Sony DRU-720A: Speed Increases All Around
by Purav Sanghani on March 6, 2005 12:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Storage
Introduction
With DVD write speeds increasing, almost all optical storage device manufacturers ante up to keep up with demands of consumers and also to compete with other manufacturers. Recently, some of the bigger names have led the industry to increased DVD-R, DVD+R DL, and DVD+/-RW write speeds adding to the generations of DVD burners.Sony is one of those big names and they have produced their 8 th generation DVD burner with the now standard, dual layer burning capability. The new DRU-720A model allows the 16x DVD+R burning capability with higher write speeds for all of the other formats. The most significant speed increase has been applied to the DVD-R standard. DVD-R media can now be burned just as fast as DVD+R media at 16x. Along with the write-once update, the DVD+/-RW write speeds have also been increased to 8x/6x respectively. We’re assuming that the next version of the DRU drive series will update that 6x DVD-RW write speed to match the +RW standard. Also updated is the DVD+R DL write speed at 4x. In our 16x roundup in November of 2004, there were only two drives capable of writing to DL media at 4x speeds, NEC’s ND-3500A and Pioneer’s DVR-108D while Sony’s DRU-710A could not complete a dual layer write successfully. Hopefully, that has changed with the DRU-720A.
We’ve taken the DRU-720A and threw our usual benchmarks at it to see which areas have been improved upon. We are predicting many improvements in write speeds as well as quality, and we’ll see if Sony can be a competitor among the rest of the new generation of dual layer burners.
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semo - Tuesday, March 8, 2005 - link
#14"I used to make my own cdrw/dvdrw cases with custom inserts but after realizing how much time and ink I was waisting I finally went back to the sharpie route."
that's why i want lightscribe, so i don't have to waste too much time. it can burn the label all day, i don't care, i'm away most of the time anyway and i almost never use the cd/dvd after i burn it.
and "Take a art class or two and become more talented with a sharpie :)"
would you say something similar to this to someone who wants a printer?
PuravSanghani - Tuesday, March 8, 2005 - link
#15: Our next roundup should include all of the highest speed media supported by the competing drives.#16: Sometimes. Although, there are brands of media out there that just do not work well with certain drives/firmwares.
bjtag - Tuesday, March 8, 2005 - link
If you write at slower speeds are the errors less?Hemispasm - Tuesday, March 8, 2005 - link
Good review. Some more media scans would have been nice (and informative) though :)dgkulzer - Monday, March 7, 2005 - link
#2 - I was under the impression that all Sony drives are now made by LiteOn. At first it was just the cdrw drives but now the dvdrw are also.#3 - Take a art class or two and become more talented with a sharpie :) I used to make my own cdrw/dvdrw cases with custom inserts but after realizing how much time and ink I was waisting I finally went back to the sharpie route.
My first couple of dvdrw drives were Sony and I had great luck with them but when I got a new black case I decided to get a new drive and the dvr-108 was on sale so I got that. I don't care for DL much yet and will not be interested until the price of the media gets to about 1/10 its price now.
WooDaddy - Monday, March 7, 2005 - link
Is there a place that sells DL media for less than $7 yet? DL burner is a nice feature.. if you can use it and it's affordable. Personally, I still like my ND3500A with 2.18 modified FW. Burns TDK, Sony and Fuji DVD+/-R 8x media at 16x flawlessly. I'll need another burner soon so I'll be looking forward to Purav's next review.Keep up the good work guys!
KristopherKubicki - Sunday, March 6, 2005 - link
bofkentucky: we have a second 16x roundup in the next few weeks.Kristopher
bofkentucky - Sunday, March 6, 2005 - link
I would have liked to have seen the this up against the 8MB cache Plextor's. Are there plans for an optical shootout in the future.ND40oz - Sunday, March 6, 2005 - link
How about they test the 720 next to the old 710 with the latest firmware since it brings it up to the 720s specs.semo - Sunday, March 6, 2005 - link
meant to say media are lagging behind as usual[rant]why the hell isn't there any edit button in here[/rant]