Rating: 
Summary: The other reviews are spot on...
Review: Software, support, and documentation are very weak (1 star), but the drive itself is excellent (5 stars).I've moved it around from Fedora Core Linux (custom 2.6.7 kernel) to Windows2000 Advanced Server and now to MacOS X (10.3.4, with Patchburn II installed), and it's been quick, quiet, and never given me any problems. I've used it for burns, backups, and restores using X-CD Roast, Nautlius, iTunes, Windows Backup, MacOS X backup, and Roxio without incident. If you try to use it with iDVD, it will refuse to burn to a rewriteable disk- install a write once disk on startup, and then change over to a rewriteable as a workaround.
Rating: 
Summary: You get what you paid for
Review: Sometimes you learn the hard way. I purchased a combo deal at dvdxcopy...dvd gold copy + $99 burner. I spent four days trying to setup the software. To make a long story short, I ended up grading my entire computer system. I am running a P3 800mhz w/ 768MB of Ram (most people who burn dvds are running with a P4 512MB minimum). I thought it might be my slow computer...ends up that Windows ME is not very stable, so I upgraded to XP. After that upgrade, I tried installing the software again, I was able to backup 2 movies and the burner was giving me trouble. It was a Benq burner (also known as ACER). Now you know why they changed their name! I decided to give it one more shot and went out to purchase the Sony DRU-510A at a local electronic store. It was almost three times as expensive. The install was easy, I opted not to install any of the software. Sony was quite a penny pincher on that. The hardware itself is quite impressive. I reinstall xcopy gold and it burned beautifully! No problems so far! The read speed is quite slow but the write speed is super fast. I've spent a great deal amount of time researching and learning by trial and error for the past 2 1/2 weeks. Save yourself the time and aggravation and get the best burner, its worth the money. You will also need to get yourself a good software program. I regret purchasing DVDXCopy from the direct site, only b/c they charge an arm and a leg whereas you can purchase it here and save yourself 1/2 the price. The support really stinks I spent 4 days on the phone and emailed everyday (the techie never replied) Don't get me wrong the software works, but only if you have the minimum requirements and even though the company states that Windows ME is compatible they blame the OS when you call up and tell them you have Windows ME. Go figure! Why even bother stating its compatible then? Also, a note on the Benq burner, on their forum they admit they are experiencing software conflicts with the burner and are "working on it". But yet, they continue to sell the combination deal. The media I've been able to use on this burner is Philip DVD+RW, Memorex DVD+R 4x (I suggest using a slower speed like 2.4x), and Fujifilm DVD+R. I would also suggest purchasing DVD+RW to save yourself some money until your sure your burner will work consistently. Having had the Sony DRU-510A for 2 days, I have been able to back up a dozen movies thus far. My next mission is to find a cheaper blank media and see what's compatible with this burner!
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Get Close To IT
Review: The drive sucks.. Customer support sucks.. It is a waist of time, money and lots of frustration. DO NOT BUY IT!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Best burner for the buck
Review: This burner will read all types of media formats. Coupled with Dvd Copy Gold, it burned my movies beautifully-picture looked just like the original. Make sure the media you are using is compatible with your current dvd player. I just bought a JVC XV-N40BK and played one of the dvd-r --it was awesome! This Sony is getting cheaper, even more with the [deals] going on right now. The write speed is pretty fast for dvds and even faster for cd-rs. Haven't had any problems with this burner. If you are looking for a burner that will burn both dvd-r and dvd+r, this is the one.
