Sony DRU-540A: Sony's Answer to the 12x Call
by Purav Sanghani on August 14, 2004 12:54 AM EST- Posted in
- Storage
Final Thoughts
Being nearly identical to the MSI DR12A, we predicted the Sony DRU-540A to perform in the same way - which was not a good thing. The 540A had trouble many some of the media we tested, though low quality, but we hoped it could handle the lower quality media.The DRU-540A did however perform exceptionally well with the higher quality CMC MAG and Ritek R03 DVD+R media. The DRU-540A specifically was capable of writing to the 8x R03 media at 12x. Sony mentions on their website as well as in their documentation of the 540A that it can write to some certified 8x media (Ricoh Co. Ltd 8x, Taiyo Yuden Co. Ltd 8x, Hitachi Maxell, Ltd 8x) at 12x.
As expected in all new DVD burners today, the DRU-540A performed flawlessly on all four types of CDR media we tested. The drive's 40x CDR write speed was quick enough to write a complete 700MB disc at around 3:10. Playback was very good and we saw no issues.
We were a bit disappointed the HD-BURN capability was not implemented in the DRU-540A as it was in its twin, the MSI DR12A. The Plextor PX-712A is a much more efficient drive but also comes at a steep price. For the price, about $120 at some retailers, we would definitely recommend the DRU-540A for the average user, although there are better drives to be found. Get ready for our massive 12X+ DVDR roundup in the upcoming weeks!
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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?