Toshiba SD-R5272

TOSHIBA SD-R5272 DVD±RW recorder - Page 1

Toshiba`s among the few companies that still produces DVD technology. The company has unveilled quality drives in the past, and currently, after quite some time of "inactivity", comes up with the new SD-R5272 dual format recorder. The drive is compatible with all current formats such as DVD-R/RW and +R/RW, CDs as well as DVD-RAM (read).

Features

The Toshiba drive features 8x DVD-/+R write, 4x DVD-/+RW write, 32x CD-R write, 16x CD-RW write US, 40x CD-ROM read, 24x CD-RW read, 12x DVD-ROM read and 2x DVD-RAM read. Buffer underrun protection is also supported.

Specifications

Host/Interface	ATAPI (E-IDE), PIO Mode 4, MW DMA mode 2, Ultra DMA/Ultra DMA33
Applicable Write Format	CD-R/-RW: Disc at once, Track at once, Session at once, Packet write DVD-R: Disc at once, Incremental write DVD-RW: Disc at once, Incremental write, Restricted overwrite DVD+R: Sequential Write DVD+RW: Sequential Write, Random Write
Applicable Write disc	CD-R/-RW, HS CD-RW& US CD-RW: CD-DA, CD+E(G), CD-MIDI, CD-TEXT, CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA, MIXED MODE CD, CD-I, CD-I Bridge (Photo-CD, Video-CD), Multi-session CD (Photo-CD, CD-EXTRA, Portfolio) DVD-R: DVD-R (Ver 2.0 for General), 8X DVD-R Rev3.0 DVD-RW: (Ver 1.2 for General) 4X DVD-RW Rev 2.0 DVD+R: DVD+R (4.7GB, Ver 1.2) DVD+RW: DVD+RW (4.7GB, Ver 1.2)
Applicable Formats - Read	DVD:DVD-ROM (DVD-5, DVD-9, DVD-10, DVD-18), DVD-R (Ver. 2.01), DVD+R (4.7GB, Ver 1.11), DVD-RW (Ver. 1.1), DVD+RW (4.7GB, Ver 1.2), DVD-RAM (Ver 2.1) CD: CD-DA, CD+(E)G, CD-MIDI, CD-TEXT, CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA, CD-I, MIXED MODE CD, CD-I Bridge (Photo-CD, Video-CD), Multi-session (Photo CD, CD-Extra, CD-R, CD-RW, Portfolio), CD-RW, CD-R
Data Disc Capacities	DVD-ROM: 4.377GB (DVD-5), 7.959GB (DVD-9), 8.754GB (DVD-10), 15.917GB (DVD-18) DVD-R: (Ver 1) 3.679 GB DVD-R: (Ver 2.0) 4.377 GB DVD-RW: 4.377 GB DVD-RAM: (Ver 2.1) 4.377 GB CD: 656.5MB (mode 1), 748.8MB (mode 2)
Rotational Speed	DVD-ROM: (single layer) 7,580rpm (5.0 - 12X CAV) DVD-ROM: (dual layer) 5,053rpm (3.3 - 8X CAV) DVD-R, DVD+R: (read) 5,053 - 5,560rpm (4 - 8X PCAV) DVD-RW, DVD+RW: (read) 3,790 - 5,560rpm (4 - 6X PCAV) DVD-RAM: (Ver 2.1) (read) 1,400 - 3,300rpm (2X ZCLV) DVD-R: (Ver 2.0) (Write) 1,100 - 2,780rpm (2X CLV), 2,200 - 5,560rpm (4X CLV), 4,100 - 6,800rpm (4/5/8X ZCLV) DVD-R: (Ver 2.0) (Write) 550 - 1,390rpm (1X CLV), 1,100 - 2,780rpm (2X CLV), 2,200 - 5,560rpm (4X CLV) DVD+R: (Write) 1,380 - 3,300rpm (2.4X CLV), 2,200 - 5,560rpm (4X CLV), 4,100 - 6,800rpm (4/5/8X ZCLV) DVD+RW: (Write) 1,380 - 3,300rpm (2.4X CLV), 2,200 - 5,560rpm (4X CLV) CD-ROM, CD-R: 8,561rpm (17.2 - 40X CAV) CD-DA: Transfer 5,100rpm (10.3 - 24X CAV) CD-DA, Video-CD: 1,200 - 2,000rpm (4 - 6X PCAV) CD-RW: (read) 5,100rpm (10.3 - 24X CAV) CD-R: (write) 850 - 1,980rpm (4X CLV), 2,550 - 5,940rpm (12X CLV), 3,400 - 5,940rpm (12, 16X ZCLV), 5,130 - 6,800rpm (12/16/20/24/32X ZCLV) CD-RW: (write) 850 - 1,980rpm (4X CLV) High Speed CD-RW: (Write) 850 - 1,980rpm (4X CLV), 2,125 - 4,950rpm (10X CLV) Ultra Speed CD-RW: (Write) 3,400 - 5,940 rpm (12/16X ZCLV)
Transfer Rate	DVD: (Single) 6,760 - 16,224KB/second DVD: (Dual) 4,432 - 10,816KB/second DVD-R, DVD+R: 5,408 - 10,816KB/second DVD-RW, DVD+RW: 5,408 - 8,112KB/second DVD-RAM: 2,704KB/second CD: 2,588 - 6,000KB/second (mode 1), 2,950 - 6,843KB/second (mode 2) CD-RW: 1,294 - 3,000KB/second (mode 1), 1,475 - 3,422KB/second (mode 2)
Access time	DVD: 130ms, CD: 110ms, DVD-RAM: 200ms
Buffer memory	2 MB with Buffer Underrun Protection
Audio output	Digital and Analogue output
Weight	2.20 lbs. (1.0kg)
Dimensions	1.63" x 5.75" x 7.46" (41.5mm x 146mm x 189.5mm)

The drive uses a 2MB buffer memory store and supports RAW DAO 96 writing (CD). The drive does not support Mount Rainier.

The drive uses the RPC II region control, allowing a user to change the drive's region at most 5 times. For our tests, we set the region code to 2 (Europe).

- The drive

The european retail package includes a safety instruction manual, a quick start guide, a CD which includes the product manual, FAQ/Glossary, DOS drivers, a second CD with Pinnacle Studio SE v.9 and Instant CD/DVD v.8, mounting screws, a blank Traxdata 8x DVD+R 4,7GB disc and a blank Verbatim 48x CD-R. Also there are the internal connection IDE and analogue audio cables as well as an advertising marker.

The drive's front panel's color is white in colour. On the tray from left to right we can see the following: Ultra Speed Compact disc Rewritable logo, DVD R/RW logo and RW DVD+ReWritable logo. Below and on the right hand side we have the power led, the eject button. and the emergency eject hole.

On the rear panel you can find the analogue and digital audio outputs (SPDIF), the IDE connector and the power input.

Removing the screws and opening the drive's cover voids the drive's warranty. For reference reasons, we post the following pictures. Click on the photos for an enlarged view.

The PCB and chipset are manufactured by Toshiba.

- Installation

The device was connected to our test PC and identified as "TOSHIBA ODD-DVD SD-R5272" under WinXP. All tests were done with firmware revision v1030.

The following pages include test results for the Toshiba drive, compared with the NEC ND-2500A and TDK 880N drives which both have about the same specifications as those of the Toshiba.