- Joined
- Dec 4, 2002
- Location
- Hell's Kitchen
DVD recordable drive prices have fallen precipitously in the past few months. That being the case, the average user can now afford the luxury of being able to burn discs that are nearly 5.0 GB in size. This will be a boon to many computer users who often have gigabytes of data on their hard drives. The days where 700 MB of data on a CD were considered “more than enough” are long gone.
Because of my recent bout with computer hell, I was suddenly thrust into the market for a new optical drive. I used to be a big drive junky and my computers would typically feature three or more drives that would take care of all my storage needs. In fact, my last computer featured four drives: a Plextor 40x SCSI CD-ROM to handle disc reads; a Plextor SCSI CD-R/RW to handle burning; a Pioneer DVD-ROM for watching movies; and an IOMega Jazz drive to handle the older Jazz discs I was using. Fortunately, I grew wiser and realized that this kind of nonsense is no longer necessary. With the emergence of DVD-R/RW and +R/RW and the realization that convenience is often more important than sheer performance, I looked for a drive that would handle all my optical needs.
DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW: An ugly standards war
Unfortunately for consumers, we’ve become the cannon fodder for a DVD standards war that hasn’t seen a clear victor. There are two major recording/re-recording standards in the DVD world. Pioneer and its followers supported the DVD+R/RW standard while basically everyone else harped about the superiority of DVD-R/RW. The media upon which data would be written on, therefore, had to be specifically made for a burner that was either a DVD-R/RW or DVD+R/RW. Also, there are compatibility differences with finished recordings for both +R/RW and –R/RW. In other words, some DVD players will play +R/RW just fine and have problems with –R/RW while other players will do vice-versa. And yet other players won’t have a problem with either. Confused yet? As it turns out, both formats play on roughly 90-95% of the players out on the market, so for the most part, it isn’t a huge problem. However, for many people who simply don’t want to mess with this kind of nonsense, the choice wasn’t so easy.
Dual format DVD recorders come of age
Fortunately, I entered the optical drive market right when dual format drives were becoming readily available. Sony was one of the first to release a dual format drive in the form of the DRU510A. Unfortunately, with the Sony brand name comes the Sony price. The DRU510A typically runs for $299 retail – although a quick search through http://www.pricewatch.com can help soften the blow a bit (Newegg offers the drive for around $260). With dual-format drives, one no longer has to be a participant in the format wars. You can simply choose which format you want to record in; stick the disc in the drive; and hit the record button. This kind of no-nonsense optical solution was perfect for a person like me.
NEC’s new 1300A. A dual format DVD recorder with a more palatable price
After doing some research on DVD drives, I found out that NEC had recently released a dual format drive that was being offered for considerably less money than Sony’s vaunted DRU510A. On NewEgg, I was able to purchase the NEC drive for a mere $175 (free shipping)*. The drive comes bare with Roxio EasyCD creator bundled in (handles DVD recording as well). Here are the specs from NEC website:
Features:
· Read speed: 12x max. DVD-ROM and 40x max. CD-ROM
· Write speed:
DVD-R: 4x CLV DVD-RW: 2x CLV
DVD+R: 4x CLV DVD+RW: 2.4x CLV
CD-R: 16x CLV CD-RW: 10x CLV
· Memory Capacity: 2MB Cache
· Access Time: 140 ms DVD-ROM, 120 ms CD-ROM
· Modes Supported: DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-Video, CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA, CD-Audio, CD Extra, CD Text, CD-I Ready, CD-Bridge, Photo-CD, Video CD, Hybrid CD
· Internal 12/8 cm CD and DVD drive (half height form factor)
· IDE / ATAPI interface with UltraDMA 33 (max. 33 MByte/sec transfer rate)
· Tray load mechanism supporting horizontal and vertical use
· Dust protected enclosure
· Emergency eject
· Weight: 1.07 kg
· Dimensions: 148 mm * 42 mm * 198 mm
Perfect. I had found a drive that can handle all my optical needs.
* Admittedly, this isn’t a completely fair price comparison as the NEC drive I purchased was basically an OEM with software bundled. You can probably find a bare Sony drive for a bit less.
