What are the complaints about the Sony DRU-500AX?

[phinsman]

I've seen some negative comments about the drive, but not really sure what the complaint itself is.

I just got one a few days ago, and I think it's excellent, as far as I can tell. My only complaint, so far, is the somewhat slow DVD-ripping speed, which is about 30-45 minutes for a DVD.

It's burnt everything perfectly so far as I can tell. I've copied 8 DVD's and authored one of my own.

One more complaint...I don't really like the software. MyDVD and RecordNow are very limited in their abilities. I would have preferred Ulead's DVD Movie Factory. Luckily I already had Nero for burning purposes and I think I'm going to buy DVD-Lab.

I'd really like to know any potential problems I should look for with this drive.

Thanks,
Dale

[housepig]

sounds like you hit the nail on the head - I have one and I love it, my only complaints are the same : the included software is not very good, and it doesn't rip faster than 2x (although I expected that, so I rip from a Lite-On drive).

The only other beef I have is I haven't found media yet that will reliably burn as 4x - some of the 4x media I use, it recognizes as 4x, and it says it's burning at 4x, but it still takes 30 minutes to burn - like all my 2x media at 2x.

But that will work itself out when there's more 4x media easily available - just like the early days of cd burning.

otherwise, welcome to the club - it's an awesome drive. (and DVD Lab is pretty sweet, too...)

[hotwings]

the only problem i noticed in the first post is that you said it takes between 30-45 minutes for a dvd, which shouldn't be happening. My burns take a little over 30 minutes, about 33 minutes max at 2x, 45 minutes begins to sound like 1x burning, which shouldn't be happening unless you chose to burn 1x. All 1x media I have bought for this drive seems to burn at 2x just fine.

[ptmurphy]

As for media you can reliabley burn at 4 times...

I use Verbatim Datalife Plus rated at 1-4x and they have burned at 4x every time. Give them a try.

[tkwish]

Had my drive a while now and updated to the latest firmware burns at 4x no trouble 16 min for a full disc I was using ritek disc then they went short so changed to princo still no probs and have burnt a couple of packs,
that said the last two packs of princo I have experienced the same probs mentioned above says its burning at 4 but takes 30 mins but also bought some gold ritek these still burn at 4x no probs.

[yx]

Opening/closing tray makes big noise. When hearing the noise, you do not think the drive is a SONY drive.

[housepig]

hotwings -

I don't think he meant burning took 45 minutes - ripping took 45 minutes (and that's why I got a Lite-On to rip - Sony is locked at 2x).

(backing up the new edition of Ran right now - it's going to take about 13 minutes - sweet!)

[txpharoah]

It has some firmware issues. Mainly with burning 4x on 4x rated discs. I hear about other flukes too. Since I don't own one, I'm going off what I read and what I've seen on demos.

[mkelley]

I agree with Housepig -- after owning the Sony for a month or so I gave in and bought a cheap ($35) Sony ROM that reads at 16x and makes a good compliment for the burner.

Now I can backup my Star Trek disks in rapid time! (Love the Sony burner though -- and DVDLab is an *excellent* choice for authoring).

[spiderman2k1]

has problem burning memorex DVD's and Khpermedia and seem this drive work's best when set to master. I my self like Pioneer better

[hotwings]

hotwings -

I don't think he meant burning took 45 minutes - ripping took 45 minutes (and that's why I got a Lite-On to rip - Sony is locked at 2x).

(backing up the new edition of Ran right now - it's going to take about 13 minutes - sweet!)

oops thanks for pointing that out, didn't read carefully enough.. I also have a liteon that does my dvd ripping.

[Metaluna]

I also use the Verbatim Datalife Plus 4X DVD+R's in my Sony, and they work really well at 4X.

As for ripping speed, I would recommend *not* wearing out a $350 drive with DVD ripping when a $40 Liteon is faster and more expendable.

[phinsman]

has problem burning memorex DVD's and Khpermedia and seem this drive work's best when set to master.

I definitely disagree with this. I've burned a pile of Memorex DVD's already. I haven't tried K-Hypermedia. Also, my drive is on slave.

