What's in the box?:
- Memorex MRX-525G 18x DVD±RW/RAM Drive
- Software Installation CD
- Hardware Guide
- Software Guide
- 1 Memorex 16x DVD+R Disc
- Mounting Screws
- IDE Cable
Physical Features:
The drive that Memorex sent us for this review was manufactured in December of 2006 and had firmware version G.01. At the time of this review, this is the only official firmware available for the MRX-525G.
The MRX-525G is based on LG's new 18x "Super-Multi" drive, the GSA-H22N. While both drives are almost physically identical, Memorex has tried to set theirs apart by giving it a black and silver bezel. As you can see, the MRX-525G also has its share of logos. Along with the large "Memorex" logo, you can see a few for Ultra Speed CD-RW media and theDVD+ReWritable and DVD Multi specifications.
Below the tray you can see the MRX-525G's single LED. Instead of lighting up blue like on Memorex's previous DVD writers, it is the standard green color.
The rear of the MRX-525G looks very similar to some of the other LG based DVD writers we've reviewed. By looking at the picture below you can see the drive's IDE interface, power connector and analog audio output connector.
Starting from the left of the IDE connection you'll see the jumper switch for master, slave and cable select. By default the drive's jumper position is set to master. Next to the jumper block is the analog audio connector. The connector on the far left is the digital audio output.
Technical Specs:
Most of the specs below have been taken from Memorex's website and the guide that came with the drive.
| Memorex MRX-525G 18x DVD±RW/RAM | |
| CD Write Speeds | 48x, 40x (CAV) 24x (Z-CLV) 16x (CLV) |
| CD Rewrite Speeds | 32x, 24x (Z-CLV) 16x, 10x, 4x (CLV) |
| DVD+R Write Speeds | 18x, 16x (CAV) 12x (P-CAV) 8x (Z-CLV) 4x, 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD+RW Write Speeds | 8x (Z-CLV) 4x, 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD-R Write Speeds | 18x, 16x (CAV) 12x (P-CAV) 8x (Z-CLV) 4x, 2x (CLV) |
| DVD-RW Write Speeds | 6x (Z-CLV) 4x, 2x, 1x (CLV) |
| DVD+R DL Write Speeds | 8x, 6x (Z-CLV) 4x, 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD-R DL Write Speeds | 8x, 6x (Z-CLV) 4x (CLV) |
| DVD-RAM Write Speeds | 12x, 5x (P-CAV) 3x, 2x (CLV) |
| CD Read Speeds | 48x Max (CD-ROM/CD-R) 40x Max (CD-RW) |
| DAE Speed | 40x Max |
| DVD Read Speeds | 16x Max (DVD-ROM Single Layer) 12x Max (DVD-ROM Dual Layer) 16x Max (DVD±R) 12x Max (DVD±RW) 12x Max (DVD±R DL) 8x Max (DVD-Video) 12x, 5x, 3x, 2x (DVD-RAM) |
| Buffer Size | 2MB |
| Access Times |
120 ms (CD-ROM) 140 ms (DVD-ROM) 200 ms (DVD-RAM) |
| CD Formats | CD-Audio CD-ROM CD-ROM XA CD-R CD-RW Photo CD Video CD Hybrid CD Enhanced CD CD Extra CD-I CD-Text |
| DVD Formats | DVD-ROM DVD-R/RW DVD+R/RW DVD+R DL DVD-R DL DVD-RAM |
| CD Recording Modes | Disc At Once Session At Once Track At Once Packet Writing |
| DVD+R Recording Modes | Sequential Recording |
| DVD+RW Recording Modes | Random Write |
| DVD+R DL Recording Modes | Sequential Recording |
| DVD-R Recording Modes | Disc At Once Incremental Recording |
| DVD-RW Recording Modes | Disc At Once Incremental Recording Restricted Overwrite |
| DVD-R DL Recording Modes | Disc At Once Incremental Recording Layer Jump Recording |
| DVD-RAM Recording Modes | Random Write |
More Features:
By looking at the picture below, you can see that Memorex's new DVD writer is identified as a "Memorex DVD+-RAM 525G V1".
The Nero screenshot also shows that the MRX-525G has a maximum CD writing speed of 48x and a 2048KB buffer. This buffer is backed up by some form of buffer underrun protection as well. According to Nero, the drive can also write CD-Text and overburn. When testing the drive's capacity I found that the drive was able to overburn up to 93:58with CompUSA's 99 minute CD-R media.
Using Alex Noe's Weak Sector Utility we were able to determine that the MRX-525G is a "two sheep" burner. This means that Memorex's new drive is capable of backing up titles protected by SafeDisc 2, including version 2.51.
Here is a screen shot from Nero's InfoTool. This program queries the drive to see what its reading and writing capabilities are. InfoTool had no problems detecting the MRX-525G's maximum reading and writing speeds, recording modes, buffer underrun protection and 2MB buffer.
InfoTool also shows that the MRX-525G is an RPC-2 DVD drive. This means that the drive's region is stored in the firmware. The drive's region can be changed five times and after that it cannot be changed anymore.While a patched RPC-1 firmware is available for the LG GSA-H22N, there isn't one for the MRX-525G yet.
While InfoTool gives us a quick glance at the MRX-525G's features, DVDINFOpro provides a little more information on some of the drive's reading and writing capabilities. By looking at the screenshot above you can see that while Memorex's new drive can read and write to DVD+R DL, DVD-R DL and DVD-RAM media, it does not support the Mt. Rainier format.
The MRX-525G also supports a feature called "bitsetting." Contrary to what CD Speed indicates, the drive automatically sets the book type of both DVD+R and DVD+R DL media to "DVD-ROM". Unfortunately, the drive does not automatically set the book type of DVD+RW discs, nor can you change it manually.
