DRU500AX versus DRU500A

[wiespino]

Hello guys.
Please help me with a dilemma I have. I just bought yesterday (15 Feb 2003) from BestBuy a Sony DRU500A manufactured 30 December 2002 with firmware 1.0e. I was surprised that they sell DRU500A not DRU500AX like everybody else. For instance J&R and CircuitCity have in store DRU500AX. There have been some rumors in this forum that Sony took out from the market the DRU500A and replace it with DRU500AX. I called Sony Technical support and they claim that they did not take DRU500A from the market. They say the demand was too high and anyway they planned to replace it with DRU500AX so they just fill the gap with this new unit. Basically Sony claims that the difference is only in the firmware. My DRU500A works well but I just want to know if it would be better to give it back and get a DRU500AX instead?? Is this new unit any different from DRU500A other than the firmware upgrade?? They discovered any big problem with DRU500A that they can’t fix by updating the firmware? I just think that doesn't make sense to change the product name, box, e.t.c. just for a firmware update...
Please help me with information regarding this as I want to decide really quick if I have to find a DRU500AX and bring this one back to the store...




P.S.: Does DRU500AX work with Verbatim DVD-R's sold before October 2002 or is the same problem as with DRU500A ??

Thankx!

[HyperYagami]

until proven otherwise, the general consent is that the AX version is 100% same as the A version hardware-wise.

[brendanc]

I spoke to Sony Europe and they advised me the only difference is different software-hardware is exactly the same-relax!!!

[artemio]

I have the external version, the DRX500UL, my machine indentify it as DRU500A, I upgraded to 1.0g firmware and it works without ANY problem....

Teke it easy........not always the latest is the best....

A.

[Hertog_Martin]

The speeds went up from 2.4x to 4.x thats why they released it under a other name..

[artemio]

With the 1.0g firmware also the "old" drives have 4x on all DVD writable and rewritable media....

A.

[Benzima]

With the 1.0g firmware also the "old" drives have 4x on all DVD writable and rewritable media....

You sure about that? I upgrade a 500a from 1.0f to 1.0g and my writing speed to DVD-R remained at 2x (Accu)

[artemio]

Well, they claim so. ASAP I can find a certified 4x media I will do some tests. By the way the drive has been always 4x for DVD-R, the latest firmware was to update to this speed DVD+R/RW.

A.

[wiespino]

First of all thank you all for your input.

For Artemio:

Teke it easy........not always the latest is the best....

A.

I know that the latest is not always the greatest but I just wanted to make sure I'm not missing something. Anyway you know of any problem with DRU500AX or you just say that "the latest is not always the best" from experience ??? In other words you know DRU500A is better or...??

Besides the differences between the two units I may get a DRU500AX cheaper if I order it online and that's another thing to consider.

Anyway, thanks for your replies and regarding the 4X writing speed I don't know what to say. I don't have any 4X blank DVD to try but my first question would be: Is that Accu really 4X ???

[artemio]

Well, I haven't found yet any problem with my SONY drive, I am sure your will work like mine....

They are all very new hardware appareils so maybe they can suffer from some bugs but I think you can buy with confidence the one you find cheap..

I hope to find some certified 4x DVD-R soon.....I live in Italy and it is not an easy place for this kind of stuff.

See you
A.

[subslug]

According to Meritline.com 2X is all you can expect with the Accu media. Atleast the DVD-R stuff. Other than this Accu sure seems to work great.

[artemio]

With DVD writable media you can't force writing speed like you can sometimes do with CD-R.

I think you need to have certified support to reach the speed the writer claims.

Anyway I have tested TDK, Imation and Magnex DVD-R 2x and they work great with my SONY. Hamlet media is not even recognized by the drive, while old Verbatim media die while the burning is on its way....

See you
A.

[donpedro]

I saw AX at local CompUSA on the shelf. AX not A.....

[Benzima]

Let me clarify:

artemio said:

With the 1.0g firmware also the "old" drives have 4x on all DVD writable and rewritable media....

Please note the "all" in his post. To me, that infers all DVD media, any DVD media (DVD-R,DVD+R,DVD-RW,DVD+RW) will burn at 4x. My post was given to say that is not true in my experiences.

[ALUOp]

With the 1.0g firmware also the "old" drives have 4x on all DVD writable and rewritable media....

A.

That's not true.

DVD-R, DVD+R: 4X
DVD+RW: 2.4X
DVD-RW: 2X

Your speed is also determined by the media you use.
Currently, 4X DVD-R/DVD+R media is still very expensive.
All those cheap ones can only get you 2X with 1.0f or higher firmware.
With 1.0e, most cheap media can only do 1X.
Also, A and AX are exactly the same except that AX comes with a newer firmware (1.0f or 1.0g I forgot), so a firmware-upgraded A is 100% same as an AX.

[pb]

I have a DRU 500AX here in Australia. I bought some Ritek (G04 from ADVDinfo) media (4X) but can only burn at 2X. Nero shows firmware as 2.0C. This drive is supposed to burn 4X media straight out of the box. I have used Nero, Record Now DX that came with the drive (and Record Now Max) etc and only two speed. I see from this site that this media is 4X so I don't know what is going on. I cannot find any more 4X media, it is still hard to get. I have the drive as a slave on a 2nd IDE channel with a Liteon DVD ROM, so there should not be any problems, Win XP pro detected the drive and as with the DVD ROM, its set for DMA mode 2.

Any ideas or experiences??