Masterizzatore CD/DVD Sony DRU-500A

Sony has done a nice job with this drive. As you could see, there are good results with the drive. The software that came with the drive works, but I would suggest another recording program. RecordNow is way to limited.

The bad side of the drive are the DVD read speeds. 2x DVD.... you will hate this if you try to rip a movie. If you just want to watch a DVD, than the 2x is enough. This low speed makes the drive very quiet. However, I prefer faster reading speeds. Maybe Sony will come with a firmware upgrade. Till that time, I won't replace your DVD-Rom by this recorder and make sure you have an additional DVD-Rom when you need some DVD read speed.

The other dark side is not really the drive itself, but the availability of high-speed DVD media. I have only 1 brand which supports 2x at the moment, and haven't seen (or tested) any 4x certified media yet.

The CDR recording speed is good. At this point, the Sony is the fastest DVD recorder on the market with CDR speeds. The good-old Pioneer A04 records only at 8x, and the new A05 only at 16x. With it's 24x, the Sony wins this point.

For the moment, I can suggest this drive. It is almost the same price as the Pioneer A04, which has not such results, and is slower. Also does the Pioneer not support DVD+R/DVD+RW. Maybe the new NEC combo drive will beat this Sony, but that will take some time, since that drive is delayed till somewhere in December or so.