detail information

Test machine:

For this review we will be using a computer with the following configuration:

Hardware:

• Motherboard: ECS Elitegroup N2U400-A with Nvidia nForce 2 Ultra-400 and nForce MCP chipset.
• Processor: AMD Athlon XP 2800+ (Barton) 333 MHz FSB.
• RAM: 1 GB Infineon PC2700 DDR
• GFX: ATI Radeon 9600 XT
• Sound: SoundBlaster Audigy
• Hard disk: Samsung SP1614N 160 GB.

System set-up:

The NEC ND-3540A was connected as Secondary Master and identified itself as _NEC DVD_RW ND-3540A. DMA (Direct Memory Access) and autorun was enabled for all devices.

Software:

Windows XP Professional is installed on the computer along with Service Pack 2 for Windows XP. We will be using the following software in this review:

• Ahead Nero Burning ROM version 6.6.13
• Ahead Nero CD/DVD Speed v3.80 / V4.0
• Ahead Nero Info Tool v3.0
• Slysoft CloneCD v5.2.5.1
• DVD-Identifier 4.0.1
• Exact Audio Copy v0.95 beta 2
• K-Probe v2.4.2 / v2.4.3

Now it's time to take a closer look at the write technology used by the NEC ND-3540A:

CD-Recordable:

The NEC ND-3540A uses CAV, (Constant Angular Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 48X. This gives an average speed of 36.43x. Two drives for comparison are found below.

The Samsung TS-E552U uses P-CAV (Partial-Constant Angular Velocity) to write at its rated speed of 40x. This gives an average speed of 34.39x.Two drives for comparison are found below.

The LG GSA-5160D uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 40X. The drive wrote the last zone at 40.41X and this gives an average speed of 31.70x.

 For comparison we have made the following table: 

As we can read from the table, the NEC ND-3540 is among the fastest drives, writing CD-R's.

CD-Rewritable:

The NEC ND-3540A uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity writing technology to write at 32X for CD-RW discs, the average speed is 29.75x. Below are some other drives for comparison:

The NU DHW-164 uses P-CAV (Partial-Constant Angular Velocity) writing technology to write at 24X for CD-RW discs, the average speed is 23.16x.

The LaCie d2 DVD±RW Double Layer uses CLV (Constant Linear Velocity) writing technology to write at 16X for CD-RW discs, the average speed is 16x. For a better overview we present the following comparison table:

As we can see from the table, the NEC ND-3540 is among the fastest drives writing CD-RWs.

16X DVD+R/-R Writing speed:

The NEC 3540A uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at 16x. This gives an average writing speed of 11.81x and a writing time of 5 minutes and 58 seconds.

The NEC 3540A uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD-R at 16x. This gives an average writing speed of 11.80x and a writing time of 5 minutes and 52 seconds. Below are some other drives for comparison:

The Philips DVDR16LS uses CAV, (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at 16x. The average speed is 11.33x and total writing time is 6 minutes and 8 seconds. The average speed is lower and the writing time is higher than it could have been due to the Walking OPC generation 2 using some time to constantly adjust the writing quality, we could see this as constant dips in the speed curve.

The LG GSA-5160D uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+R at 16x. The average speed is 11.60x and total writing time is 6 minutes and 12 seconds.

The LG GSA-4163B uses P-CAV, (Partial-Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD-R at 16x. The average speed is 12.90x and total writing time is 5 minutes and 20 seconds.

The Samsung TS-H552B uses CAV, (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at 16x. The average speed is 12.03x and total writing time is 5 minutes and 58 seconds. Below, we made a comparison table:

*1 - Actual writing speed was max 14x due to USB-Bridge limitations.
*2 - Actual writing speed was max 13x due to USB-Bridge limitations.

From the table above, we can see that the NEC ND-3540A is among the fastest drives writing DVD+R and DVD-R.

Features and techniques:

ACTIVE OPC

NEC uses Active OPC Technology with its optical hardware. Active OPC constantly monitors the sensitivity of the media and adjusts the laser strength to achieve the best possible results. It does this by analyzing the reflection from the media's surface.

8X DVD+R DL writing speed:

The NEC ND-3540A is one of the first drives to support 8x writing speed on DVD+R DL media.

The NEC ND-3540A uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+R9 DL at 8x. Three zones are used to write DVD+R Double Layer discs at 8x. The average speed is 6.54x and total writing time is 18:31 minutes.

6X DVD-R DL writing speed:

The NEC ND-3540A is one of the first drives to support 6x writing speed on DVD-R DL media.

The NEC ND-3540A uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-R DL at 6x. Two zones are used to write DVD-R Double Layer discs at 6x. The average speed is 5.65x and total writing time is 20:42 minutes.

8X DVD+RW writing speed:

The NEC ND-3540A uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+RW at 8x. The average speed is 8.01x and total writing time is 7:20 minutes.

6X DVD-RW writing speed:

The NEC ND-3540A uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-RW at 6x. The average speed is 5.80x and total writing time is 11 minutes.

BookType (bitsetting):

The NEC ND-3540A supports bitsetting, and will as default write DVD+R DL media with DVD-ROM BookType.

Here is how you can check if your discs are really written with the DVD-ROM BookType:

Start Nero CD-DVD Speed and click the Disc info button and you should get something like this (V3.80): 

DVD+R DL with BookType DVD-ROM.

By using Nero CD-DVD Speed V4.00, you will get the following screen:

DVD+R DL with BookType DVD-ROM.

Another quick test is to start Nero CD-Speed and look at the disc information:

This should say DVD-ROM.

Quality Scans:

The NEC ND-3540A can be used to measure/scan burned discs for their quality via Nero CD-DVD Speed. This can be handy to check and get an impression of which state/condition the burned discs are in. (Quality scans performed on the NEC ND-3540A drive can NOT be compared to scans done with other DVD writers).

 Included software:

Now it's time to look at the included software and to comment if needed. Notice that we may not use the included software in our performance testing part of the review.

The Welcome screen

Installation screen

Nero Express v6.0 OEM:

Very good software package - suitable for beginners as well as for experienced users.

Now that we have finished examining the drive and its writing strategies, it's time to head on to next page, which is reading performance test…