detail information

Test machine:

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

Hardware:

• Motherboard: Intel 865
• Processor: Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz with Hyper Threading support
• Bus Speed: 800 MHz
• Memory: 2 GB
• Video: ATI RADEON 9600XT
• Sound: SB Live!
• Hard disks: 1X 160GB Seagate Barracuda; 1X 120GB Western Digital

System set-up:

The Sony DRU-820A was connected as Secondary Master and identified itself as SONY DVD RW DRU-820A. DMA (Direct Memory Access) was enabled for all devices.

The Sony DRU-820A supports faster type of DMA transfer mode of 'Ultra DMA Mode 4."

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 6.6.1.4
• Nero CD/DVD Speed V4.11
• Nero Info Tool v3.07
• Slysoft CloneCD v5.2.8.1
• Exact Audio Copy v0.95 beta 3
• K-Probe v2.5.1

Installation and supported features:

We installed the drive without any problems and here is a screenshot from Nero InfoTool:

From the screenshot above, we notice the installed firmware version is 1.0a with a 2 MB buffer size.

And another shot from Nero Burning ROM:

Nero Burning ROM claims Overburn support which we will test this later in the review. It also features Mount Rainier which is on the contrary to Nero InfoTool report above.

Included Software:

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

Sony^® Software Disc Rev. 6.60W Installation CD:

The Software Disc includes:

• Nero 6 Sony Edition

• Nero StartSmart serves as the command center to quickly start all the software of the Nero suite;

• Nero Burning ROM 6 SE and Nero Express^® 6 CD/DVD mastering software for data, audio and CD/DVD writing and copying;

• Nero VisionExpress 3 VCD/SVCD and DVD authoring software for advanced video capturing, authoring, full video editing and photo slideshow creation. Users can crop, clean up, add special effects to photos and then add transitions and a soundtrack, as well as cut, edit, dub, and turn videos into Hollywood-style masterpieces;

• Nero InCD^® 4 packet writing software for formatting rewritable discs so they can be used like large floppy disks with drag-and-drop capability;

• Nero ShowTime^TM DVD-Video playing software for viewing DVD movies and personal video projects, along with MPEG-4 compatibility;

• Nero PhotoSnap/PhotoSnapViewer captures digital photos right from a digital camera or scanner and provides basic image editing as well as a viewer utility;

• Nero MediaHome streaming media server allows sharing of media files over a home network;

• Nero Recode2 DVD-Video converter makes backup copies of unprotected DVDs, ideal for making copies of home movie DVDs to share with friends and family. Can also compile multiple DVD discs into a single DVD;

• Nero BackItUp backup software for complete PC backup, with an easy-to-use wizard interface for multiple backup modes, automatically scheduled backups, and backups spanning several CDs or DVDs;

• Nero MediaPlayer / Wave Editor management/jukebox software and audio editing software for audio file creation with various filters and effects;

• Nero Cover Designer disc label creation software for creating individual CD/DVD covers and labels; and

• Nero Toolkit drive tool software for critical media and drive analysis used by drive manufacturers worldwide.

• User's Guide

• User Support Web Page (links to Sony global user support web sites and Nero AG website)

When you first insert the disk (with Autorun enabled) you will get the Languange Selection screen.

The Menu Selection screen shows three options: Application Install (Nero install), Manual (electronic version of User's Guide) and User Support Web Page (links to Sony and Nero AG). Next we select the Manual button.

We would like to note that the electronic version of User Guide is less comprehensive than the printed version of Operating Instruction. Now let's continue with Nero installation.

Nero StartSmart shows a list of Nero applications that are installed. We upgraded to version 6.6.1.4 without any problem. We also upgraded NeroVision Express to version 3.1.0.25.

The software identifies as Nero 6 Sony Edition.

Turbo Boost Function:

The default CD-R and CD-ROM read/write speed of the Sony DRU-820A is 40x speed. With a single touch, you can activate the Turbo Boost function, to raise the read/write speed to 48x speed:

• Insert a CD-R/CD-ROM disc into the drive

• Press and hold the Eject button for five seconds.
  The busy indicator blinks twice and the read/write speed switches to 48x. (The Turbo Boost function is active.)

Note: When you open the disc tray, the Turbo Boost function will be deactivated.

Disc Writing Technology:

Now it's time to take a closer look at the write technology used by the Sony DRU-820A:

CD-Recordable:

The Sony DRU-820A uses CAV, (Constant Angular Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 48X (Turbo Boost function activated). This gives an average speed of 36.38x. Two drives for comparison are found below.

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.

The Plextor PX-750A uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 40x. This gives an average write speed of 30.23x, and as we can see, it took the PX-750A 3 minutes 14 seconds to write the disc.

 For comparison we have made the following table: 

As we can see from the table, the Sony DRU-820A is among the fastest drives where it comes to writing CD-R's.

