO-W0808A 116ms 232ms
LG GSA-4120B 125ms 242ms
MSI DR12-A 84ms 153ms
Nu Tech DDW-082 113ms 160ms
Plextor 712A 112ms 165ms
Sony DRU-530A 86ms 155ms
Sony DRU-540A 84ms 152ms
Sony DRU-700A 119ms 245ms
Toshiba SD-R5272 110ms 169ms

Seek Times - DVD 4.38GB
Drive Random Full
AOpen DDW8800 114ms 272ms
ASUS DRW-0802P 130ms 312ms
Gigabyte GO-W0808A 102ms 194ms
LG GSA-4120B 94ms 195ms
MSI DR12-A 106ms 224ms
Nu Tech DDW-082 99ms 171ms
Plextor 712A 107ms 259ms
Sony DRU-530A 129ms 204ms
Sony DRU-540A 107ms 220ms
Sony DRU-700A 121ms 231ms
Toshiba SD-R5272 97ms 180ms

Read - Pressed CD
Drive Average Read Length
AOpen DDW8800 31.35X 79:57.71
ASUS DRW-0802P 30.89X 79:57.71
Gigabyte GO-W0808A 30.12X 79:57.71
LG GSA-4120B 32.50X 79:57.71
MSI DR12-A 31.81X 79:57.71
Nu Tech DDW-082 33.22X 79:57.71
Plextor 712A 33.25X 79:57.71
Sony DRU-530A 31.80X 79:57.71
Sony DRU-540A 31.79X 79:57.71
Sony DRU-700A 31.06X 79:57.71
Toshiba SD-R5272 31.22X 79:57.71

Read - DVDR
Drive Average Read Length
AOpen DDW8800 3.75X 4.38GB
ASUS DRW-0802P 6.27X 4.38GB
Gigabyte GO-W0808A 6.16X 4.38GB
LG GSA-4120B 7.58X 4.38GB
MSI DR12-A 8.22X 4.38GB
Nu Tech DDW-082 6.53X 4.38GB
Plextor 712A 6.21X 4.38GB
Sony DRU-530A 5.79X 4.38GB
Sony DRU-540A 8.15X 4.38GB
Sony DRU-700A 6.20X 4.38GB
Toshiba SD-R5272 6.61X 4.38GB

Read - Pressed DVD Video
Drive Average Read Length
AOpen DDW8800 3.44X 7.88GB
ASUS DRW-0802P 6.34X 7.88GB
Gigabyte GO-W0808A 6.31X 7.88GB
LG GSA-4120B 6.88X 7.88GB
MSI DR12-A 6.84X 7.88GB
Nu Tech DDW-082 4.30X 7.88GB
Plextor 712A 6.18X 7.88GB
Sony DRU-530A 6.45X 7.88GB
Sony DRU-540A 6.91X 7.88GB
Sony DRU-700A 5.88X 7.88GB
Toshiba SD-R5272 6.44X 7.88GB


From the read tests the Sony DRU-540A proves to be one of the faster drives as far as seek times go. Since the drive is almost identical to the MSI DR12A we looked at last month their results were very close.

Burn Tests DVD+/-RW Media Final Thoughts
Comments Locked

15 Comments

View All Comments

  • KristopherKubicki - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link

    http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?desc... Have it reviewed already, along with the Pioneer 16X ; we are just waiting to publish.

    Kristopher
  • sgd2z - Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - link

    16X Drive from BenQ, can we have that in your next DVD RW roundup? http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?desc...
  • PuravSanghani - Tuesday, August 17, 2004 - link

    TrogdorJW: This issue is common among low quality media like the Philips C08 and the VDSPMSAB 001 DVD+R's we tested with the DRU-540A. While forcing write speeds to a lower setting may reduce coaster production for some media, there are those other low quality media that may choke on certain drives no matter what write speeds you force on them.
  • KristopherKubicki - Tuesday, August 17, 2004 - link

    Ian@CDRlabs: They did not mention the problem to us. If you can buy it, i dont see why we shouldnt review it.

    Kristopher
  • TrogdorJW - Monday, August 16, 2004 - link

    So do the read/burn problems with cheap media persist if you force the record speed to 4X or even 2X? Obviously, buying a 12X burner and using it as a 4X is sort of dumb, but if you're too cheap to find good quality media - or maybe only too cheap some of the time - then it would be nice to know you can force the drive to fall back to a more compatible setting.

    Example: I have problems with my Lite On 52X CD-RW drive when writing Memorex discs at 52X speeds, but when I write them at 32X they work perfectly fine. Is that common, or do I have a faulty drive?
  • RyanVM - Monday, August 16, 2004 - link

    #6,
    http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?desc...
  • Ian@CDRlabs - Monday, August 16, 2004 - link

    According to Sony, there are issues with DVD+RW and DVD-RW media and the 1.0a firmware. I'm surprised they didn't ask you to hold off on this review.
  • PuravSanghani - Monday, August 16, 2004 - link

    #5 & 6: There is a SATA version of the 712A named appropriately PX-712SA/SW and MSI's XA52P has a SATA interface but is said to only work in conjunction with Intel chipsets.

    Sony currently does not have any SATA optical drives, but there is always the future right :)

    #7: The DRU-540A is not Mac compatible.
  • WooDaddy - Monday, August 16, 2004 - link

    Good review. Is this the latest drive that Sony released? Also, sorta unrelated, is this Mac compatible? Does it have bitsetting support easily available?

    Ok.. more unrelated questions..

    I CAN'T GET TO THE FORUMS!!! Are they down?
    OMIGAWDBBQTGIMSWYMGY!!! (Shake what yo mamma gave ya)

  • epicstruggle - Monday, August 16, 2004 - link

    #5 is there a dvdrw that does support sata? I know they are coming out, but is there one out now?

Log in

Don't have an account? Sign up now