Sony Sony DRU-510A

• Reviewed by: steveck

  Strengths: Reliable DVD-r +r cd-r burner

  Weaknesses: really slow read speed

  Overall: thank goodness i have another DVD-ROM drive to read my DVDs because this sony is 40% the speed of my other DVD drive. Hopefully I'll get a 16x soon

• Reviewed by: Enorton42

  Strengths: This 510A is easy to update the firmware via their website, It is easy to use and is very reliable. I've burnt over 400 CD's and DVD's without 1 problem.

  Weaknesses: No weakness that I can see other than it only burns at 4X, which at the time was the fastest burner out there.

  Overall: For someone buying their first burner, I highly recommend this one. The biggest thing to remember when using a burner, especially a DVD burner is to be sure the burner drive is set as your MASTER on the #2 IDE controller. Do not slave your burner to the hard drive. I paid $250 for my drive but now that there actually under $100, Im going to buy 3 more.*** I read that some were having problems using this drive on here. I use Maxell 4X 4.7 GB DVD-R media and have not had one problem. *** I am on aol under the name of enorton42, write if you need help using your drive.Oh one more thing, Dont buy the software DVD X Copy as it has been changed by 321 Studios not to work in accordance with federal law. I have this software but my version is a year old now. No recommendations on DVD burning software on this end.

• Reviewed by: heyitsespo

  Strengths: well, sony has a good name....

  Weaknesses: burns CD's and won't burn DVD's, very expensive CD-R-RW

  Overall: Ok, I'm not computer illiterate and teach others how to install hardware and configure systems. Sony seems to think that all problems related to this drive had to do with poor media. 3 phone calls to tech support all gave the same results: Sir, the error messages your unit is giving us indicates poor media. POOR MEDIA! I used media from TDK,HP,Memorex,RICOH, and finally, Sony! Good thing Staples is understanding. Guess what Sony, Nothing Freaking works! Sir did you upgrade to our latest firmware? YES! Sir did you install all of the software? YES! Sir, did you read our FAQ Forum? YES YOU IDIOT! OTHERWISE I WOULD NOT BE CALLING FOR A RMA TO SHIP THIS PIECE OF #$%^ BACK! AND A FEW THINGS YOU DIDN'T MENTION, I UNLOADED NERO, I CHECKED MY ATAPI SETTINGS, I SACRIFICED A GOAT IN THE BACK YARD. NOTHING FREAKIN WORKS! I even put the unit in an understanding friends computer...same results. Yet Sony still wouldn't authorize the return...Guess what, since I could not return the unit to the online company I bought from Staples stepped up and took the unit as an exchange towards a DRU 530A (I know, Sony again but thats the best I could do). And guess what, the 530 works great. I read a few posts elsewhere about sony support and they were not favorable. Add me to the list. And Kudos to Staples, they get my business from now on....

• Reviewed by: 6_Cups

  Strengths: Multiformat capabilities

  Weaknesses: N/A

  Overall: I bought this pre christmas to burn sections of family home videos for the rest of the family that didn't have copies on VHS. The burning quality is great. If your VHS is bad, that's what you get on your DVD. The speed of the actual burning process is okay but of course I want faster. The face could have been optional though. And make sure to review the software your going to use, it makes A LOT of difference.

• Reviewed by: jimcox46

  Strengths: Reliable for + or -, bulletproof

  Weaknesses: N/A

  Overall: I goofed up the first two disks, after that clear sailing. Recommend this product highly. Have used with a variety of software products and media from the WEB and Costco. Not a lick of problems. Recording time more a functon of processor speed, memory and disk than DVD burner. Can now burn a complete DVD in less than 30 mins.