Sony DRU review: Sony DRU

Our feelings about Sony's double-layer, multiformat DVD burner, the DRU-700A, are complicated. Don't get us wrong: We love its ability to write high-capacity 8.5GB, double-layer discs, which hold twice as much data as single-layer DVD-R and DVD+R discs and, more importantly, are big enough to fit an entire uncompressed commercial movie. We also appreciate the DRU-700A's excellent performance with single-layer DVD+/-/R/RW and CD-R/RW media. Still, the double-layer experience wasn't all we had hoped it would be: double-layer media burns at only 2.4X; at 3.32 megabytes per second, that's a relatively slow proposition, especially when compared to today's 8X (11.08-megabytes-per-second) single-layer burn speed. Furthermore, the double-layer discs we burned failed to play in many of the other PC-attached burners we tested and also bombed in a few of the set-top DVD players we tried. In other words, the double-layer movies you burn with the DRU-700A may not play in every machine. Still, at $169 after a $30 mail-in rebate (as of July 2004), the double-layer DRU-700A isn't significantly more expensive than many other 8X single-layer-only DVD burners, and it does everything they can and more.

The DRU-700A is almost identical in appearance to its forerunners in the innovative DRU-500 series, sporting the same mildly attractive, putty-colored faceplate and translucent gray-and-blue media tray; Sony includes a black replacement faceplate for those with meaner-looking PCs. The drive measures a little less than seven inches deep, making it an especially good choice for bread-box and mini PCs. Adorning its front are an emergency-eject port, a power/busy light, and an eject button--that's it; there's no volume control nor headphone jack. The back panel has the standard array of connections: analog and digital audio outputs, IDE connector, drive configuration jumpers, plus three mystery jumpers whose purpose was unclear--leave them alone.

The DRU-700A's most significant feature is its ability to write 8.5GB double-layer DVD+R discs. This more capacious DVD-recordable technology allows you to back up an entire high-bit-rate, two-hour movie without compression or alteration and archive twice the amount of data as normal single-layer DVD (read more about the pros and cons of double-layer technology in CNET's burner buying guide).

The DRU-700A also writes single-layer DVD-R and DVD+R at 8X, DVD-RW/+RW at 4X, CD-R at 40X, and CD-RW at 24X (just like the DRU-530A before it). DVD-ROM reading proceeds at a sprightly 12X, and CD-ROM reading at 40X. Those specs are totally sufficient for most users, but they're no longer state of the art: Plextor's PX-712 writes DVD+R at 12X, and 16X drives are almost here.

For the first time, Sony bundles Ahead Software's Nero 6.0 DVD/CD software suite; it's not our Editors' Choice Ultra edition, but it's still a great improvement over the underpowered Sonic MyDVD suite that shipped with the Sony DRU-530A. Nero 6.0 isn't quite as intuitive or easy to use as MyDVD, but it offers far more advanced features and a much better backup utility.

CNET Labs recently changed its burner testing methodology to more accurately reflect real-life usage, and the Sony DRU-700A did very well with the new test suite. It stacked up well against both Lite-On's new double-layer SOHW-832s and LG Electronics's single-layer 8X drive, the GSA-4082B, with a three-way tie for movie-ripping performance but pulling ahead with the fastest time writing to single-layer DVD+R media. It was equally as speedy as the SOHW-832s at ripping CD audio, but for some reason, it fell considerably off the pace when writing a full audio CD, coming in approximately two minutes slower than the others. In our two DVD-rewritable media tests, the DRU-700A finished in a virtual dead heat with its competitors.

Because double-layer media is still hard to come by and will debut with a cost of at least $10 per disc and because there is no multisession support when burning DVD-movie discs, you'll want to be very selective with what you choose to put on double-layer discs. Additionally, the sluggish 2.4X write speed translates into a long wait for discs with lots of data or a feature-length movie. Our tests drive home this point: both the DRU-700A and the Lite-On SOHW-832s took about 44 minutes, 15 seconds to burn a full 7.9GB DVD movie. (Our dual-layer tests were conducted using Sony media.)

Interestingly, the more important performance issue regarding double-layer burning seems to be with DVD playback. The double-layer DVD disc we burned with the Sony drive played in most of the set-top players we tried; however, very few PC-attached single-layer DVD recorders recognized the disc. The double-layer disc we burned with the Lite-On SOHW-832s also played in most of the set-top players we tried and was recognized in very few of the PC DVD drives. For now it seems that buyers should beware: single-layer burners often can't play burned double-layer media.

Unless otherwise mentioned, all write tests are run with Verbatim media, rated at the drive's maximum speed. Find out more about how we test DVD burners.

Sony backs the DRU-700A with an industry-standard one-year warranty, but the company's toll-free tech support is available only weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. PT. Sony's Web site offers abundant support in the form of a variety of FAQs, technology white papers, software updates, PDF manuals, and firmware downloads.