Is there a way to increase the speed of a Sony DRU-500UL?

I own the external version of the Sony DRU-500 (firmware 1.0g) which is USB 2.0 and I was wondering if there was any way to increase the speed. I have a pretty fast system which I use it on (P4 1.8GHz) and it still takes about 90 minutes to burn a DVD. I didn't think USB 2.0 would be as fast as IDE but I thought it would be faster than 90 minutes. I also have a Sony DRU-500a (internal) on another system and it burns a DVD at 2x in about 30 minutes and 15 minutes using 4x media. On the DRU-500UL, I don't see any speed increase even when using 4x media. I'm using Nero to burn the DVD's and the drop down box doesn't have 4x as an option when I put in 4x media the way my internal DRU-500a does. Also, is there a way to convert an external DRU-500UL into an internal burner?

I was also wondering if 90 minutes is the average burn speed for the Sony DRU-500UL or maybe it's a configuration problem. Since the unit has both USB 2.0 and Firewire ports (I'm using USB 2.0) would I get better performance using Firewire? I hear that USB 2.0 is just as fast as Firewire but I'm not sure if it makes a difference with DVD burning.

USB 1.1 is 12Mbits/s - 1.5MB/s or 1536KB/s
Usb 20 is 480Mbits/s - 60MB/s or 61440KB/s
Firewire is 400Mbits/s - 50MB/s or 51200KB/s

And today IDE HDD's cant go faster than 60MB/s in burst speed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smile_M

Usb 20 is 480Mbits/s - 60MB/s or 61440KB/s

at the same time, that's just on paper.

The 90 min per disk makes me wonder.

The internal version of the drive will burn a X1 speed recordable in approx. 55~59 minutes. A X2 records in 30 minutes.

Single speed recording speed is 1380 kbps. The USB-1 speed is 1500kbps and USB-2 is way faster than needed.

This means that even if your USB.2 ports operate at USB-1 speed, you should be able to record in an hour or so. If your USB-2 ports operate as USB-2, you should be able to record X4 disks in 15 minutes or so.

I would first verify the speed of the USB ports. The most accurate way would be to use an external USB disk. Back-up files on the disk and note the transfer speed. It's easy if speed is in USB1 range or USB2 range.

Just wanted to say that I've solved my problem and thank you everyone for your input.

I called Sony tech support about the slow burn speeds I was getting with the 500UL and they said to make sure that my USB 2.0 card was not using the VIA chipset because these burners were having a problem with it. Sure enough, my USB 2.0 card was using the VIA chipset so I went and bought a new USB 2.0 card that used an NEC chipset instead. After installing it I burned a DVD in 14 minutes! They also told me to make sure that I was using a USB 2.0 compliant cable which can also help increase the burning speed so I also bought a gold tipped USB 2.0 cable for $30 at Best Buy. I'm now burning at maximum speed. Thanks again.