Rating: 
Summary: One of the best with a few slight flaws
Review: I picked up the Sony drive a couple of weeks ago and it works great. It took me 10 minutes to install it and XP recognized it right away. It works with both +R/+RW and -R/-RW media. I personally use +R media for video and -R for data and image files. The drive is fast, looks great, and only drive that burns +RW at 4X (although 4X +RW media is still quite expensive).Of course, it still has flaws too. First off, the price - it's pretty expensive. You could probably pick up the Pioneer DVR-A06 for a little bit cheaper. Secondly, the software package is pretty weak too. Sonic MyDVD is good for the beginner, but lacks features for the intermediate user. I use DVD Complete and Nero for my purposes. With a price tag this high, they couldv'e thrown in Nero which isn't expensive. Also, a small thing for some people might be that it does not have a headphone jack on the front of the drive, although I don't use the dvd drive to listen to CDs, so didn't matter to me. All in all, a little expensive, but well worth it. Makes great dvds and is fast - plus eliminates confusion of which media to buy.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Drive
Review: I purchased this drive to backup my computer and save myself the trouble of using a whole lot of CD-Rs. Unlike the CD burner that I replaced, this drive actually burns at or near its maximum speed and can sustain that speed. It takes about 15 minutes to burn a full DVD+R, and about 30 minutes to burn a DVD+RW (2.4x). I haven't been able to find 4x DVD+RW media (it may not exist yet), but the drive is rated to handle it. Keep in mind that this drive will basically read almost any format on the market today. It can read and write both CDs and DVDs. The maximum CD write speed is 24x. Coupled with DVD X-Copy or X-Copy Xpress, the drive can be used to make backups of your own DVD movies. The software package is ok. Noteable inclusions are Sonic My DVD and Record Now DX. Sonic is an adequate and easy to use solution for DVD authoring, while Record Now is a basic burning program. Both get the job done for me. Also included is Cyberlink Power DVD, which is a fairly robust DVD playing software. To make things simple, I'll list the positive aspects:
-I've only made one coaster in 3 months usage (my own fault though)
-The drive is fast and so far reliable
-It works, what else is there? And the negative aspects:
-The seek time is something like 200 ms. It isn't a long time, but the drive does take a little time to recognize the media in the tray.
-I occasionally receive "I/O Error" messages which prevent the drive from reading a disk. However, this is fixed just by opening and closing the tray again.
-Unless you get an OEM drive, the retail drive is ugly (in appearance), but that is only of minor consequence, and is my opinion. I would strongly recommend the Sony DRU-510A. It is more expensive than some burners, but it really excels.
Rating: 
Summary: I love Sony Products... but
Review: I would not recommend buying this as the drive all of a sudden, 1 month after the warrany expired, would not read any DVD disc whatsoever. I spoke with 2 other people in our office who had the exact same one, and they said that both of their drives did the same thing.
I would not recommend this Sony DVD drive. I love almost every Sony product I've ever bought, but this piece of hardware is not up to their standards. Check out a different model, or a different manufacturer.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Drive, but Sony has Problems
Review: I've used this drive for making many DVD transfers of old VHS tapes as well as burning CD's. The fact that it accepts so many formats of DVD's is a great feature. The only problem is that I can't find a VCR from Sony to do the transfers. Their tech support is horrible, and many of their products are becoming cheaper and cheaper quality. Though I haven't had any problems with this drive, I don't trust Sony as a company anymore.
Rating: 
Summary: Problems backing up data
Review: I've used this drive with DVD X Copy Xpress, and it worked beautifully. The big problem I am having is adding data do a previously recorded CD-R. Before I had this installed, I could add files to folders in a CD-R using the click-and-drop function in My Computer (Windows XP). Now the Sony drive is not allowing me to do that -- it says the CD is not recordable (which is not true, since I could do that using another computer). I tried using their software, and it worked when I changed the root of the target CD, including the folder name. However, if the folder had a two word name (with a space in between), I had the same problem. I deleted ALL the recording software I had installed, inclding Copy Xpress, and still it doesn't work. It's been very frustrating (since I have a constant need to add data to CDs). Guess I will have to reinstall my old CD burner, and use the Sony drive for DVDs only. What a pain. Can anybody help?
Rating:
Summary: SONY (DRU510A) I Like It
Review: It took less than 20 minuites to install the drive, software & make a 15Gb partition on the second HD for temp. storage. When I tried to copy The Italian Job (1969 version) the SONY software would not get past the Anti-Copy. Next step was to uninstall the SONY software, then go to 321studio.com and download a trial version of DVD X-Copy Express. This lets you make 3 copies for evaluation of the product. I copied 3 DVD Movies, each to a single GQ DVD-R disk with compression done by the software with no problems. The copies played with no dicernable loss in quality through both the 510A & DVD/CD players. I could also play all 3 in a SONY DVP-NS725P player with progressive scan to a Mitsubishi 55 inch HDTV & 5.1 audio to a ONKYO A/V Receiver. No changes to the computer setup had to be made, it is a P3 1GHz CPU 1 Gb Ram WIN XP Home & 2 40 Gb HD's & 20 inch monitor. the system handeled the task very well.
Rating:
Summary: Real Good Drive @ A Great Price
Review: My configuration:
Dell 4500, 1GB of DDR Ram, 64MB video card, 60 and 80GB WD 7200 RPM Hard Drives, CD Burner and Windows XP Home Ed. Pros:
Original Price: $286. Got a great deal: $44 rebate, $$$ credit for opening a Amazon Visa, $50 future credit for puchasing something over $$$$ and free super saver shipping! Received the drive in 2 days! Drive was easy to install because it was a Dell, and the OS identified the drive right away. I've been able to use the following media:
DVD+R: Memorex 4X DVD-R: Emtec 2X
DVD+RW Imation 2.4X DVD-RW: Haven't tried any Thus I haven't trashed any discs yet. Comes with the following software:
RecordNow DX, DLA, Simple Backup, Musicmatch Jukebox,
MY DVD, PowerDVD. I've only used RecordNowDX to burn Data and Power DVD to view a DVD. They do their job. Minuses:
Wish it was faster! Takes ~ 13 min @ 4X to burn 4.3GB off of the primary drive
Takes even longer if you use slower media. ~ 30 min @ 4X to burn 4.3GB off of the secondary drive.
Probably takes longer due to the fact that programs,
buffer and temp dir is on the primary drive.
Don't know if it takes longer than 30 min if you use
slower media. My guess is that it does. The version of Nero I have doesn't recognize the drive. Face plate is white and the tray is silver.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Product
Review: My system: Dell 4400, 512 ram, pentium 4, 64 mb video 1.6 ghz. I bought this product and had it installed in less than 20 minutes. Excellent, excellent product. It does everything it promises. I have used Sonic My DVD and PowerDVD that came with the programs. Both are excellent. On Sonic MY DVD, you can make custom DVD slideshows or movies with ease. I bought Roxio Easy CD/DVD creator 6 at the same time and it is still not working correctly. This forced me to use the enclosed software, which to my delight....works great. Hope this helps.
Rating:
Summary: burns nicely
Review: no problems at all with the drive. I've used cheap media and all. The only problems were if ASPI was not installed.
Rating:
Summary: No Good
Review: Only records DVD-r+r, can only use the software that comes with it (Which we all no is not the best), and can't return. Never buy, no chance, they know it is poor or they would let you return it... SL
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