NEC ND-3540A 16x DVD±RW

CD Write and ReWrite Tests - Nero Burning Rom 6.6.0.12 and DLA 4.95:

For this test I randomly generated 650MB and 700MB of files and directories to test the time it takes the drive to write and close a CD. All of the files are between 1MB and 25MB in size and no more than 10 directories deep. All of the times below include not only the actual writing time, but the lead in and out times too. This gives a more realistic idea of how long it takes to write a CD.

 

Like the DRU-800A and PX-716A, the ND-3540A has a maximum CD writing speed of 48x. To reach this speed, it uses CAV, or Constant Angular Velocity. With Fuji's 48x media, the drive started writing at about 21.60x and reached a maximum speed of 47.99x at the end of the session. This gave NEC's new DVD±RW an average writing speed of about 36.48x.

To test the drive's writing times, I wrote our test data to some Taiyo Yuden manufactured Fujimedia rated at 48x. The results are below.

NEC's new DVD writerdid pretty well here. While not as fast as the drives from Sony and Plextor, the ND-3540A took less than 3 minutes to write an entire 650MB CD, beating the ASUS DRW-1608P by a good 19 seconds

To test the drive's writing quality I used Lite-On IT's KProbe2. Written by Karr Wang, this utility can be used to test the number of C1 and C2 errors on a disc. For these tests I used a Lite-On LTR-52246S (firmware 6S0F) and read the discs at 32x.

Fuji 48x (Taiyo Yuden)

Memorex 52x (CMC)

Verbatim 52x

The ND-3540A's writing quality is very good. By looking at the KProbe screenshots, you can see that the discs burned by the drive had a low number of C1 errors and there were no C2 errors at all.

For the rewriting tests I created 400MB of files on the hard drive and wrote them in DAO mode using Nero. To test the packet writing speeds I copied and pasted the same files off the hard drive onto a CD-RW disc using DLA from Sonic. Verbatim's 24x Ultra Speed CD-RW media was used for these tests.

The ND-3540A is one of the first DVD writers to feature 32x rewriting speeds. To reach this speed, the drive uses Z-CLV, or Zone CLV. By looking at the screenshot above, you can see that it uses a total of four "zones" to reach its maximum speed. The drive starts writing at 20x and jumps to 24x at about the 5 minute mark. When it reaches the 13 minute mark, the drive changes to 28x and then to 32x at the 22 minute mark.

NEC's new DVD writer had no problems taking the top spot in our rewriting tests. Thanks to its 32x rewriting speed, the ND-3540A took only 2:05 to write 400MB with both Nero and DLA.

The ND-3540A also erases at 32x. In our tests, it not only had the fastest quick erase time out of the four drives here, it was able to do a full erase in an impressive 3:22.