Sony DRU-500A

Reviewed by: XweAponX

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: Works VERY well with just about all DVD Writing programs and I use this device to back up my DATA: And with NERO, ALL DVD content plays on MOST DVD players. Burns considerably better with DVD+R Media.

Weaknesses: NONE- A very good machine

Overall Evaluation: Anyone who states that this unit is weak, probably does NOT know how to operate DVD Recording devices- And I would wager money on the fact that they do NOT have their computer system set up correctly: I would hate to see their systems, and the fact that they are only getting 2 gig burns proves that something is VERY wrong with their system. I have this unit installed on an Athlon XP 2400+ on an MSI KTV4 Motherboard with 768 333-DDR Ram. Maybe once or twice I get a buffer underrrun when Burning a DVD, but then again I am also running several programs at once. ALL of the movies I have backed up play beautifully on ALL DVD players I have played them on.. And this device is CRUCUAL to the backing up of my Music. I can make very large Cakewalk Bundles and store them ALL on ONE DVD. As I said: This unit burns DVD+R's a little bit better than -R's however, it handles -R's very well. If you 1) Keep your ASLP layer up to date... 2) Keep the FIRMWARE revisions Upto date, and finally 3) DO NOT USE cheap MEDIA: CHEAP MEDIA WILL make Coasters... If you buy a stack of 50 Cheap DVD-R's one out of every THREE has a BAD surface- I am talking about the special stacks they sell at places such as PC club. Also, the media is NOT 4X. I use Memorex 4x and ONLY memorex 4x +R media, I do not CHANGE. A DVD writer unit is the same as a car: If you run your car on a specific gasoline, your vehicle gets used to it: So I always buy the same DVD+R batches, and I have very little problems with this unit, and most problems I DO have, are problems that I have caused, because maybe I messed with the ASPI layer. It is critical that you use the most recent ASPI layer you can find, and that you also use ForceASPI to install it. I avoid certain programs that "take over the recording devices" for Windows XP- Suck as Roxio: Do NOT install Roxio Drag to Disk, it will RUIN your ASPI layer. The gentleman who was complaining how much of a waste of money his device is... I'll give him 50 for it flat out... I would LOVEW to have two of these things, I burn a LOT of DVD's I must have over a thousand burnt from this unit alone. Previous to This unit, I bought a Pioneer DVR-AO5: And THAT unit was what I consider worthless: Oh yes, it DID burn DVD's and yes, they DID play- On my machine, IN the unit that burned them, but in other computers, and in DVD players, the DVD-R Media did NOT read. I burnt 10 DVD's out of a pack of 10- and I got 10 coasters. That is what decided me on the Sony, and it's capacity to burn BOTH +R and -R And I have been VERY happy with this ever since.