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 »
Rock Solid DVD Burner
Pros
Dirt simple daily use. Easy installation. Supports every format. Rock solid. High quality. Good performance.
Cons
Bundled software not the best. Cannot always play discs it creates?
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
If you want good quality and don't want to fiddle with quirky hardware this is a great product, even if its a little pricey.
I like this drive. I'm not sure why the last guy gave this drive only 3 stars. I give it 4, at least. I have burned bulk non-branded DVD-RW (and repeatedly overwritten) and DVD R media that I bought from an online wholesaler and I have had almost no problems playing these DVDs in numerous other DVD players both high- end and low-end, computer-based and non-computer-based players.
I did have one small glitch. I used Sonic Foundary's Vegas Video 4 DVD to convert a VHS tape to DVD. The disk plays fine in all players I've tested but will NOT play in the Sony drive itself, the one that burned the disk. Its only done this to one disc, so I don't know what to think of it.
This drive has USB 2.0/1.1 support and IEEE-1394 Firewire (iLink) with both the small and large firewire connectors. HINT: use the firewire interface. Its faster and more reliable. USB 2.0 stinks for DVD drives. The drive has a power switch on the back which is nice. The case is a brick, very high quality parts you expect from Sony, as compared to no-name brands that use cheap parts.
Installation was pretty easy even if the written docs are a little confusing on a few points. Windows 2000 and XP have native PnP support for this device but you do need Sony's drivers that are provided on disc.
Bundled software is not very good and may even interfere with certain software tools for video authoring, so I recommend not installing any bundled software unless you really need it. Forget installing DLA, use a real DVD/CD burning software tool. DLA is still too quirky and unreliable. DLA is supposed to allow you to use the windows explorer to drag and drop files onto a disc. Don't use it!
Performance is pretty good. Newer Sony drives now have 8x burn speed but this drive is 4x. If you can find 8x discs at reasonable prices you MIGHT select a newer model but I am happy with 4x. 4x discs are cheap, less than $1 per disc, bulk. I burn 90 minute videos (full 720x480 30fps 8Mbps, 48KHz stereo 224Kbps) in 30 minutes. Keep in mind that DVD5 discs only hold about 90 minutes of video plus menus and intro music, at DVD standard encoding and there are no consumer DVD9 burners yet. Soon (as in 1 year), 15GB per layer burners are coming, to support HDTV DVDs, though!
So far I have been able to ignore this peripheral which says a lot. I turn it on, stick in a disc, burn it, remove the disc, and turn the drive off. What could be simpler?
I did have one small glitch. I used Sonic Foundary's Vegas Video 4 DVD to convert a VHS tape to DVD. The disk plays fine in all players I've tested but will NOT play in the Sony drive itself, the one that burned the disk. Its only done this to one disc, so I don't know what to think of it.
This drive has USB 2.0/1.1 support and IEEE-1394 Firewire (iLink) with both the small and large firewire connectors. HINT: use the firewire interface. Its faster and more reliable. USB 2.0 stinks for DVD drives. The drive has a power switch on the back which is nice. The case is a brick, very high quality parts you expect from Sony, as compared to no-name brands that use cheap parts.
Installation was pretty easy even if the written docs are a little confusing on a few points. Windows 2000 and XP have native PnP support for this device but you do need Sony's drivers that are provided on disc.
Bundled software is not very good and may even interfere with certain software tools for video authoring, so I recommend not installing any bundled software unless you really need it. Forget installing DLA, use a real DVD/CD burning software tool. DLA is still too quirky and unreliable. DLA is supposed to allow you to use the windows explorer to drag and drop files onto a disc. Don't use it!
Performance is pretty good. Newer Sony drives now have 8x burn speed but this drive is 4x. If you can find 8x discs at reasonable prices you MIGHT select a newer model but I am happy with 4x. 4x discs are cheap, less than $1 per disc, bulk. I burn 90 minute videos (full 720x480 30fps 8Mbps, 48KHz stereo 224Kbps) in 30 minutes. Keep in mind that DVD5 discs only hold about 90 minutes of video plus menus and intro music, at DVD standard encoding and there are no consumer DVD9 burners yet. Soon (as in 1 year), 15GB per layer burners are coming, to support HDTV DVDs, though!
So far I have been able to ignore this peripheral which says a lot. I turn it on, stick in a disc, burn it, remove the disc, and turn the drive off. What could be simpler?
