detail information

Test machine:

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

Hardware:

• Motherboard: Asus A8V Deluxe
• Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (Venice) 1000 MHz Hyper Transport
• RAM: 1 GB Corsair Kit PC3200 DDR
• GFX: ATI Radeon 9600 XT
• Sound: Onboard Realtek AC'97
• Hard disk: Seagate Barracuda ST3250823A 250 GB

System set-up:

The NEC ND-4550A was connected as Secondary Master and identified itself as _NEC DVD_RW ND-4550A. 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:

• Nero Burning ROM version 6.6.1.3
• Nero CD/DVD Speed V4.11
• Nero Info Tool v3.07
• Slysoft CloneCD v5.2.5.1
• Exact Audio Copy v0.95 beta 3
• K-Probe v2.5.1

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-4550A 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 6.55x and total writing time is 18:40 minutes.

6X DVD-R DL writing speed:

The NEC ND-4550A 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 5.67x and total writing time is 20:41 minutes.

BookType (Bitsetting):

The NEC ND-4550A 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 tab and you should get something like this: 

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-4550A 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-4550A drive can NOT be compared to scans done with other DVD writers).

Now it's time to take a closer look at the write technology used by the NEC ND-4550A:

CD-Recordable:

The NEC ND-4550A uses CAV, (Constant Angular Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 48X. This gives an average speed of 36.27x and a total writing time of 3 minutes and 3 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

As we can see from the table, the NEC ND-4550A performed above average when it comes to writing CD-R's.

CD-Rewritable:

The NEC ND-4550A uses Z-CLV (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) writing technology to write at 32X for CD-RW discs, the average speed is 29.73x and the total time 3 minutes and 37 seconds.

For a better overview we present the following comparison table:

As we can see from the table, the NEC ND-4550A performed average on writing CD-RWs.

16X DVD+R/-R Writing speed:

The NEC ND-4550A uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at the maximum supported speed of 16x. This gives an average write speed of 11.79x and a writing time of 5 minutes 58 seconds.

The NEC ND-4550A uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD-R at its maximum speed of 16x. This gives an average write speed of 11.75x and a writing time of 6 minutes and 5 second.

Below are some write graphs from some other drives for comparison:

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 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. 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.

8X DVD+R DL writing speed:

The NEC ND-4550A supports 8x writing speed on DVD+R DL media.

The NEC ND-4550A uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+R DL at 8x. The average speed is 6.55x and total writing time is 18:40 minutes.

6X DVD-R DL writing speed:

The NEC ND-4550A supports 6x writing speed on DVD-R DL media.

The NEC ND-4550A uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-R DL at 6x. The average speed is 5.67x and total writing time is 20:41 minutes.

8X DVD+RW writing speed:

The NEC ND-4550A uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+RW at 8x. The average speed is 8x and total writing time is 7:17 minutes.

6X DVD-RW writing speed:

The NEC ND-4550A uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-RW at 6x. The average speed is 5.80x and total writing time is 10:39 minutes.

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…