Rating:
Summary: Drive Door Poorly Designed
Review: This internal drive has no bezel around the perimeter of the drive door. The entire top portion of the drive's fascia opens when the eject button is pushed. This created an issue for me, a Dell Dimension 8200 series owner. The drive's door wouldn't open as the Dell's plastic trim around the outside of the bay would block the drive from opening, no matter how I installed the mounting brackets to the drive. To enable the door to open I had to remove the trim from the chasis and reseat the drive. This left an obvious opening, which over time would allow dust to get inside the PC. Sony may have gotton a clue, the 510A no longer appears on their web site. The 510AK appears to have replaced it as their 4x DVD -/+ RW offering, with a redesigned fascia. Sorry Sony, you made me spend my $ elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Drive Door Poorly Designed
Review: This internal drive has no bezel around the perimeter of the drive door. The entire top portion of the drive's fascia opens when the eject button is pushed. This created an issue for me, a Dell Dimension 8200 series owner. The drive's door wouldn't open as the Dell's plastic trim around the outside of the bay would block the drive from opening, no matter how I installed the mounting brackets to the drive. To enable the door to open I had to remove the trim from the chasis and reseat the drive. This left an obvious opening, which over time would allow dust to get inside the PC. Sony may have gotton a clue, the 510A no longer appears on their web site. The 510AK appears to have replaced it as their 4x DVD -/+ RW offering, with a redesigned fascia. Sorry Sony, you made me spend my $ elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Nice drive, with an important compatibility limitation
Review: This review applies to the external USB / Firewire version of this drive, a Sony DRX-510UL. Unlike the competition, Sony DVD burners will not let you create a DVD+RW disk that looks like a DVD-ROM. This means the DVD+RW disks it creates will not play in many DVD players, especially those made before 2001. For these players, you'll have to try burning DVD-R disks instead, and this gets expensive since the disks are not reusable. Search Google for 'compatibility bitsettings' (use the quotes) to locate a detailed description of this restriction, which applies to most, if not all, DVD burners made by Sony, but not to other DVD burners. Furthermore, though I had no problems burning Memorex 4X DVD+R or 4X DVD+RW media, or TDK CD-R, CD-RW media in this drive, I had a lot of problems burning Memorex 4X DVD-R media. Check the Sony Storage support web site for recommended media before buying. This Sony drive is fast and flexible, and it works well with recommended media. But if you want to create compatible, reusable, DVD+RW video DVDs, I wouldn't recommend this drive until Sony releases engineering information to developers explaining how to change the compatibility bitsettings on burned disks. You cannot get around this hardware restriction by using DVDXCopy or Nero Burning ROM or any other utility.
Rating:
Summary: didn't work, spent LOTS of time fixing, worked some, died...
Review: what a colossal waste of time, all the hours I spent trying to get this darned thing to just do what it was supposed to, eventually got it working, then it died completely! beware!!
Rating:
Summary: FROM THE MOUTH OF SONY:
Review: YOU CAN ONLY BURN MEDIA THAT IS IMPORTED THROUGH THE BUNDLED SOFTWARE THAT COMES WITH THIS PRODUCT!! For instance, all of your existing music on a computer MUST BE RE-IMPORTED THROUGH THEIR PROGRAMS in order to burn them. Ridicurous? Yes indeed. But THAT'S WHAT THEY TOLD ME. After 8 exhaustive hours of trying everything else known to Sony technicians, that was their answer. AND when opening your box, that is when you truly feel molested because YOU CANNOT RETURN THIS PRODUCT EITHER. Inside, you find a sticker that directs all US customers NOT TO RETURN PRODUCT TO THE STORE, but call an 800# and deal with them. On a side note, I did use the bundled software to make a disk copy, which did work, but only after deleting my old burning software, making several changes and tweaks in my system directed by Sony, and then only when I turn my firewall off, will this thing work. Why is it so dang sensitive?? Because it blows..
Rating:
Summary: SO FRIGGIN SENSITIVE
Review: YOU CANNOT RETURN THIS PRODUCT -BECAUSE THEY KNOW IT IS A PIECE OF JUNK.
If you don't believe me, I really, dare you to buy it..
Inside the box a sticker reads: "US CUSTOMERS: DO NOT RETURN TO STORE". Instead you have to call them and if it ain't broke, as was my case, YOUR KEEPING IT. Even though it won't recognize a single WAV file on my computer and burning with it required me to DELETE ALL other burning software, disengage my firewall AND cable connection (not to mention 8 flippin hrs with a handfull of SONY techs and 800 numbers figuring all this out). The software that comes with it...will not recognize WAV unless you import them using THEIR SOFTWARE ONLY, and you will NOT be able to use ANY OTHER software to burn anything using this device. You have been warned!!
GO GET THE PIONEER...BR>-it works like a DREAM
-I now own both, and as a player the sony is fine, but recording is a whole-nother ballgame. stank up my whole night - piece of junk.
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