Sony DRU 830A internal burner

Editors' rating

Very good

7.0

out of 10

The good: Fast task speeds; interchangeable faceplates for different color systems.
The bad: A bit finicky with different brands of media; pricey for an internal drive.
The bottom line: The Sony DRU-830A is a fast drive, but it's on the expensive side.

Reviewed by:
Ryan Belonga
Edited by:
Felisa Yang
Review date: 7/3/07

The Sony BWU-830A is a high-performance internal DVD/CD rewritable burner that offers the latest speeds (18x DVD+/-R and 8x DVD+/-R DL), a nice design touch (interchangeable faceplates), and a full complement of software. Unfortunately, at $70, it's on the expensive side for an IDE drive.

Drive type: Internal DVD/CD Rewritable
Supported Media: DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD+/-R DL, DVD+/-R, DVD+/-RW, DVD-RAM, CD-DA, CD-ROM, Video CD, Photo CD, CD Text, CD Extra, CD-R, CD-RW
Max Write Speed: 8x DVD+/-R DL, 18x DVD+/-R, 48x CD-R
Max Rewrite Speed: 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 12x DVD-RAM, 32x CD-RW
Max Read Speed: 16x DVD-ROM, 48x CD-ROM
Buffer Memory: 2MB
Mounting: Horizontal or Vertical
Dimension: 5.75 x 6.69 x 1.63 inches (WDH)
Notable design features: Interchangeable faceplate(black or white/silver)
Connection options: EIDE/ATAPI
System Requirements: Pentium III 800MHz or faster (or equivalent), 256MB RAM, 10GB HDD
OSes supported: MS Windows Vista/XP/2000 Pro
Software included: Nero 7 Essentials, including NeroVision Express, Nero Express, NeroInCD, Nero Showtime DVD, and Nero BackitUp
Any additional features: Support 8cm or 12cm discs
Service/support: One-year limited warranty; toll-free phone support; live chat; e-mail to tech support; site includes FAQs, tutorials, and software/driver downloads.

The CNET Labs' test results revealed above-average performance for the DRU-830A. Ripping an 8.46GB commercial DVD to the hard drive took 22 minutes, 43 seconds. Burning that image to a DVD+R DL disc took 20 minutes, 43 seconds. Burning a 4.48GB mixed-data file to a DVD+R disc took 8 minutes, 34 seconds. Ripping a 746MB commercial CD took 2 minutes, 40 seconds. And burning that image to a CD-R disc took 3 minutes, 20 seconds.

The only issue we had with the DRU-830A was that we couldn't get it to work with all media brands, though it did work seamlessly with Verbatim discs.

Rip tests (min:sec)
(Shorter bars indicate faster performance)

Commercial CD rip (746MB)

Commercial DVD rip (8.46GB)

Sony DRU-830A

02:40

22:43

Burn tests (min:sec)
(Shorter bars indicate faster performance)

CD-R burn (746MB)

DVD+R data burn (4.48GB)

DVD+R DL burn (8.46GB)

Sony DRU-830A