Top DVD writer
- — 15 January, 2004 07:46
As with most new DVD writers, the DRU-510AK supports both DVD+R/RW and DVD-R/RW. The user-friendly DVD-RAM standard has been omitted, but with DVD+RW and DVD-RW both supported, users are unlikely to find media becoming obsolete any time soon.
Part of the reason for the success of the DRU-500A (the previous model) was its huge 8MB memory buffer. Four times as large as the 2MB versions that you tend to see in other drives, this buffer easily offered enough breathing space for the Sony to keep its burn times low. The proprietary PowerBurn technology should serve to eradicate errors even more.
Superior specifications equate to better write times, and this Sony drive is capable of writing 3GB of files to a DVD+RW in just 16 minutes and 31 seconds, and to a DVD+R in 9 minutes and 41 seconds.
Sony has spurned Ahead Software’s Nero Burning Rom package and has instead bundled a suite of Veritas titles. The various titles offer a host of facilities, from data backup to advanced video editing and DVD authoring. The software may not be as easy to use as Nero, but the features come thick and fast, and overall software performance is perhaps marginally faster.
In brief: Sony DRU-510AK
Price: $449
Vendor: Sony
Phone: 1300 137 669
URL: www.sony.com.au
