Help, Sony DRU 500A sucks :(

[tanman508]

Hey, i have been burning stuff from my computer the last week when i bought this drive. I bought Princo 4x dvd-r's . I tried burning just regular stuff at 4x, and it can only do 2x. Is it because my firmware isn't uploaded or the disk suck? I can't make back-ups of my dvd collection either at high speeds. I can only burn at 1x for it to work. Please help me...

[DeleriumMDK]

Could be the Firmware or maybe just that its Princo "4X" Media. I'm willing to bet its not 4X Certified, and only occasionally (and on as few as 1 or 2 writers) it'll write at 4X. I would either do a Firmware Upgrade, deal with low speed (maybe safer on sketchy media like Princo) or buy better quality DVD recordable media.

[psx_pirate]

princo media sucks ... get better media ... ritek is good but wont burn at 4x (not in my sony dru500a) mirror platinum 4x works great check the media code the ones i used were either an30 or an31 code i tried some mirror 2x with maxell code and these werent so hot.

[vtecwil]

DRU-500A/AX works fine . If you want to reliably burn at 4X buy some quality media . I recomend TDK , Verbatim , and Memorex 4x +R media . All of these have the RICOHJPN media code and have not failed me yet . Prices range from 1.13 to 1.40 per disc on sale and you can usually find a sale every week . If you are looking for discs cheaper than this for reliable 4X burns good luck .

[ProfessorX]

I have a Sony DRU-500A with the latest firmware (2.0g) and have the same problem with Princo 4X DVD-R's (haven't tried the 4X +R's). Some of them burn at 4X, but most burn at 2X. I agree with what the other posters were saying in that it's the media and that they're not truly 4X certified. I can burn major brands of media (TDK, Memorex, Maxell, Verbatim) at 4X with no problem.

[ProfessorX]

I just made a very interesting discovery with the Princo 4X DVD-R's. I noticed that when I try to burn them at 4X with RecordNow Max, the software detects the blank as being 4X and starts to burn it at 4X. Then about a minute into the recording process, the time that's left doubles turning it into a 2X burn time. What I discovered is when I set the burn speed in RecordNow Max to 1X the opposite happens; it starts burning it at 1X and then a minute into the burn the time remaining cuts down dramatically turning it into a 4X burn. I tested the disc after the burn and it worked fine. I find this very strange and I really don't have a theory on to why this would happen. At least now I found a way to burn the Princo media at 4X.

[dmagic1]

Many sites that sell the 4X Princos have a disclaimer letting you know that some Sony DRU users report only 2X speed burning with these Princos.