Sony 8x DVD±RW - Big Pics (modem users beware)

[Ian]

With all the Plextor talk, many of you might not have seen this. Sony showed off a new DVD±RW drive with 8x DVD+R writing speeds at the WPC Expo in Japan



Picture taken from here:

http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2003/0918/wpc01.htm

[Ian]

More info here:

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/ ... /wpc05.htm

[VEFF]

Thanks Ian.

It looks very much like the DRU-500A and DRU-510A etc.
I guess that isn't too surprising given the success of their previous dual burner models.

[Bhairav]

Thanks for the pics Ian. Look at the specs. Identical to the PX-708A. Anyone want to bet they use the same chipset?

[BurninMan921]

Argh! Z-CLV !

[Ian]

Anyone want to bet they use the same chipset?

Probably not the same chipset. For the most part, Sony usually does their own thing. However, I do agree about the specs. They are pretty much the same.

[Dartman]

Well maybe I know what I'm getting for x-mas this year if it works as good as the Plex appears too. The Japanese is a bit hard to read...
I'm still hoping maybe there'll be a over clock firmware for my 500 someday.

[Morpheus]

I was just going to ask about this today too. Originally I wanted to get the DRU-510A a few months back but then I heard between October and December that 8x drives were going to come out, so I decided to wait until then and get an 8x drive instead. All of a sudden when I checked my newspaper this morning I found a Future Shop flyer and for this week (Friday Sept 19 to Thursday Sept 24), they have the DRU-510A on sale ($449.99 - $30 instant rebate - $50 mail-in rebate) for $369.99 Can. Wow - $80.00 off! I haven't heard if Sony was going to come out with an 8x drive and when and this is a good sale price so I started thinking of going in and buying the DRU-510A. Altough if I do and 3 months later the 8x drive came out that would suck.

Well now I know they are coming out with an 8x drive. Although it is not an "all-round" 8x drive - it is only 8x in DVD+R. I was expecting more like the 510 which is a 4/4/4/2.4 - I thought I this one would be 8/8/8/4. The CD speeds are improved from 24x/16x/32x (510) to 40x/24x/40x, and the DVD-Rom speed is still 12x - they sould have improved it to 16x. I guess I am going to wait until December or so and get this new 8x drive instead of the 510. I wonder if Sony will release a firmware down the road to give the drive 8x/8x/8x/4x speed?

[VEFF]

I guess newegg doesn't ship to Canada, and/or that there are import duties?
Otherwise, the Plextor costs less - only CAD $340 (US$250) - with free shipping (to the US), with no rebates, and is almost twice as fast as the DRU-510A when it comes to DVD+R burning...

[aviationwiz]

I've only seen 1 KProbe quality graph with a Sony DVD burner. That was with the DRU-510A and a Princo 4x DVD-R burned at 4x.

It looked OK, but my Plex does better.

Therefore, I see no reason to buy a Sony DVD Burner over a Plextor, or Ricoh, or NEC, or whatever. As there are really no quality graphs out there. There are plenty graphs with the PX-708A, released by me, and a few of the Ricoh MP5125, once again, released by myself.

In Short, There is no proof that the Sony DVD Burners are technically the best.

[Ian]

In Short, There is no proof that the Sony DVD Burners are technically the best.

And on the same note, there's no proof that your Plex is the best either.

aviationwiz, you confuse the hell out of me some days.

[aviationwiz]

True, there is no proof. There is however proof, showing that the Plex is a very high quality burner and that it burns fast.

[Ian]

True, there is no proof. There is however proof, showing that the Plex is a very high quality burner and that it burns fast.

There is no doubt that it burns fast. Just keep in mind that the Kprobe results have still not been proven to be accurate. Until then, I'll take all those results with a grain of salt.

[aviationwiz]

The Kprobe results are the best we have, so, all we know is that lower is better, that's fine. We do know that we actually HAVE PX-708A results, we don't actually have Sony DVD anything results.