CD-Rewritable:

The Sony DRU-820A uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write CD-RW media at its maximum speed of 32x, with an average write speed of 23.93x. Below are some other drives for comparison.

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.

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.

For a better overview we present the following comparison table:

As we can see from the table, the Sony DRU-820A performed below average on writing CD-RW's.

16X DVD+R Writing speed:

The Sony DRU-820A uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at the maximum supported speed of 16x. This gives an average write speed of 11.92x and a writing time of 6 minutes 09 seconds.

16X DVD-R Writing speed:

The Sony DRU-820A uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD-R at the maximum supported speed of 16x. This gives an average write speed of 11.94x and a writing time of 5 minutes 59 seconds.

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

The Pioneer DVR-110D uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD-R at its maximum speed of 16x. This gives an average write speed of 11.59x and a writing time of 6 minutes and 1 second.

The Plextor PX-750A uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at the maximum supported speed of 16x. This gives an average write speed of 11.84x and a writing time of 6 minutes and 13 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 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. Below, we made a comparison table:

From the table above, we can see that the Sony DRU-820A is about average in writing DVD+R and DVD-R media.

8X DVD+RW writing speed:

The Sony DRU-820A uses Z-CLV (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+RW at 8x. The average speed is 7.71x and total writing time is 8:20 minutes.

Below are other drives for comparison.

The Lite-On SHW-16H5S uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+RW at 8x. The average speed is 7.74x and total writing time is 7 minutes and 35 seconds.

The Pioneer DVR-110 uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+RW at 8x. The average speed is 7.81x and total writing time is 8 minutes and 43 seconds.

The NEC ND-4550A uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+RW at 8x. The average speed is 7.98x and total writing time is 7 minutes and 15 seconds.

The Plextor PX-750A uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+RW at 8x. The average speed is 7.69x and total writing time is 7 minutes and 38 seconds.

We made the table below for easy comparison.

The Sony DRU-820A was below average when it came to writing DVD+RW at 8x.

6X DVD-RW writing speed:

The Sony DRU-820A uses CLV (Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-RW at 6x. The average speed is 5.95x and total writing time is 11:08 minutes.

Below are other drives for comparison.

The Lite-On SHW-16H5S uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-RW at 6x. The average speed is 5.83x and total writing time is 10 minutes and 55 seconds.

The Pioneer DVR-110 uses CLV, (Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-RW at 6x. The average speed is 6.01x and the total writing time is 9 minutes and 53 seconds.

The NEC ND-4550A uses Z-CLV, (Zoned Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-RW at 6x. The average speed is 5.80x and total writing time is 11 minutes 6 seconds.

The Plextor PX-750A uses CLV, (Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-RW at 6x. The average speed is 5.92x and the total writing time is 10 minutes and 37 seconds.

We present the table below for easy comparison.

The Sony DRU-820A was about average when writing DVD-RW media at 6x.

8X DVD+R DL writing speed:

The Sony DRU-820A supports 8x writing speed on DVD+R DL media.

The Sony DRU-820A uses Z-CLV (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+R DL at 8x. However the 2nd layer is written at 6x. The average speed is 6.54x and total writing time is 19:52 minutes.

Below are other drives for comparison.

The Pioneer DVR-110 uses Z-CLV, (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+R DL at 8x. The average speed is 7.00x and total writing time is 18:06 minutes.

The NEC ND-4550A uses Z-CLV (Zone Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+R DL media at 8x which gives an average write speed of 6.55x and a total write time of 18 minutes and 40 seconds.

The BenQ DW1640 uses P-CAV (Partial Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R DL at its maximum speed of 8x. This gives an average write speed of 7.32x and a total write time of 15 minutes and 36 seconds.

The Plextor PX-750A used Z-CLV, (Zone Constant Linear Velocity) to write the Verbatim DVD+R DL disc at 8x. The average speed was 6.80x and the total writing time was 17 minutes and 51 seconds.

6X DVD-R DL writing speed:

The Sony DRU-820A supports 6x writing speed on DVD-R DL media.

The Sony DRU-820A uses CLV (Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-R DL at 6x. The average speed is 5.85x and total writing time is 20:43 minutes.

Below are other drives for comparison.

The Lite-On SHW-16H5S used CLV, (Constant Linear Velocity) to write the Verbatim DVD-R DL disc at 4x. The average speed was 4.02x and the total writing time was 27 minutes and 32 seconds.

The Pioneer DVR-110 uses Z-CLV, (Zone Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-R DL at 8x. This gives an average writing speed of 7.06x and a total write time of 17 minutes and 55 seconds.

The NEC ND-4550A uses Z-CLV (Zone Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-R DL media at 6x which gives an average write speed of 5.67x and a total write time of 20 minutes and 41 seconds.

We present the table below for easy comparison.