As for ripping speed, I would recommend *not* wearing out a $350 drive with DVD ripping when a $40 Liteon is faster and more expendable.

This is interesting advice that I may go by, Metaluna. I never thought of that. A couple of questions...how fast (minutes) does it burn CD's, and do you think it's okay to use it for that, if I replace my CD burner with my old DVD ROM? I burn a lot of CD's too.

Oh yeah, someone mentioned that the tray is noisy. All trays are noisy!

Thanks all,
Dale

[mkelley]

The Sony drive burns CDs at 24x -- between 3 and 5 minutes for a full 700 mb. I burn them all the time now that I've replaced my CD burner with a DVD-ROM (a Sony, at less than $40).

[adam]

Almost all DVD burners are capped at ~2x when ripping encrypted DVDs. This is going to be a problem with just about any burner you buy. I love my Sony so far, and really have no complaints.

[DonMac]

the DRU500AX only writes at 2x on x4 certified -R DVDs using either RecordMaxDX or Nero. Nero indicates a x4 write speed but actually writes at 2x. RecordMaxDX initially shows 15 min for 4GB but switches over to 30 minutes after recording some data. The problem appears to be that the DRU500AX (or something else!) slows down the handshaking protocol during data transfer.

I have visited several forums and tried the suggested solutions. I have checked and verified that DMA is active for the DRU500AX. I already already had ATA100 cable (80 wires) but switched to another cable anyway to be sure. I changed the drive settings from chip select to slave. I put the hard drive and the DRU500AX on separate EIDE lines. I changed the 4 registry settings for Nero. I changed the firmware to 1.0d version (which created coasters) and back to 2.0f (with DMA disabled).

I have a Dell 8100 1.7GH PC running XP with essentially all updates including Service Pack 1.

So far no response from sony tech support. Are there any other possible solutions?

Also, after testing half a dozen brands, I have found only one that works with DLA (not the Sony+RW that came with the drive!). I removed DLA from my system.

Otherwise using RecordMaxDX or Nero the DRU500AX works fine from x1 to x2.4 write speeds. No errors on any brands for abount a dozen I checked so far.

[SaSi]

The main problem with the drive is media compatibility. This issue has been discussed very lively in previous months here. Someone did point out that SONY is very choosy in allowing the drive to record at 4x because many media brands are not that good quality.

Over the past 5 months that I've been recording with this drive I came to the conclusion that using a good brand media is enough to get rid of any problems. In the past I could just not get Nero and the SONY to work together happily. Some of the problems were really irritating. Switched to RecordNowDX, which is a free upgrade to SONY users (can't understand why they don't bundle it in as well). I never had any problem with this s/w, although I have found out that it records DVD+RWs slower than Nero, so I was using Nero for -RW and +RW, with which, curiously, Nero never had any problem.

Recent updates to Nero, v.5.5.10.28, seem to quitely remove all the problems I had in the past, so I'm now also using Nero.

Another issue to take note of, and that is for any recorder owners, always do a verify cycle on important material, especially with low cost media that you have not used repeatedly. I have seen some media fail on verify. DVD Video is very forgiving; you can have a few false bits and the DVD player will happily playback and you will not notice. But if the DVD contains data backup, you have a disaster.

And the bundled DVD authoring program is a waste. DVD Lab is perhaps the most powerful and affordable application. Tmpgenc DVD Authoring is much simpler to use. If you are not very demanding with Menus and want the absolutely easiest program to use, I've found ULEAD's DVD Workshop to be it.

[w00tski]

yeh that pretty much covers it. I dont know what the problem is really with 4x media. But for now the only problem is it wont record consistently on 4x media at 4x. But this is only 2 brands, ritek and princo. But i will say that it does produce a recent result. If the burner is checking to see that the disc can or cannot burn at 4x on 4x media reliably, then so be it. Maybe it is choosing a reliable recording over a quicker recording. This cant be a bad thing. People state taht the A05 does a better job on the cheaper media. Perhaps it knows how to handle defects better than the DRU500a, but the a05 does not write to + r/rw discs. Maybe in time when better quality 4x media is around this supposed 'problem' with the drive wont be so apparent anymore. I look at it this way, would i rather a coastered or not reliable 4x burn or a working 2x burn? I tried the 1.0d firmware trick and it worked, 4x burns but the disc was not reliable. The burner could read it back fine, but that doesnt speak alot for compatability. My liteon dvdrom couldnt read it back very well.