[Spazmogen]

I guess newegg doesn't ship to Canada, and/or that there are import duties?

Correct. Newegg hates Canadians. They simply refuse to ship up here.
HERE
They won't even handle my Canadian Visa card and ship internally to a Florida address, even though I've set it up with visa as an alternate shipping address. I've done it for years with no problems.

Newegg is behind the times somewhat.

You can also buy the Plextor drive HERE IN CANADA

[hoxlund]

from what i can tell from muliple reviews of the plextor 708, the buffer runs dangerously low sometimes

and in fact the sony DRU-510A does burn better compared to the plextor, not tons better, but like .2 better on c1/c2 errors

[aviationwiz]

I've never had my buffer go below 85%. While an 8MB buffer would be nice, the burner is rock solid, only problem is this 1.01 problem where it drops to 4x at the end of the disk.

[Scour]

Hello!

I heard rumors, that Sony the 8x-DVD want to buy from LiteOn.

Is that writer a original-Sony or a rebadged Lite?

[aviationwiz]

Original Sony. Lite-On actually uses Sony for the LDW-400S/D, whichever one it is.

[Scour]

Hello!

That sounds good to me. First I looked only for the Plextor 708, but now I´ll take a look at the Sony, too

[arklab]

No sure thing, certainly, but the laser in the Sony DRU-510A has been declaired to be an 8X (by Sony).

This opens up the possibility of a overclock on the DRU-510A to 8X.

What we really need is someone to open both the 4X and 8X machines up and carefully check the IC's on the PCB for any differences.
Since we know the lasers will be the same, this is the last critical "gap" to an OC.

Of course, it's a little hard to do untill the 8X is actually here.

[aviationwiz]

No sure thing, certainly, but the laser in the Sony DRU-510A has been declaired to be an 8X (by Sony).

This opens up the possibility of a overclock on the DRU-510A to 8X.

What we really need is someone to open both the 4X and 8X machines up and carefully check the IC's on the PCB for any differences.
Since we know the lasers will be the same, this is the last critical "gap" to an OC.

Of course, it's a little hard to do untill the 8X is actually here.

Reminds me of all the people who said the LDW-401S would for sure be able to be made into a Dual Format drive, well, that never happened.

[tazdevl]

No sure thing, certainly, but the laser in the Sony DRU-510A has been declaired to be an 8X (by Sony).

This opens up the possibility of a overclock on the DRU-510A to 8X.

What we really need is someone to open both the 4X and 8X machines up and carefully check the IC's on the PCB for any differences.
Since we know the lasers will be the same, this is the last critical "gap" to an OC.

Of course, it's a little hard to do untill the 8X is actually here.

Reminds me of all the people who said the LDW-401S would for sure be able to be made into a Dual Format drive, well, that never happened.

You forget about firmware version 2.0F which enabled 4X burning in both formats for the 500A. I think that's a clear indication that Sony is not opposed to givng customers a speed bump if the drive is capable of it... unlike Plex.

Of course I'd like to see a link from arklab or I call BS.

Based on my experience with the Plex and the overall tone from tech support, I'm pretty interested in this drive.

[Ian]

Reminds me of all the people who said the LDW-401S would for sure be able to be made into a Dual Format drive, well, that never happened.

Well.. here's the deal with that. The LDW-411S still hasn't shipped so its kinda hard for the general masses to get the firmware for it. The people that do have the firmware aren't giving it out in fear that Lite-On will enable some sort of blocking mechanism to keep people from "overclocking" their drive.

[aviationwiz]

Good point Ian, but, remember the LDW-401D? I do, or at least I think that's what the model # was, that was supposed to be a dual format due out real shortly after the LDW-401S, never came out. I don't think it will happen at all there, but it seems ever so slightly possible.

Back to the Sony,

I do remember hearing that the laser, or maybe it was the servo, is capable of 8x writing, but there are other parts in there that are not capable of 8x writing, hence, it won't happen,