Test machines:

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

Zevia’s Hardware:

• Motherboard: ASUS P5W DH Deluxe WI-FI/AP
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz @3.40 GHz
• Memory: 2GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 PC2-6400
• Video: ATI RADEON X850XT Platinum Edition
• Sound: Realtek ALC882 High Definition (onboard)
• Hard disks: 160GB Seagate SATA-II, 300GB Seagate SATA-II, 300GB Maxtor SATA.

Kipper’s Hardware:

• Motherboard: ASUSTek, P5K Deluxe
• Processor:  Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, 2.4GHz
• Memory:  2GB G-SKILL  DDR2-800
• Video: GeForce 8600 GTS
• Sound:  SoundMAX integrated Digital HD Audio, onboard
• Hard Disks: 250GB Seagate SATA-II, X2

System set-up:

The Sony DRX-S50U was connected to a USB 2.0 controller and identified itself as Optiarc DVD RW AD-7540A. It is obvious that the drive is made by Optiarc for Sony. However, for the purpose of this review, we will define the drive as Sony DRX-S50U.

Here is another screenshot from Windows’ device manager.

Software:

On Zevia’s system Windows XP Professional is installed along with Service Pack 2 for Windows XP.  Kipper is running Windows Vista Business 32bit. 

We will be using the following software in this review:

• Nero Burning ROM 7 Ultra Edition Enhanced

• Nero CD/DVD Speed

• Nero InfoTool 4.1.0.4

• Slysoft CloneCD v5.2.9.1

• K-Probe v2.5.2

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.D0 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.

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. 7.30W Installation CD:

The Software Disc includes:

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

• Nero Burning ROM 7 SE and Nero Express^® 7 CD/DVD mastering software for data, audio and CD/DVD writing and copying;
• Nero VisionExpress 4 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^® 5 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 Recode 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)

BookType (Bitsetting):

The Sony DRX-S50U does not support bit-setting with the current official firmware.

This is what we found when we checked the Bitsetting options from within Nero’s CD-speed:

We then burned an image with Nero BurningRom; here are the details of this burn:

We then checked the burned disc with CD-speed and found the Book Type to remain as DVD+R:

Disc Writing Technology:

Now it’s time to take a closer look at the write technology used by the Sony DRX-S50U:

CD-Recordable:

The Sony DRX-S50U uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity), to write at its maximum speed of 24X. This gives an average speed of 19.21x and writing time of 5 minutes 18 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

CD-Rewritable:

The Sony DRX-S50U uses Z-CLV (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write CD-RW media at its maximum speed of 20x, with an average write speed of 15.79x and writing time of 5 minutes 59 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

8x DVD+R/-R writing speed:

DVD+R

The Sony DRX-S50U reports using P-CAV (Partial Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD+R at the maximum supported speed of 8x.  However, the graph looks more like CAV write strategy.  This gives an average write speed of 5.94x and a writing time of 11 minutes 8 seconds.

DVD-R

The Sony DRX-S50U uses CAV (Constant Angular Velocity) to write DVD-R at the maximum supported speed of 8x. This gives an average write speed of 5.94x and a writing time of 11 minutes 20 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

8X DVD+RW writing speed:

The Sony DRX-S50U uses Z-CLV (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+RW at 8x. The average speed is 5.21x and total writing time is 12:09 minutes.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

6X DVD-RW writing speed:

The Sony DRX-S50U uses Z-CLV (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-RW at 6x. The average speed is 5.07x and total writing time is 13:15 minutes.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

4x DVD+R DL writing speed:

The Sony DRX-S50U uses Z-CLV (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD+R DL at 4x. The average speed is 3.86x and total writing time is 29:37 minutes.

4x DVD-R DL writing speed:

The Sony DRX-S50U uses Z-CLV (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write DVD-R DL at 4x. The average speed is 3.81x and total writing time is 31:16 minutes.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

5x DVD-RAM writing speed:

The Sony DRX-S50U uses, Z-CLV (Zone-Constant Linear Velocity) to write at its maximum speed of 5X. This gives an average speed of 5.01x and a total writing time of 14 minutes and 36 seconds.

For comparison we have made the following table: 

Summary:

The Sony DRX-S50U performed well with our writing tests, the drive wrote at its specified speeds and had no problems writing our test discs.

Let’s head on to the next page where we will check reading performance….

Introduction

Reading performance