The AD-7200S is a good example of what we've come to expect from Sony NEC Optiarc. While affordably priced, the drive offers a number of useful features as well as some of the fastest DVD writing speeds available.
Optiarc's new drive performed very well when writing to DVD+R and DVD-R media at 20x. At this speed, it took the AD-7200S less than five minutes to write an entire 4.7GB DVD. This level of performance carried over to our rewriting tests where the drive turned in some respectabletimes with DVD-RW, DVD+RW and DVD-RAM media. Writing to DVD±R DL media wasn't a problem for the AD-7200S either. However, it lagged behind the other drives it our tests, taking nearly 19 minutes to write 8GB of data.
When it came to media compatibility, the AD-7200S gave us some mixed results. While the drive wrote tomost of our test media at its rated speed or better, only two types worked at 20x. On the other hand, the AD-7200S's writing quality was fairly good for the most part. However, there is still room for improvement with some DVD±R DL media. Hopefully, Optiarc can address this in a future firmware update.
The AD-7200S also performed fairly well in our DVD read tests. While its seek times were a little higher than I would have liked, it was able to read single layer DVD-ROM's and DVD±R media at 16x. The AD-7200S also reached some pretty impressive transfer speeds with other types of DVD media. In our tests, it read DVD±RW discs at 13x and both DVD±R DL and DVD±RAM media at 12x.
Reading CD's wasn't a problem for the AD-7200S either. In our tests, the drive read pressed and CD-R media at speeds as high as 48x and CD-RW discs at 40x. Optiarc's new drive wasn't as fast in our DAE tests. However, it still ripped audio CD's at a respectable 40x. Unfortunately, when it came to writing CD's, the AD-7200S's performance was hit and miss. While the drive was fairly quick when rewriting, it took longer than expected to complete our CD-R writing tests. Nevertheless, its writing quality was quite good.
Optiarc's new DVD writer also has its share of features. To prevent buffer underruns, the AD-7200Shas a 2048KB buffer that is backed up by some sort of buffer underrun technology. While this buffer is a little smaller than what we'd like to see on a 20x DVD writer, this system worked flawlessly in our tests. The AD-7200S also offers a good number of writing and rewriting speeds to choose from and supports bitsetting for DVD+R DL discs. Unfortunately, it won't let you set the book type of DVD+R or DVD+RW media.
The Optiarc AD-7200S is shipping now and can be purchased through some of the online vendors found on Pricegrabber. Available in your choice of black, beige or silver, the OEM version of the drive can be picked up for less than $30.
| Sony NEC Optiarc AD-7200S 20x DVD±RW/RAM | |
| Features: Installation: Performance: |
8 8 7 |
| Overall: | 8 |
Highs:
- Writes to DVD-R and DVD+R media at 20x
- Writes to DVD-R DL media at 12x
- Writes to DVD+R DL media at 8x
- Writes to DVD+RW media at 8x
- Writes to DVD-RW media at 6x
- Reads single layer DVD-ROM's at 16x
- Reads DVD±R media at 16x
- Reads DVD±RW media at 13x
- Reads DVD±R DL media at 12x
- Reads and writes DVD-RAM media at 12x
- Features 48x CD-R and 32x CD-RW writing speeds
- Good selection of writing and rewriting speeds
- Includes buffer underrun prevention technology
- Good CD-R and DVD±R writing quality
- Supports bitsetting for DVD+R DL media
- Affordably priced
Lows:
- Questionable writing quality with some DVD±R DL media
- Had a hard time reaching its rated speeds when reading pressed CD's
- Cannot set the book type of DVD+R or DVD+RW media
- Problems recognizing discs larger than 90 minutes
- Higher than average seek times
