Sony DRU 830A internal burner review: Sony DRU 830A internal burner
Sony DRU 830A internal burner
The Sony BWU-830A is a high-performance internal DVD/CD rewritable burner that offers the latest speeds (18x DVD+/-R and 8x DVD+/-R DL), a nice design touch (interchangeable faceplates), and a full complement of software. Unfortunately, at $70, it's on the expensive side for an IDE drive.
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
- Drive type: Internal DVD/CD Rewritable
- Supported Media: DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD+/-R DL, DVD+/-R, DVD+/-RW, DVD-RAM, CD-DA, CD-ROM, Video CD, Photo CD, CD Text, CD Extra, CD-R, CD-RW
- Max Write Speed: 8x DVD+/-R DL, 18x DVD+/-R, 48x CD-R
- Max Rewrite Speed: 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 12x DVD-RAM, 32x CD-RW
- Max Read Speed: 16x DVD-ROM, 48x CD-ROM
- Buffer Memory: 2MB
- Mounting: Horizontal or Vertical
- Dimension: 5.75 x 6.69 x 1.63 inches (WDH)
- Notable design features: Interchangeable faceplate(black or white/silver)
- Connection options: EIDE/ATAPI
- System Requirements: Pentium III 800MHz or faster (or equivalent), 256MB RAM, 10GB HDD
- OSes supported: MS Windows Vista/XP/2000 Pro
- Software included: Nero 7 Essentials, including NeroVision Express, Nero Express, NeroInCD, Nero Showtime DVD, and Nero BackitUp
- Any additional features: Support 8cm or 12cm discs
- Service/support: One-year limited warranty; toll-free phone support; live chat; e-mail to tech support; site includes FAQs, tutorials, and software/driver downloads.
The CNET Labs' test results revealed above-average performance for the DRU-830A. Ripping an 8.46GB commercial DVD to the hard drive took 22 minutes, 43 seconds. Burning that image to a DVD+R DL disc took 20 minutes, 43 seconds. Burning a 4.48GB mixed-data file to a DVD+R disc took 8 minutes, 34 seconds. Ripping a 746MB commercial CD took 2 minutes, 40 seconds. And burning that image to a CD-R disc took 3 minutes, 20 seconds.
The only issue we had with the DRU-830A was that we couldn't get it to work with all media brands, though it did work seamlessly with Verbatim discs.
(Shorter bars indicate faster performance)
Commercial CD rip (746MB) | Commercial DVD rip (8.46GB) |
(Shorter bars indicate faster performance)
CD-R burn (746MB) | DVD+R data burn (4.48GB) | DVD+R DL burn (8.46GB) |