[txpharoah]

With the announcement of a Pioneer A06 and TDK 4x drive (both which supposedly do 4x +R and -R formats), I'd overlook the Sony. Sony is not a good company anyway when it comes to reliable and compatible products. These other competitors will be here real soon, and probably at a better price. Look for Cendyne to use A06 drives at a cheaper price.

[mkelley]

Geeze, you have *got* to be kidding. Sony not a reliable company?

Um, I've been buying Sony products for over 30 years now and some of the original VCRs we bought from them 25 years ago are still in service. They still make the best TVs out there, and without a doubt they have a *much* higher dependability rating than nearly any other manufactuer. Indeed, in our industry the conventional wisdom is "no one ever lost their job buying Sony" (just like we used to say in my other line of work, computers, about IBM back in the 60's).

While there's no question Pioneer makes very nice stuff, I would not bet my company that their coming out of the gate with dual format writers will be successful -- without a doubt you can look to see trouble and shakedown in the first six months, just like with the Sony drive. By the end of the year I'm sure they will have very successful products, just like the Sony 500.

I suspect the Sony burner will be the standard for years to come.

[Netpeace]

I called Sony Tech Support and the woman who answered alleged that the 2.0f firmware upgrade found at http://sony.storagesupport.com/dvdrw/dru500axdwn.htm will make the 500AX identical to the 500AX. Anyone have any knowledge about this ?

[txpharoah]

They still make the best TVs out there, and without a doubt they have a *much* higher dependability rating than nearly any other manufactuer.

No disagreements on this. But realize that televisions are one of the ONLY products that Sony makes. Most of their other items are purchased and re-branded.

Their Trinitron aand WEGA technology is amazing, but they don't know squat about audio or computers. They just buy other products and either assemble them or rebrand them.

Pioneer is not just out of the gates. They invented DVD burning technology.

[psychoace]

I have been noticing a lot more 4x media now a day. Best buy has a lot of 4x media. From verbatim 15 pack of 4x dvd+r to tdk 100 pack of dvd+r (on the package it says 4x rated) and one other i forget it though. With the verbatim i have been having a great time burning dvd's at 4x and doing full dvd's in 15 min. The 15 pack of verbatim is 30 bucks while the 100 pack of tdk is 189.99.



Oh yeah i have the sony dvd burner and it runs great no problems yet and it matches my case which is a big +




Last Sony dosn't outsource anything they make it all. All their products they sell have some propiertory item attached to it like the sony memory stick which of course only sony makes or the sony md which of course only sony sells. Sony is a very reliable company and makes great cameras, tv's and computers.

[mkelley]

Once again txpharoah, I respectfully disagree with you.

Sony makes the very finest video recording technology out there. Beta is still the industry standard (not the home beta, of course, a far superior technology that lost due to marketing). And Sony audio recording is also very highly respected.

I'll grant you their foray into the computer world is somewhat cobbled together, but that doesn't negate the fact their DVD players are world class. I have to believe that at least *some* of this has spilled over into DVD burning.

Pioneer is just out of the gate when it comes to dual-writing technology -- trust me, I've been around four or five decades in this business and I can promise you they will go through bumpy times as well as they shake this out. No doubt they will come out with a terrific product, but they will be playing catchup.

The A500 is still the best rated burner by *all* of the reviewers in the industry -- this isn't a coincidence. By the end of the year this may well change, but you can't bury your head in the sand and pretend otherwise now. It's a terrific product, and my guess is your prejudice against Sony blinds you to this. That's okay -- we all have our own scotomas, but I wouldn't let it keep anyone else in this thread from considering the A500 if they are so inclined.

