What's in the box?:
- Sony DRU-810A 16x DVD±RW Drive
- Sony Software Disc v6.30W
- 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 July of 2005 and had firmware version 1.0a. At the time of this review, this is the only official firmware available for the DRU-810A.
From the front, the DRU-810A looks a lot like Sony's previous 16x DVD±RW drive, the DRU-800A. While there are a few slight cosmetic differences, the two drives share the same basic design, including the silver colored tray. The DRU-810A also has many of the same logos. Along with the Sony logo, you can see a few showing support for DVD+ReWritable, DVD-R/RW and Ultra Speed CD-RW media.
Below the tray you can see the DRU-810A's single LED. Off by default, this LED lights up green whenever the drive is reading or 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 one found on the OEM version of the BenQ DW1640.
The rear of the DRU-810A looks very similar to some of the other BenQ 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 it comes set as master. 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-810A 16x DVD±RW | |
| CD Write Speeds | 48x, 40x (CAV) 32x, 24x (P-CAV) 16x, 12x, (CLV) |
| CD Rewrite Speeds | 32x, 24x (P-CAV) 16x, 10x, 4x (CLV) |
| DVD+R Write Speeds | 16x (CAV) 12x, 8x (P-CAV) 4x, 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD+RW Write Speeds | 8x (Z-CLV) 4x, 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD-R Write Speeds | 16x (CAV) 12x, 8x (P-CAV) 4x, 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD-RW Write Speeds | 6x, 4x, 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD+R DL Write Speeds | 8x (P-CAV) 4x, 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD-R DL Write Speeds | 4x (Z-CLV) 2.4x (CLV) |
| CD Read Speeds | 48x Max (CD-ROM/CD-R) 40x Max (CD-RW) |
| DAE Speeds | 48x 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) |
| Buffer Size | 2 MB |
| Access Times |
130 ms (CD) 135 ms (DVD) |
| CD Formats | CD-DA CD-ROM CD-ROM XA CD-Extra Video CD Photo CD Multi-session CD-Text CD-R CD-RW |
| 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-810A."
The Nero screenshot also shows that the DRU-810A 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-810A 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 BenQ based drives, the DRU-810A 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-810A's maximum reading and writing speeds, recording modes, buffer underrun protection and 2MB buffer.
InfoTool also shows that the DRU-810A is a 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 is a RPC-1 patched firmware available for the BenQ DW1640, there isn't one available for the DRU-810A yet.
While InfoTool gives us a quick glance at the DRU-810A'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 Sony's new drive can read and write to both DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media, it does not support the Mt. Rainier format.
The DRU-810A 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 CD Speed. This feature comes in handy if you have an older DVD player that has problems playing recordable media.
