Sony NEC Optiarc right back at the top again
Posted on 19/12/07 19:31 by Seán Byrne                             
Sony NEC Optiarc right back at the top again

Our Device Coordinator and Senior Reviewer Wendy Collins has written in the following complete news submit:

For the last couple of years, NEC (now Sony NEC Optiarc) have produced DVD burners, probably starting with ND-455x series of drives and continuing up to the AD-717x series, which although in most parts operated within the manufacturers specification, failed to produce the performance or writing quality of its main rivals.

Sony NEC Optiarc would appear to be right back up there with the ODD big guns, with their new series of 20x writing speed drives, the AD-720x/520x series. They are as fast as the Samsung SH-S203B and writing quality is as good as the legendary Pioneer DVR-112 series of drives.

Model line up:

  • AD-5200 : 20x without DVD-RAM support (manufactured by Optiarc)
  • AD-7200 : 20x with DVD-RAM support (manufactured by Optiarc)
  • AD-7201 20x with DVD-RAM and LightScribe support (manufactured by Lite-On)
  • AD-7203 20x with DVD-RAM and LabelFlash support (manufactured by Optiarc)

Liggy has already produced a series of patched firmware for the new drives (except AD-7201) with support for full bitsetting and can be found at the Liggy and Dee firmware page. 

There are also a few threads started in the NEC/Optiarc forum, showing some excellent results with these drives, here (AD-7200) and here (AD-7203).

Reactions
Discuss this article with your fellow community members! We appreciate your valuable input, but please keep the reaction policy in mind and make sure your reaction is constructive.
By CD_FREAK (guest), Thu 20 Dec 2007 05:07
Is there some sinister copy protection/content protection/copy prevention or some similar shitty end-user rights circumvention mechanism built into these drives. It will probably prevent you from burning .avi or .mp3 movies to your discs. Worse, they might prevent you from backing up your Audio CDs or DVDs. I am never gonna buy anything that has anything to do with SONY.
By foxkilla, Thu 20 Dec 2007 09:31
this drive is superb, it burns all types of files i n super quick time nec have a drive to rival the best, at last!
By zag2me, Thu 20 Dec 2007 16:02
sounds great except it has sony's name on it. no thanks!
By A_Moron_Fanboy (guest), Thu 20 Dec 2007 16:22
I'll buy DRM products. But only if it's NOT from Sony.
By Dee-27, Fri 21 Dec 2007 00:26
Dee-27There is no DRM in this drive, or any other Optiarc drive. The suggestion that its there, is ill informed. The drives are manufactured by NEC and as far as we know, are also designed by NEC. There is certainly no DRM involved.
By dentman42, Fri 21 Dec 2007 04:48
Dee, it is true that all of the new Optiarc DVD drives going forward will be rebadged Lite-Ons? And will you and Liggy continue your work on the Lite-On rebadges?
By Liggy, Fri 21 Dec 2007 10:36
LiggyThe latest Optiarc drives (7200, 7203) are based on a NEC chipset again, so no LiteOn here and no need to worry about us working on the drives. Wink
By FidelC, Fri 21 Dec 2007 21:32
FidelC"Posted by A_Moron_Fanboy (guest) on Thursday 20 December 2007 16:22 I'll buy DRM products. But only if it's NOT from Sony. " I hope you are joking. I mean if its crap it Will stink, no matter the origin supergrin
By A_Moron_Fanboy (guest), Fri 21 Dec 2007 22:15
"...it Will stink, no matter the origin supergrin" I agree 1000% but there are some people who come here who genuinely WILL buy DRM junk from anyone other than Sony. One will be along shortly.
By zebadee (guest), Sat 22 Dec 2007 15:33
I can't really see that NEC have turned the corner. Since the 3520 things haven't been upto the competition. Liggy & Dee's f/w the saving grace! When it was 1st released that Lite-On would be involved in the production of NEC drives. It was stated that this was not to include the Sony/NEC Optiarc range. A year later & this has not been adhered to. The Lite-On clones are more expensive than the Lite-On's. With performance, as expected. Identical !!! Are the other Optiarcs really going to be Lite-On free? As for writing quality the NEC isn't as consistant as the Pioneer 112/212. Particularly when it comes to Dual Layer. Nor is it as quiet or as smooth in its operation.
By Liggy, Sat 22 Dec 2007 22:20
LiggyThe 5200/7200 and 7203 drives are definitely no Lite-On clones. We cannot say what future drives will bring, but that's probably the case for all manufacturers.
By zebadee, Sun 23 Dec 2007 12:00
Hi, Sorry didn't make it clear. By Lite-On free. I mean't even with NEC chipset, will the Optiarc still be free from Lite-On production. As this would, in my opinion affect reliability/quality etc. Sales will no doubt make the decision as to whether NEC as such survives. Let's hyope so. For Pioneer owner's too. cool
This message was edited at: 23-12-2007 12:04

Name: Email:



Your comment:

Receive notification on new comments?