Sony DRU-540A: Sony's Answer to the 12x Call
by Purav Sanghani on August 14, 2004 12:54 AM EST- Posted in
- Storage
Features
Since the circuitry/chipsets of the DRU-540A are the same as the DR12A we assumed the features would also be quite similar amongst the two drives. We scanned the 540A using Nero's InfoTool to see what the drive offered and found the following...
Click to enlarge.
The Plextor PX-712A also featured support for the Philips Mt. Rainier standard which allows drag & drop writing to RW discs.
| Sony DRU-540A 12x DVD-/+RW Drive | |
| Interface | PATA |
| CD Write Speed | 40X CAV, 32X PCAV, 24X PCAV 16X, 8X, 4X |
| CD Rewrite Speed | 24X PCAV 16X, 12X, 8X, 4X |
| CD Read Speed | 40X MAX (CAV) |
| DVD-R Write Speed | 8X (Z-CLV) 4X, 2X, 1X |
| DVD-RW Rewrite Speed | 4X, 2X, 1X (CLV) |
| DVD+R Write Speed | 12X PCAV, 8X PCAV 4X, 2.4X |
| DVD+RW Rewrite Speed | 4X, 2.4X (CLV) |
| DVD-RAM Write Speed | N/A |
| DVD Read Speed | 12X MAX (CAV) |
| Supported Modes | DAO / DAO-RAW 16 & 96 TAO SAO / RAW SAO, RAW SAO 16 & 96 Packet Write Multi-Session |
| Supported Formats | DVD+R (DAO, incremental, seq) DVD+RW (random) DVD-R (DAO, incremental, seq) DVD-RW (restricted overwrite) CD-R, CD-RW, CD-ROM, CD-DA, Mixed Mode, CD Extra Photo CD, CD Text, Bootable CD, UDF |
| Access Time | CD: 130ms DVD: 160ms |
| Buffer | 2MB |
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KristopherKubicki - Friday, August 20, 2004 - link
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?desc... Have it reviewed already, along with the Pioneer 16X ; we are just waiting to publish.Kristopher
sgd2z - Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - link
16X Drive from BenQ, can we have that in your next DVD RW roundup? http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?desc...PuravSanghani - Tuesday, August 17, 2004 - link
TrogdorJW: This issue is common among low quality media like the Philips C08 and the VDSPMSAB 001 DVD+R's we tested with the DRU-540A. While forcing write speeds to a lower setting may reduce coaster production for some media, there are those other low quality media that may choke on certain drives no matter what write speeds you force on them.KristopherKubicki - Tuesday, August 17, 2004 - link
Ian@CDRlabs: They did not mention the problem to us. If you can buy it, i dont see why we shouldnt review it.Kristopher
TrogdorJW - Monday, August 16, 2004 - link
So do the read/burn problems with cheap media persist if you force the record speed to 4X or even 2X? Obviously, buying a 12X burner and using it as a 4X is sort of dumb, but if you're too cheap to find good quality media - or maybe only too cheap some of the time - then it would be nice to know you can force the drive to fall back to a more compatible setting.Example: I have problems with my Lite On 52X CD-RW drive when writing Memorex discs at 52X speeds, but when I write them at 32X they work perfectly fine. Is that common, or do I have a faulty drive?
RyanVM - Monday, August 16, 2004 - link
#6,http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?desc...
Ian@CDRlabs - Monday, August 16, 2004 - link
According to Sony, there are issues with DVD+RW and DVD-RW media and the 1.0a firmware. I'm surprised they didn't ask you to hold off on this review.PuravSanghani - Monday, August 16, 2004 - link
#5 & 6: There is a SATA version of the 712A named appropriately PX-712SA/SW and MSI's XA52P has a SATA interface but is said to only work in conjunction with Intel chipsets.Sony currently does not have any SATA optical drives, but there is always the future right :)
#7: The DRU-540A is not Mac compatible.
WooDaddy - Monday, August 16, 2004 - link
Good review. Is this the latest drive that Sony released? Also, sorta unrelated, is this Mac compatible? Does it have bitsetting support easily available?Ok.. more unrelated questions..
I CAN'T GET TO THE FORUMS!!! Are they down?
OMIGAWDBBQTGIMSWYMGY!!! (Shake what yo mamma gave ya)
epicstruggle - Monday, August 16, 2004 - link
#5 is there a dvdrw that does support sata? I know they are coming out, but is there one out now?