In House Review - Sony DRU-800A 16x DVD±RW

[Ian]

CDRLabs kicks off the week with an in depth look at Sony's new 16x DVD±RW, the DRU-800A. Sporting some pretty impressive specs, the DRU-800A is capable of 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW and 6x DVD-RW writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 16x. More importantly, it's the first drive from Sony with the ability to write to both DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media at 4x.

In this review we'll take a look at the features found on the DRU-800A and then see how it compares to some of the 16x DVD±RW drives from the competition. Does Sony's new drive have what it takes? You'll have to read the review to find out.

[url=http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/index.php?reviewid=265]
Sony DRU-800A 16x DVD±RW[/url]

As usual, if you have any comments or questions about this review or the Sony DRU-800A, please post them in the forum using the link provided below.

[Scour]

Hello!

Great review like always, Ian

The Kprobe-results look better than I expected, only the Optodisc +R 16x and CMC –R 16x looks not good.

Great quality with the Ritek +R DL, that´s a result I don´t see often with that media.

A question: Can you make in future-reviews two pages for the performance-chapter and include the pics from the reading with Benq and transfer-rate?

[Ian]

A question: Can you make in future-reviews two pages for the performance-chapter and include the pics from the reading with Benq and transfer-rate?

Not yet. We're stuck with this layout for the near future.

Yeah, the KProbe results look good but when tested with the BenQ and run through the "stress test" they aren't as good.

[dolphinius_rex]

Hello!
The Kprobe-results look better than I expected, only the Optodisc +R 16x and CMC –R 16x looks not good.

Looking at the transfer rate tests (and BenQ tests) I'd say that only the Maxell and Taiyo Yuden 8x DVD-Rs performed even marginally well...

[Bhairav]

Great review, Ian.
Anyway, small bug to report. On http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/index.php?reviewid=265&page=Features, you say FW version JY01, when in fact it is KY01.

Also, I think something is fishy with the KProbe reports. Lite-On drives definitely report lower PI/PIF errors with discs written on L-O drives. I'm sure of that now, especially after seeing the transfer rate tests.

[Gabe]

Maybe I get end of the week a Benq 1640 and then I made some scans with media I burned with LG, Pioneer, LiteOn, NEC and compare with scans of the Lite 1653.

[Scour]

Hello!

I looked at the review of the DRU 800 at CDR-Info:

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews ... &PageId=11

And it looks similar to the cdrlabs-review. Many times low error-rates (tested with Plextools) but big problems reading the burned media at high speed.

This shows maybe that Liteon don´t cheat when testing Liteon-burned-media with a Liteon-drive.

But what´s the reason for low error-rates that cause those reading-problems?

[dodecahedron]

This shows maybe that Liteon don´t cheat when testing Liteon-burned-media with a Liteon-drive.

maybe they only cheat when it's a "true" Lite-On, not a rebadged one like Sony!

[Scour]

maybe they only cheat when it's a "true" Lite-On, not a rebadged one like Sony!

No, Ian burns with a rebadged Liteon and use a real Liteon for Kprobe

[Gabe]

Here some burns with different media and writer, scanned on Benq 1640 and LiteOn 1653S



Fuji DVD+R 8x 25er Spindel Opusshop


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unique Disc Identifier : [DVD+R:YUDEN000-T02-000]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disc & Book Type : [DVD+R] - [Not Available]
Manufacturer Name : [Taiyo Yuden Co. Ltd.]
Manufacturer ID : [YUDEN000]
Media Type ID : [T02]
Product Revision : [Not Specified]
Blank Disc Capacity : [2,295,104 Sectors = 4,482.6MB = 4.38GB (4.70GB)]
Recording Speeds : [1x , 2.4x , 4x , 6x-8x]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ DVD Identifier - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com ]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Burned with LG GSA 4082 A208






Extreme differences here, Benq reaches a score from 95 %, LiteOn 0 %. PI and PIF scanned by Benq are much lower than with the Lite.



2. Burned with NEC ND 3500 2.19 @16x





Benq 98%, LiteOn 70%. No big differences PI/PIF.



Platinum DVD+R 8x


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unique Disc Identifier : [DVD+R:RICOHJPN-R02-003]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disc Type : [DVD+R]
Manufacturer ID : [RICOHJPN]
Manufacturer Name : [Ricoh Company Ltd.]
Media Type ID : [R02]
Product Revision : [003]
Disc Application Code : [General Purpose]
Recording Speeds : [1x , 2.4x , 4x , 6x-8x]
Blank Disc Capacity : [Not Supported By Method 2]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[DVD Identifier - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pioneer DVR MCC 1.11








Benq 97 %, Lite 98%. Benq reported higher PI and much higher PIF



Sony DVD+R 8x 4,7GB 50er Spindel Karstadt


---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unique Disc Identifier : [DVD+R:SONY-D11-000]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disc & Book Type : [DVD+R] - [DVD+R]
Manufacturer Name : [Sony Recording Media Co.]
Manufacturer ID : [SONY]
Media Type ID : [D11]
Product Revision : [Not Specified]
Blank Disc Capacity : [2,295,104 Sectors = 4,482.6MB = 4.38GB (4.70GB)]
Recording Speeds : [1x , 2.4x , 4x , 6x-8x]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ DVD Identifier - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com ]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------


LiteOn 1653S CS0M







Benq 88 %, Lite 93%. Benq reported 3 times higher PI and 15 times higher PIF. Strange, I´ll do some tests with other media burned by Lite.




Sony DVD-R 8x 4,7GB 50er Spindel Karstadt

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unique Disc Identifier : [DVD-R:SONY08D1]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disc & Book Type : [DVD-R] - [DVD-R]
Manufacturer Name : [Sony Recording Media Co.]
Manufacturer ID : [SONY08D1]
Blank Disc Capacity : [2,298,496 Sectors = 4,489.3MB = 4.38GB (4.71GB)]
Recording Speeds : [1x , 2x , 4x]
[6x And Higher Might Not Always Be Detectable]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ DVD Identifier - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com ]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

LG 4163 A103







Benq 97%, Lite 95 %. The Benq show much higher PIF and higher, but CDSpeed gives a higher quality-score to the Benq. Did Erik Deppe some fine-tuning, depending on the drive?




TDK DVD-R 4x (25er Spindel)


Unique Disc Identifier : [DVD-R:TTG01]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disc Type : [DVD-R]
Manufacturer ID : [TTG01]
Disc Application Code : [Unrestricted Use : Consumer Purpose]
Recording Speeds : [1x - 2x - 4x]
Blank Disc Capacity : [2,298,496 Sectors = 4,489.3 MB = 4.38 GB]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[DVD Identifier - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------


NEC 3500 2.19 @ 8x







Benq 96 %, Lite 95 %. Benq shows lower PI and higher PIF. Again CDSpeed gives the Benq a better score, although the Lite show much lower PIF

[Ian]

New firmware: http://sony.storagesupport.com/dvdrw/do ... A_KY03.exe

Improvement: Supports DVD-R DL media Layer-Jump Recording.