What's in the box?:
- Sony DRU-800A 16x DVD±RW Drive
- Sony Software Disc v6.00W
- Product Information Guide
- Quick Start Guide (for ATAPI (EIDE) Interface Drive)
- Software Quick Start Guide
- Front Panel Replacement Guide
- Black Replacement Bezel
- IDE Cable
- Mounting Screws
- Warranty Information
- Connect Cash Card (10 Song Downloads)
Physical Features:
The drive Sony sent us for this review was manufactured in January of 2005 and had firmware KY01.At the time of this review, this is the only firmware officially available for the DRU-800A.
At first glace, the DRU-800A looks a lot like Sony's previous 16x DVD±RW drives, the DRU-710A and DRU-720A. While there are a few slight cosmetic differences, all three drives share the same basic design, including the silver colored tray. The DRU-800A also has many of the same logos. Along with the Sony logo, you can see a few showing support for the DVD-R/RW and DVD+ReWritable formats. The obvious difference between the DRU-800A and its predecessors is the large Double Layer/Dual Layer indicating that it supports both DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media.
Below the tray you can see the DRU-800A's single LED. It lights up green when the drive is both reading and writing.
Sony's new DVD writer also comes with a black replacement bezel. Less flashy than the white and silver bezel, it is similar to the ones found on some of Lite-On's drives.
The rear of the DRU-800A looks very similar to some of the other Lite-On based drives we've reviewed. Looking at the picture below, you can see the drive's IDE interface, power connector and audio output connectors.
Starting from the left of the IDE connection you'll see the jumper switch for master, slave and cable select. Next to the jumper block is the analog audio connector. The connector on the far left is the digital audio output.
Technical Specs:
The specs below have been taken from Sony's website and the documentation that came along with the drive.
| Sony DRU-800A 16x DVD±RW | |
| CD Write Speeds | 48x, 40x (CAV) 32x, 24x (P-CAV) 16x, 8x (CLV) |
| CD Rewrite Speeds | 24x (Z-CLV) 16x, 10x, 4x (CLV) |
| DVD+R Write Speeds | 16x (CAV) 12x, 8x (P-CAV) 6x, 4x, 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD+RW Write Speeds | 8x (Z-CLV) 6x, 4x, 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD-R Write Speeds | 16x (CAV) 12x, 8x, (P-CAV) 6x, 4x, 2x, 1x (CLV) |
| DVD-RW Write Speeds | 6x, 4x, 2x, 1x (CLV) |
| DVD+R DL Write Speeds | 4x, 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD-R DL Write Speeds | 4x, 2x (CLV) |
| DVD Read Speeds | 12x Max (DVD-ROM Single Layer) 8x Max (DVD-ROM Dual Layer) 8x Max (DVD+R/RW) 8x Max (DVD-R/RW) 6x Max (DVD+R DL) 6x Max (DVD-R DL) |
| CD Read Speeds | 48x Max (CD-ROM/CD-R) 32x Max (CD-RW) |
| DAE Speed | 48x Max |
| Buffer Size | 2 MB |
| Access Times |
140 ms (CD) 135 ms (DVD) |
| CD Formats | CD-DA CD-ROM CD-ROM XA Video CD Photo CD CD-Text CD Extra Multi-Session |
| DVD Formats | DVD-ROM DVD-Video DVD+R/RW DVD-R/RW DVD+R DL DVD-R DL |
| CD Recording Modes | Track At Once Session At Once Disc At Once Packet Writing |
| DVD Recording Modes | Random Write Sequential Write |
More Features:
By looking at the picture below, you can see that Sony's new DVD writer is identified as a "SONY DVD RW DRU-800A."
Nero also shows that the DRU-800A has a maximum CD writing speed of 48x and a 2048KB buffer. This buffer is backed up by Sony's Power-Burn buffer underrun protection. According to Nero, the DRU-800A can write CD-Text and overburn. When testing the drive's capacity, it had no problems overburning up to 99 minutes with our CompUSA media.
Like most Lite-On based drives, the DRU-800A can do EFM encoding correctly. Using CloneCD version 4.2.0.2 with AWS disabled, Iwas able to reproduce older SafeDisc 2 protected titles like Max Payne along with some of the newer ones protected by SafeDisc 2.51 like Serious Sam: The Second Encounter.
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 DRU-800A's maximum reading and writing speeds, recording modes, buffer underrun protection and 2MB buffer.
InfoTool also shows that the DRU-800A 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 there isn't an RPC-1 firmware available for the drive, there is a utility available that can make the drive region free.
While InfoTool gives us a quick glance at the DRU-800A's features, DVDINFOpro provides a little more information on some of its reading and writing capabilities. By looking at the screenshot above you can see that Sony's new drive can read and write to both DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media.
The DRU-800A also supports a feature called "bitsetting." While the drive automatically sets the book type of DVD+R DL media to "DVD-ROM", you can manually do the same with single layer DVD+R and DVD+RW media using Nero, CD Speed or Lite-On's BookType Utility. This feature comes in handy if you have an older DVD player that has problems playing recordable media.