First Impressions
The 1300A is certainly more sedate looking than the DRU-510 which features a strangely Apple G4-esque looking front bezel. But we’re not here to gauge aesthetics. First thing that shocked me when I plugged the 1300A in was the noise – or rather, lack of noise. I run watercooling in my system so my computer is already pretty quiet. Also, being used to my now defunct TDK Velo-CD, I was expecting something of a racket from this drive. The 1300A, fortunately enough, is dead quiet. In fact, it is so quiet, I can only hear it when I stick my ear directly next to the drive. I’ve honestly never had a drive this silent before. Even when it is recording, I cannot hear the drive over the din of my PSU fans. I don’t know what voodoo magic NEC used on this thing, but I’m quite amazed at how stealthy this drive is.
Performance
I’ve never benchmarked or done a review on optical drives before so if there are any glaring mistakes or omissions, please feel free to ask for more in-depth analyses or whatnot. I’m an amateur at this, so be kind
. For comparison, I’ll be using the benchmarks from the Sony DRU510A that was collected at CDRLabs.com. I was able to record a full DVD-RW disc in 27:49. CDRLabs reports that they were able to do the same task in 27:15 with the Sony drive. This is pretty negligible, if you ask me – and probably within the margin of error for such a test. Burning a CD-RW took 7:49. Unfortunately, I don’t have numbers for CD-RW burns for the Sony DRU-510. Here are some benchmarks from EasyCD creator:
NEC 1300A:
Pressed Data CD:
Small File Test: 2029 KB/S
Large File Test: 3370 KB/S
Digital Audio Extraction:
12x (2469 KB/S)
I’m not an expert at benchmarking optical drives (disclaimer already noted), but from the numbers I’ve seen from the 1300A, it is very competitive with the Sony DRU510A and certainly with the other dual format drives on the market.
Final Words
If the NEC drive were priced the same as the Sony DRU510A, this comparison would be a toss-up in my eyes. However, seeing as how the NEC drive can be had for considerably less money, this contest is the no-brainer: the NEC1300A wins by a long shot. Clearly, if you need the absolute best in CD-R/RW performance, you should buy a dedicated drive for such tasks since the top drives in this category tend to blow away DVD drives in such benchmarks. However, if you’re looking for an all-in-one drive that’ll handle pretty much any format you throw at it, the time is ripe to pick up a dual format DVD drive. That being said, I can’t think of a good reason to pick the DRU510A over the 1300A: the NEC drive offers comparable performance for significantly less money.
Because of my recent bout with computer hell, I was suddenly thrust into the market for a new optical drive. I used to be a big drive junky and my computers would typically feature three or more drives that would take care of all my storage needs. In fact, my last computer featured four drives: a Plextor 40x SCSI CD-ROM to handle disc reads; a Plextor SCSI CD-R/RW to handle burning; a Pioneer DVD-ROM for watching movies; and an IOMega Jazz drive to handle the older Jazz discs I was using. Fortunately, I grew wiser and realized that this kind of nonsense is no longer necessary. With the emergence of DVD-R/RW and +R/RW and the realization that convenience is often more important than sheer performance, I looked for a drive that would handle all my optical needs.
DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW: An ugly standards war
Unfortunately for consumers, we’ve become the cannon fodder for a DVD standards war that hasn’t seen a clear victor. There are two major recording/re-recording standards in the DVD world. Pioneer and its followers supported the DVD+R/RW standard while basically everyone else harped about the superiority of DVD-R/RW. The media upon which data would be written on, therefore, had to be specifically made for a burner that was either a DVD-R/RW or DVD+R/RW. Also, there are compatibility differences with finished recordings for both +R/RW and –R/RW. In other words, some DVD players will play +R/RW just fine and have problems with –R/RW while other players will do vice-versa. And yet other players won’t have a problem with either. Confused yet? As it turns out, both formats play on roughly 90-95% of the players out on the market, so for the most part, it isn’t a huge problem. However, for many people who simply don’t want to mess with this kind of nonsense, the choice wasn’t so easy.
Dual format DVD recorders come of age
Fortunately, I entered the optical drive market right when dual format drives were becoming readily available. Sony was one of the first to release a dual format drive in the form of the DRU510A. Unfortunately, with the Sony brand name comes the Sony price. The DRU510A typically runs for $299 retail – although a quick search through http://www.pricewatch.com can help soften the blow a bit (Newegg offers the drive for around $260). With dual-format drives, one no longer has to be a participant in the format wars. You can simply choose which format you want to record in; stick the disc in the drive; and hit the record button. This kind of no-nonsense optical solution was perfect for a person like me.
