Sony DRX-510UL External DVD±RW Burner
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Similar in CD, DVD and Blu-ray Burners
- Enclosure Type: External
- Read Speed: 12x (DVD), 32x (CD)
- ReWrite Speed: 2x (DVD-RW), 4x (DVD+RW)
- Write Speed: 24x (CD)
- Burner Type: DVD±RW
- Platform: PC
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User ReviewRead All Reviews »
A great buy, A Great product, A+ so far.
Pros
Reliable, fast, large Cache buffer, Quiet, SIMPLE installation!
Cons
I guess it would not hurt to drop the price a bit.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Highly recomended! Simple to install and fairly easy to use. This drive can do all things the other current drives can do, and does them well.
I was in the market for an External DVD burner. So the research began. I needed a drive that could back up large amounts of Files on my PC, Make "Backup" copies of DVD movies, But most of all I wanted a way to create DVDs of my own Camcorder vacation tapes.
I had the search narrowed down to 2. A Pioneer ?606 model, and the Sony DRX510UL. BestBuy.com was sold out of the Sony so I started looking at the Pioneer. When I arrived at the actual store They had both of them in stock. The Sony was $10 cheaper after rebate ($269). Both models seemed to get great reviews but I went with the Sony because It seems to have a few advantages. First one being that the drive has and 8 meg cache buffer instead of a 2 meg like most other drives. Also the Drive could use the iLink or USB 2.0.
Installation.
Installation was simple. I run Windows XP as an OS so All I had to do was plug it in to my USB. THATS IT!
I put in the CD that came with the drive and installed all of the software that came with it but this is all 3rd party stuff that is used for actual DVD creation. The Drivers to actually run the drive were already in Win XP.
Using the Drive.
I found that the applications that came with the drive were actually pretty good. I'm not sure what other people are talking about when they were harping about the software that comes with it. Maybe it has improved since their purchase. I found that their software easily allowed me to set up my camcorder, play a Digital 8 tape into the PC via the ilink, and have the PC burn it right to a DVD. IT was WAY easier then I expected.
Burning backups of files on the PC was simple as well. For this, I actually use a program called Ahead Nero wich DID NOT come with the drive.
Speed of DVD burn is 4x This is actually really good. IF you take nothing else from this review take this. It is very true and very good advice. The actual "burn" does not take much time at all. Much of the time is taken up by the PC processing the frames, ordering the clips, encoding, etc... Once the actual burn starts you are done in a flash. So dont waste your money on 8X or 16X or what ever my come out because you will only cut your over all time down by a couple minutes. The extra money on the drive and the 8x blank media will put you in the poor house for those extra 2 minutes. More important than the 2x, 4x, or 8x is the Speed of your PC, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A GOOD PC. Now don't get me wrong. There is a sizable difference between 1x or 2x and 4x. but once you get to 4x you have gotten your burn time down from 1 hour at 1x, to 14 minutes at 4x. The next step to 8x is only gonna get you 7 more minutes.
Hook ups.
This drive can hook up through iLink. This will allow a transfer of 2meg/sec.
It will also hook up through USB 2.0 wich will give you 2.4 meg/sec.
IF you do not have these on your PC you can hook up to original USB1 and it will still work. but not near as fast.
YOU CAN NOT UTILIZE 4X or anything higher, if you can not get the data to the drive fast enough.
If you do not have USB at all stop reading this and go buy a new PC.
Over all I am very pleased with the drive. I have not burned a bad disc yet. I highly recommend this drive.
I had the search narrowed down to 2. A Pioneer ?606 model, and the Sony DRX510UL. BestBuy.com was sold out of the Sony so I started looking at the Pioneer. When I arrived at the actual store They had both of them in stock. The Sony was $10 cheaper after rebate ($269). Both models seemed to get great reviews but I went with the Sony because It seems to have a few advantages. First one being that the drive has and 8 meg cache buffer instead of a 2 meg like most other drives. Also the Drive could use the iLink or USB 2.0.
Installation.
Installation was simple. I run Windows XP as an OS so All I had to do was plug it in to my USB. THATS IT!
I put in the CD that came with the drive and installed all of the software that came with it but this is all 3rd party stuff that is used for actual DVD creation. The Drivers to actually run the drive were already in Win XP.
Using the Drive.
I found that the applications that came with the drive were actually pretty good. I'm not sure what other people are talking about when they were harping about the software that comes with it. Maybe it has improved since their purchase. I found that their software easily allowed me to set up my camcorder, play a Digital 8 tape into the PC via the ilink, and have the PC burn it right to a DVD. IT was WAY easier then I expected.
Burning backups of files on the PC was simple as well. For this, I actually use a program called Ahead Nero wich DID NOT come with the drive.
Speed of DVD burn is 4x This is actually really good. IF you take nothing else from this review take this. It is very true and very good advice. The actual "burn" does not take much time at all. Much of the time is taken up by the PC processing the frames, ordering the clips, encoding, etc... Once the actual burn starts you are done in a flash. So dont waste your money on 8X or 16X or what ever my come out because you will only cut your over all time down by a couple minutes. The extra money on the drive and the 8x blank media will put you in the poor house for those extra 2 minutes. More important than the 2x, 4x, or 8x is the Speed of your PC, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A GOOD PC. Now don't get me wrong. There is a sizable difference between 1x or 2x and 4x. but once you get to 4x you have gotten your burn time down from 1 hour at 1x, to 14 minutes at 4x. The next step to 8x is only gonna get you 7 more minutes.
Hook ups.
This drive can hook up through iLink. This will allow a transfer of 2meg/sec.
It will also hook up through USB 2.0 wich will give you 2.4 meg/sec.
IF you do not have these on your PC you can hook up to original USB1 and it will still work. but not near as fast.
YOU CAN NOT UTILIZE 4X or anything higher, if you can not get the data to the drive fast enough.
If you do not have USB at all stop reading this and go buy a new PC.
Over all I am very pleased with the drive. I have not burned a bad disc yet. I highly recommend this drive.
