NEC ND-4550A Super-Multi DVD±RW/RAM

Over the last year or so, we've had a number of NEC's DVD writers in the 'Labs. Offering a good mix of value, performance and features, these drives have become the choice of enthusiasts as well as some of our favorites. Needless to say, I went into this review eager to see what NEC's first "Super-Multi" drive could do. While the ND-4550A performed as expected in most of our tests, things like writing quality kept the drive from getting top marks in our review.

When writing to DVD+R and DVD-R media at 16x, the ND-4550A took about 6 minutes to burn an entire 4.7GB DVD. While this wasn't enough to top the DVD writers from LG and Plextor, NEC's new "Super-Multi" drive gave them both a serious run for their money. The ND-4550A also turned in some goodwriting times with DVD+RW and DVD-RAM media but, for whatever reason, it would not erase or packet write to DVD-RW discs at anything faster 4x. Writing to DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media wasn't a problem for the ND-4550A either. However, due to its Z-CLV writing method, it wasn't as fast as some of the other drives we've tested.

Finding compatible media really wasn't an issue with NEC's new "Super-Multi" drive. The ND-4550A wrote to most of our test media at its rated speed or better and was even able to write to some 8x DVD±R discs at 16x. When it came to writing quality, though, the ND-4550A gave us some mixed results. While the PI/PIF rates were pretty good with most of the DVD±R media we tested, these results were marred by a large PI/PIF/POF spike. Given, this spike only showed up when testing with BenQ drives, it's still a little concerning as we didn't see anything like this with NEC's previous DVD writers.

The ND-4550A also performed pretty well in our DVD read tests. While its seek times were higher than I would have liked, the drive was able to read single layer data and video DVD-ROM's and DVD±R discs at speeds as high as 16x. The ND-4550A also read DVD±RW media at an impressive 13x but slowed to about 7x when reading DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL discs.

Reading and writing CD's wasn't a problem for the ND-4550A. In our tests, the drive read pressed and CD-R media at speeds as high as 48x and CD-RW discs at 40x. NEC's new drive wasn't as fast in our DAE tests. However, it still ripped audio CD's at a respectable 40x. Thanks to its 48x CD-R and 32x CD-RW writing speeds, the ND-4550A also did pretty well in our writingand rewriting tests. The drive not only turned in some impressive times, its writing quality was quite good.

When it comes to features, the ND-4550A is very similar to NEC's previous DVD writers. To prevent buffer underruns, the drivehas a 2048KB buffer that is backed up by some sort of buffer underrun technology. While this buffer is a little smaller than what we'd like to see on a 16x DVD writer, this system worked flawlessly in our tests. The ND-4550A also offers a good number of writing and rewriting speeds to choose from and supports bitsetting for DVD+R DL discs. Unfortunately, it won't let you set the book type of DVD+R or DVD+RW media. Of course, this is something you can easily get around by usingmodified firmware.

While the ND-4550A has been available in Europe and Asia for a couple of months, it's still very hard to find in the US and Canada. If you can't wait for places like Newegg or NCIX to get it in stock, Mad Dog is currently using it in their MegaSTOR Triple Format drive kit. Mad Dog's drives are easy to find and can usually be picked up at a reasonable price.

Highs:

• Writes to DVD-R and DVD+R media at 16x
• Writes to DVD+RW media at 8x
• Writes to DVD-RW media at 6x
• Writes to DVD+R DL media at 8x
• Writes to DVD-R DL media at 6x
• Reads single layer DVD-ROM's at 16x
• Reads DVD±R media at 16x
• Reads DVD±RW media at 13x
• Reads DVD±R DL media at 7x
• Reads and writes DVD-RAM media at 5x
• Features 48x CD-R and 32x CD-RW writing speeds
• Good selection of writing and rewriting speeds
• Includes buffer underrun prevention technology
• Good CD writing quality
• Supports bitsetting for DVD+R DL media
• Can write to select 8x DVD-R and DVD+R media at 16x

Lows:

• Large PI/PIF/POF spike on DVD±R discs written at 12x and 16x
• Questionable writing quality with some DVD±R DL media
• Had a hard time reaching its rated speeds when reading pressed CD and DVD discs
• Packet writes and erases DVD-RW media at only 4x
• Cannot set the book type of DVD+R or DVD+RW media
• Problems recognizing discs larger than 90 minutes
• Only a 2048KB buffer
• Hard to find in the US and Canada