SONY
DRU-710A Dual DVD Recorder -
Page 1
After the release of the DRU-700A, Sony decided to up the speed for DVD+R
writing from 8x to 16X. The new model to do just this is the DRU-710A and the
main differences
from the previous model is the 16X recording speed for the plus format and
48X for CD, up from 40X.
Since Sony is one of the biggest optical storage manufacturers, it will be
interesting to see how this drive will perform and how it will
face the strong competittion which already supports 16X recording for both
formats,
as well
as 4X for Double
Layer.
- Features
The
Double Layer DVD+R system uses two thin embeded organic dye films for data
storage separated by a spacer layer. Heating with a focused
laser beam irreversibly modifies the physical and chemical structure of each
layer such that the modified areas have different optical properties to those
of their unmodified surroundings. This causes a variation in reflectivity
as the disc rotates to provide a read-out signal as with commercially pressed
read-only
discs. Below is a picture showing the structure of a DVD+R DL media.
For more information about DVD+R DL technology, you can visit the DVD+RW
Alliance website or
Philips Research website.
The SONY DRU-710A also supports:
- Power Burn - the technology designed to prevent errors
in writing data by automatically setting up the optimum recording conditions
for the media, while automatically adjusting to the delay in data transmission
from a host PC. Even if data writing is interrupted due to delays in data
transmission from the host PC (buffer under-run), Power-Burn technology instantly
controls and accurately connects the interruption and resumption points of
the data recording to give continuous writing indispensable playback compatibility.
Power-Burn automatically optimizes recording conditions for the drive such
as the writing
speed and the strength of recording laser light, analyzing the disk quality
by reading pre-recorded.
Form writing and reading speeds, the drive supports
16X (CAV)
writing for DVD+R and
8X (Z-CLV) writing for DVD-R. RW
formats can be both burned at 4X (CLV). The drive can also read DVD-ROM (pressed)
up to 16X (CAV) while it offers 48X (P-CAV) / 24X (Z-CLV) specs
for the CD formats.
- Specifications
Interface: |
ATAPI (EIDE) internal interface |
Burst data transfer rate: |
66.6 MB/s max. Ultra DMA66 |
Writing Speed: |
DVD+R DL: 2.4X CLV (max.)
DVD+R: 16X CAV (max.)
DVD+RW: 4X CLV (max.)
DVD-R 8X Z-CLV (max.)
|
CD-R: 48X CAV (max.)
CD-RW: 24X Z-CLV (max.)
|
Read Speed: |
DVD-ROM (single layer): 16X CAV (max.)
DVD-ROM (dual layer): 8X CAV (max.)
|
|
Random Access: |
DVD: 140msec, CD: 135msec |
Buffer Size: |
2MB |
Supported Disc Formats: |
DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD+R DL, DVD+RW, DVD+R,
DVD-RW, DVD-R, CD-ROM, CD-DA, Video CD, Photo CD (multi-session), CD
TEXT, CD Extra, and others |
Supported Writing Types: |
DVD±RW: Random
Access Write (DVD+RW/DVD-RW/CD-RW), Sequential Write (DVD+R/+R DL/+RW,
DVD-R/-RW/CD-R/RW)
|
| CD-R/RW: Disc at Once, Track at Once,
Session at Once, Packet Writing |
| Dimensions: |
145.8 x 41.3 x 165 mm (W x H x L) |
The
drive uses the RPC II region control, allowing a user to change the drive's
region
at most 5 times, which however can easily be bypassed with various utilities,
for example Kprobe's RPC setting feature:
Below are the drive's main specs as given by DVDInfoPro:
Lastly, let's see what additional information KProbe software returns:
- European Retail package
The
European retail package includes the Sony DRU-710A, a quick install guide,
an IDE cable and mounting screws. Also included is an extra front
panel bezel, black in color, which you can swap with the white bezel that
comes
standard. Included software is Nero v6 OEM version.
The retail package did not contain any CD/DVD media and
unfortunately no DVD+R DL.
Now let's take a look at the drive itself.
The Sony DRU-710A looks more or less the same as the previous 540A series
and it has all the appropriate logos indicating the supported formats. On
the front, the user will distinguish the DVD+R DL logo! As we said, SONY also
provides an additional black bezel that can easily be mounted, making
for a better match
with
black cases.
Removing the screws and opening the drive's cover voids the drive's warranty.
For reference reasons, we post the following pictures. You can click on the mainboard
picture for a higher resolution image:
- Installation
The drive was installed as secondary master and under WindowsXP recognized
as a "SONY DVD RW DRU-710A". The drive arrived
with firmware BY01.
Below is a picture from Nero Burning Rom, showing the drive's specs.
In our tests, we will compare the drive with the Philips DVDRW1640P and
the Pioneer DVR-108D.
- Testing software
In order to perform our tests we used:
- Nero CD-DVD Speed
v3.21
- CDVD Benchmark v1.21
- ExactAudioCopy v0.9 beta5
- Nero Info Tool v2.27
- KProbe
v2.4.2 (Reader: LiteOn LDW-811S firmware vHS0Q, Reading speed 8X CAV)
- PlexTools v2.16 (Reader:
Plextor PX-712A firmware v1.05, Reading speed 8X CLV for CD-R)
- DVDInfoPro v2.54
- LiteOn Booktype Utility v1.0.6
- Nero Burning Rom v6.3.1.20
- Omnipatcher for LiteON drives v1.3.11