NEC’s new 1300A. A dual format DVD recorder with a more palatable price
After doing some research on DVD drives, I found out that NEC had recently released a dual format drive that was being offered for considerably less money than Sony’s vaunted DRU510A. On NewEgg, I was able to purchase the NEC drive for a mere $175 (free shipping)*. The drive comes bare with Roxio EasyCD creator bundled in (handles DVD recording as well). Here are the specs from NEC website:
Features:
· Read speed: 12x max. DVD-ROM and 40x max. CD-ROM
· Write speed:
DVD-R: 4x CLV DVD-RW: 2x CLV
DVD+R: 4x CLV DVD+RW: 2.4x CLV
CD-R: 16x CLV CD-RW: 10x CLV
· Memory Capacity: 2MB Cache
· Access Time: 140 ms DVD-ROM, 120 ms CD-ROM
· Modes Supported: DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-Video, CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA, CD-Audio, CD Extra, CD Text, CD-I Ready, CD-Bridge, Photo-CD, Video CD, Hybrid CD
· Internal 12/8 cm CD and DVD drive (half height form factor)
· IDE / ATAPI interface with UltraDMA 33 (max. 33 MByte/sec transfer rate)
· Tray load mechanism supporting horizontal and vertical use
· Dust protected enclosure
· Emergency eject
· Weight: 1.07 kg
· Dimensions: 148 mm * 42 mm * 198 mm
Perfect. I had found a drive that can handle all my optical needs.
* Admittedly, this isn’t a completely fair price comparison as the NEC drive I purchased was basically an OEM with software bundled. You can probably find a bare Sony drive for a bit less.
First Impressions
The 1300A is certainly more sedate looking than the DRU-510 which features a strangely Apple G4-esque looking front bezel. But we’re not here to gauge aesthetics. First thing that shocked me when I plugged the 1300A in was the noise – or rather, lack of noise. I run watercooling in my system so my computer is already pretty quiet. Also, being used to my now defunct TDK Velo-CD, I was expecting something of a racket from this drive. The 1300A, fortunately enough, is dead quiet. In fact, it is so quiet, I can only hear it when I stick my ear directly next to the drive. I’ve honestly never had a drive this silent before. Even when it is recording, I cannot hear the drive over the din of my PSU fans. I don’t know what voodoo magic NEC used on this thing, but I’m quite amazed at how stealthy this drive is.
Performance
I’ve never benchmarked or done a review on optical drives before so if there are any glaring mistakes or omissions, please feel free to ask for more in-depth analyses or whatnot. I’m an amateur at this, so be kind
. For comparison, I’ll be using the benchmarks from the Sony DRU510A that was collected at CDRLabs.com. I was able to record a full DVD-RW disc in 27:49. CDRLabs reports that they were able to do the same task in 27:15 with the Sony drive. This is pretty negligible, if you ask me – and probably within the margin of error for such a test. Burning a CD-RW took 7:49. Unfortunately, I don’t have numbers for CD-RW burns for the Sony DRU-510. Here are some benchmarks from EasyCD creator:NEC 1300A:
Pressed Data CD:
Small File Test: 2029 KB/S
Large File Test: 3370 KB/S
Digital Audio Extraction:
12x (2469 KB/S)
I’m not an expert at benchmarking optical drives (disclaimer already noted), but from the numbers I’ve seen from the 1300A, it is very competitive with the Sony DRU510A and certainly with the other dual format drives on the market.
Final Words
If the NEC drive were priced the same as the Sony DRU510A, this comparison would be a toss-up in my eyes. However, seeing as how the NEC drive can be had for considerably less money, this contest is the no-brainer: the NEC1300A wins by a long shot. Clearly, if you need the absolute best in CD-R/RW performance, you should buy a dedicated drive for such tasks since the top drives in this category tend to blow away DVD drives in such benchmarks. However, if you’re looking for an all-in-one drive that’ll handle pretty much any format you throw at it, the time is ripe to pick up a dual format DVD drive. That being said, I can’t think of a good reason to pick the DRU510A over the 1300A: the NEC drive offers comparable performance for significantly less money.
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