Nero CD Speed v3.80 - DVD-ROM:
A little editorial note here. Like a CD-ROM, you will get different benchmark results depending on what kind of discs you are using. You are probably going to get varying results from a full data disc to a single layer movie disc. You're also going to get different results for single and dual layer discs.
The DVD Speed website recommends using a single layer DVD-ROM disc with a capacity of at least 4GB. If you use a dual layer disc you probably won't get the best results because most DVD-ROM drives slow down to read them. Some even slow down to read single layer DVD-Video discs. To make a long story short, I am using a 4.37GB single layer, single sided disc for this test.
| Sony DRU-800A |
Lite-On SOHW-1673S |
ASUS DRW-1608P |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
12.13x 6.54x 16.23x |
12.14x 6.67x 16.24x |
12.00x 6.64x 16.08x |
12.07x 6.63x 16.14x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
113ms 128ms 203ms |
105ms 121ms 193ms |
112ms 126ms 210ms |
101ms 111ms 187ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
6% 10% 20% 94% |
6% 10% 21% 93% |
4% 8% 15% 32% |
4% 8% 16% 31% |
The DRU-800A performed pretty well when reading single layer DVD-ROM's. In our tests it started reading at 6.54x and reached a maximum transfer speed of 16.23x. While this wasn't enough to take the top spot in our transfer rate tests, its seek times were pretty good.
Nero CD Speed v3.80 - DVD-R and DVD-RW:
First, we'll look at the drive's DVD-R and DVD-RW reading performance. For this I made copies of our DVD-ROM test disk using some general use 4x DVD-R and 2x DVD-RW media from Verbatim and then ran our usual DVD read tests with CD Speed. The results are below.
Verbatim DVD-R
| Sony DRU-800A |
Lite-On SOHW-1673S |
ASUS DRW-1608P |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
6.07x 3.38x 8.13x |
6.08x 3.38x 8.13x |
9.36x 5.21x 12.53x |
9.04x 4.99x 12.09x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
130ms 154ms 240ms |
119ms 117ms 204ms |
115ms 135ms 220ms |
101ms 112ms 178ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
10% 11% 17% 95% |
10% 12% 18% 93% |
5% 9% 17% 48% |
4% 8% 15% 30% |
Verbatim DVD-RW
| Sony DRU-800A |
Lite-On SOHW-1673S |
ASUS DRW-1608P |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
6.09x 3.38x 8.14x |
6.09x 3.38x 8.14x |
6.26x 3.46x 8.37x |
9.06x 4.98x 12.12x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
126ms 146ms 212ms |
112ms 121ms 187ms |
132ms 149ms 231ms |
101ms 114ms 197ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
10% 11% 17% 95% |
10% 11% 18% 93% |
5% 9% 19% 39% |
5% 8% 15% 30% |
Sony's new drive wasn't nearly as fast when reading DVD-R and DVD-RW media. In both cases, the DRU-800A reached a maximum transfer speed of about 8.1x.
Verbatim DVD-R DL
|
|
Transfer Speed | Seek Times | CPU Usage | |||||
| Average | Start | End | Random | 1/3 | Full | 1x | 2x | |
|
Sony DRU-800A |
4.27x | 2.39x | 5.72x | 114ms | 125ms | 201ms | 5% | 9% |
According to Sony's specs, the DRU-800A can read dual layer DVD-R media at 6x. While it came close, the drive wasn't able to reach this speed in our tests.
Nero CD Speed v3.80 - DVD+R and DVD+RW:
Next we'll look at the drive's DVD+R and DVD+RW reading performance. For this I made a copy of our DVD-ROM test disk using some 4x DVD+R and 2.4x DVD+RW media from Verbatim. I then ran our usual DVD read tests with CD Speed. The results are below.
Verbatim DVD+R
| Sony DRU-800A |
Lite-On SOHW-1673S |
ASUS DRW-1608P |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
6.19x 3.43x 8.28x |
6.19x 3.44x 8.29x |
9.37x 5.19x 12.54x |
9.04x 4.98x 12.09x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
110ms 130ms 201ms |
108ms 127ms 196ms |
117ms 139ms 220ms |
101ms 110ms 194ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
8% 9% 17% n/a |
8% 10% 19% 98% |
5% 8% 20% 50% |
5% 8% 15% 30% |
Verbatim DVD+RW
| Sony DRU-800A |
Lite-On SOHW-1673S |
ASUS DRW-1608P |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
6.20x 3.45x 8.29x |
6.21x 3.43x 8.29x |
6.25x 3.47x 8.36x |
9.06x 4.99x 12.11x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
132ms 169ms 221ms |
125ms 130ms 211ms |
113ms 132ms 217ms |
100ms 108ms 193ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
8% 10% 18% n/a |
9% 10% 19% 99% |
5% 8% 17% 37% |
5% 8% 16% 30% |
The DRU-800A was slightly faster when reading DVD+R and DVD+RW media. This time around, the drive reached a maximum transfer speed of about 8.3x.
Verbatim DVD+R DL
| Sony DRU-800A |
Lite-On SOHW-1673S |
ASUS DRW-1608P |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
4.29x 2.39x 5.73x |
4.29x 2.39x 5.73x |
5.70x 3.17x 7.60x |
6.06x 3.35x 8.09x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
111ms 123ms 198ms |
111ms 122ms 196ms |
116ms 134ms 219ms |
101ms 111ms 188ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: |
4% 9% n/a |
5% 9% n/a |
4% 8% 94% |
4% 7% n/a |
The DRU-800A had no problems reading Verbatim's double layer DVD+R media. Unfortunately, it was not as fast as some of the other drives we've looked at. In our tests, it started reading at 2.39x and reached a maximum transfer speed of only 5.73x.
Nero CD Speed v3.80 - DVD-Video:
For these tests I am using the US version of Transformers: The Movie on DVD. The disc is over 4GB and single sided.
| Sony DRU-800A |
Lite-On SOHW-1673S |
ASUS DRW-1608P |
Plextor PX-716A |
|
| Transfer Speed Average: Start: End: |
12.01x 6.65x 16.07x |
12.02x 6.64x 16.08x |
3.88x 2.14x 5.20x |
12.07x 6.63x 16.14x |
| Seek Times Random: 1/3: Full: |
108ms 123ms 198ms |
110ms 123ms 194ms |
104ms 123ms 202ms |
103ms 111ms 179ms |
| CPU Usage 1x: 2x: 4x: 8x: |
5% 10% 20% 95% |
6% 10% 21% 94% |
4% 8% 15% n/a |
4% 8% 16% 31% |
The DRU-800a reached a maximum speed of 16.07x when reading single layer DVD videos. While not as fast as the drives from Lite-On and Plextor, this is still very good. Sony's new drive was also fairly quick when reading dual layer discs. By looking at the screenshot below, you can see that the drive's transfer speeds peaked at about 8.24x.
To see how well the DRU-800A worked as a DVD player, I watched a few scenes from Transformers: The Movie and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace using WinDVD 4 and PowerDVD 5. The drive had no problems playing back these movies with either program and was fairly quiet.
