When I reviewed the DRX-S77U, I was left with mixed feelings. While the drive offered good looks, impressive specs and a number of useful features, its power requirements limited where it could be used. With the DRX-S90U, Sony has addressed many of the DRX-S77U's shortcomings. Along with a number of performance improvements, their new drive has the ability to power itself off a computer's USB bus.
The DRX-S90U performed relatively well when writing to DVD+R and DVD-R media, taking less than 12 minutes to burn an entire 4.7GB DVD. The drive also turned in some respectable times when writing to other types of media and its writing quality was pretty good, even with DVD±R DL discs. When it came to reading DVD's, the DRX-S90U was able to read data and video DVD-ROM's as well as most recordable media at 8x.
Reading CD's wasn't a problem for the DRX-S90U either. While its seek times were a little higher than I would have liked, the drive read pressed and recordable CD media at speeds as high as 25x. This level of performance carried over to our DAE tests, where the drive ripped audio CD's at 25x. As a writer, the DRX-S90U performed as expected. The drive was relatively quick when writing to CD-R and CD-RW media and its writing quality was quite good.
Sony's new portable DVD writer also has its share of features. A truly portable drive, the DRX-S90U is powered completely off a computer's USB bus. Without the need for an AC power source, you can burn and play DVD's wherever you go. The DRX-S90U also features support for Sony's Power-Burn technology and has the ability to set the book type of DVD+R DL media. To top it off, Sony has included a great software bundle from Nero.
The Sony DRX-S90U is available now and can be purchased from Amazon or the retailers listed on Pricegrabber for less than $30.
| Sony DRX-S90U Portable 8x DVD Writer |
|
| Features: Installation: Performance: |
8 9 8 |
| Overall: | 8 |
Highs:
- Writes to DVD±R media at 8x
- Writes to DVD+RW media at 8x
- Writes to DVD-RW media at 6x
- Writes to DVD±R DL media at 6x
- Reads single layer DVD-ROM's at 8x
- Reads DVD±R, DVD±RW and DVD±R DL media at 8x
- Reads and writes to DVD-RAM media at 5x
- Features 24x CD-R and CD-RW writing speeds
- Good DVD and CD writing quality
- Compact and lightweight design
- Features Sony's Power-Burn technology
- Supports bitsetting for DVD+R DL media
- Built-in USB cable holder
- Powered off the USB bus
- Includes software from Nero
- Affordably priced
Lows:
- Both USB cables must be used
- Cannot set the book type of DVD+R or DVD+RW media
- Problems recognizing discs larger than 90 minutes
- High access times
- Only a 1MB buffer