[vance43211]

everbody that brought the dru -120a, sony first dvd burner for $600 will probaly disagree with you

first it came with s%*ttyish software and had a lack of support

i still remember getting cussed out by one of their support people for asking the simple question, which happen after waiting on the phone for over an hour and answering the same proof of purchases question to 10 different people, how do i copy a dvd movie to the sony? (which was my only reason for buying it)

they didn't take the time out to explain that i could not legally burn dvds, they just cussed me out

i knew about 5 or 6 other people that had similar experience back then and promptly returned the burners back to the store soley on the rudeness of sony support (this was around march or april of last year)

the only reason i kept mine, was i was able copy the movie "thicker than water" on a accident (which at the time i didn't know it didn't have copy protection on it)

so i kept mine and eventually a month or 2 later i got linked to vcdhelp.com and instant cd/dvd 6 through yahoo and the rest is history

but i feel sorry for the rest of the people that spent $600 on that burner and can't even upgrade to better software from sony (i know for a fact that they have better software now)

i brought my second burner for $275 (a aopen) in december that came with way better software (stuff u could actually use)

that the software that i use now for my sony dru-120a (i threw that sony software away over a year ago. that B recorders Gold software that i got didn't even work on XP) with instant cd/dvd 7.0

[mkelley]

No, that actually proves my point.

Any company's first forays into technology is going to be rough -- which is why I believe Pioneer (despite experience in one style of DVD writing) is going to have tough times. It will shake out, and I'm sure they'll end up with a great product, but don't be surprised if there are complaints with this new drive technology they will be introducing.

And don't be misled by the old "grandfather bought a chevy" syndrome (my grandfather once bought a Chevy and it was a lemon. He spent the rest of his 80 years buying only Fords, because it was obvious that Chevrolet could not possibly make a car that worked). Only when a company has a track record of mistakes does it make sense to stay away from them, which is just the opposite with Sony.

But, as Mr. O'Reilly says, I'll leave you all with the last word, as this thread has gone far afield and I'll no longer watch it.

[sidewinder33625]

I've had the drive for around 3mos and did more than 30 DVD's and no problem so far. Only used Verbatim plus and minus R. The other day, bought the 10pk compusa brand -R for $10 but those would only burn at 1x on nero/recordnow dx/max. Backleveled the firmware from 2.0f to 1.0f and it burns at 2x with no problems. Then went to 1.0g and still 2x burns. Naturally got me some more. Haven't tried 4x since the media is still expensive but I think 30min is fast enough and I can afford to wait another 15min.

[TBoneit]

No Complaints, And when it dies form overuse, I'll go buy another one.

On the otherhand having been stung by bad model from plextor (CD-RW) personally and at work where every one we sold had to be relaced under warranty, No Plextors for me.

YMMV However
Roger

[drewson99]

Geeze, you have *got* to be kidding. Sony not a reliable company?

Um, I've been buying Sony products for over 30 years now and some of the original VCRs we bought from them 25 years ago are still in service. They still make the best TVs out there, and without a doubt they have a *much* higher dependability rating than nearly any other manufactuer.

you are mixing things up a bit. they make incredibly reliable products (I have an original wood paneled Trinitron which is a few years older than me which still looks great)

but as a *company*, I would have to disagree. Thier customer support sucks. they lose things, accuse the owner of stuff, act ignorant, arrogant, etc. they LOST my VAIO laptop for 3 months and accused me of lying about not recieving it. it took the acquisition of a UPS bill of leading and a terse conversation with a tech support guy, and assistant manager, a manager, and finally a VP to get them to "look for it" which they did, and after 3 months of angry phone calls, I got it back.

search Sony customer support here and find many such stories.

THE THING IS... most people never see this side of Sony BECAUSE their products are so good. This is also probrably *why* thier customer support *is* so bad - nobody holds them to it because they probrably don't have nearly as much support traffic as some other companies.

Andy

[sidewinder33625]

Can someone with a virgin 500AX with no firmware upgrade tell me what the BIOS detects during boot? Mine is being detected as DRU-500A after flashing with 1.0g . I thought it said DRU-500AX before... cant' remember.