Sony DVD Drives

The Bottom Line: The Sony DRU-830A is a fast drive, but it's on the expensive side.

Specs: DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM, 48x (CD) / 16x (DVD), 48x (CD) / 18x (DVD±R) / 8x (DVD±R DL), 32x (CD) / 6x (DVD-RW) / 8x (DVD+RW) / 12x (DVD-RAM)

The Bottom Line: The Sony BWU-100A Blu-ray burner is still priced out of range for most users, but if you have $700 to spare, it's a good choice for its range of media support and acceptable task speeds.

Specs: BD-RE, 32x (CD) / 8x (DVD) / 2x (BD), 24x (CD) / 8x (DVD±R) / 4x (DVD±R DL) / 2x (BD-R), 16x (CD) / 6x (DVD-RW) / 8x (DVD+RW) / 5x (DVD-RAM) / 2x (BD-RE)

The Bottom Line: Although it's pricey, the Sony DVDirect VRD-MC3 is a boon for anyone who has lots of old videotapes but less time or tech skills to digitize them using a computer. Even better, it doubles as an external DVD burner, so you can use it with your PC long after you've transferred all those old tapes.

Specs: DVD±RW (±R DL), 40x (CD) / 16x (DVD), 40x (CD) / 16x (DVD±R) / 8x (DVD±R DL), 24x (CD) / 6x (DVD-RW) / 8x (DVD+RW)

The Bottom Line: The Sony DRU-800A is an overall decent performer in a small package.

Specs: DVD±RW (±R DL), 48x (CD) / 16x (DVD), 48x (CD) / 16x (DVD±R) / 4x (DVD±R DL), 24x (CD) / 6x (DVD-RW) / 8x (DVD+RW)

The Bottom Line: A capable DVD burner that'll save you a few bucks if you don't need the dual-layer DVD-R support of Sony's newer 800a.

Specs: DVD±RW (+R DL), Internal, 40x (CD) / 16x (DVD), 48x (CD) / 16x (DVD±R) / 4x (DVD+R DL), 24x (CD) / 6x (DVD-RW) / 8x (DVD+RW)

The Bottom Line: The Sony DVDirect does an admirable job of transferring footage directly from a camcorder to a DVD without using a PC, but editing capabilities are sacrificed for the sake of simplicity.

Specs: DVD±RW (+R DL), 48x (CD) / 16x (DVD), 48x (CD) / 8x (DVD-R) / 16x (DVD+R) / 2.4x (DVD+R DL), 24x (CD) / 4x (DVD±RW)

The Bottom Line: Sony's first double-layer DVD burner does its job well, but double-layer burning itself is a mixed blessing.

Specs: DVD±RW (+R DL), 40x (CD) / 12x (DVD), 40x (CD) / 8x (DVD±R) / 2.4x (DVD+R DL), 24x (CD) / 4x (DVD±RW)

Specs: DVD±RW (+R DL), 40x (CD) / 12x (DVD), 40x (CD) / 8x (DVD±R) / 2.4x (DVD+R DL), 24x (CD) / 4x (DVD±RW)

The Bottom Line: This solid multiformat drive can burn a DVD+R in less than 10 minutes, but there are cheaper and faster options on the market.

Specs: DVD±RW, 40x (CD) / 12x (DVD), 40x (CD) / 4x (DVD-R) / 8x (DVD+R), 24x (CD) / 2x (DVD-RW) / 4x (DVD+RW)

The Bottom Line: Despite some petty penny-pinching on Sony's part, the DRU-510A establishes a new industry standard for burning performance and versatility.

Specs: DVD±RW, 32x (CD) / 8x (DVD), 24x (CD) / 4x (DVD), 16x (CD) / 2x (DVD-RW) / 4x (DVD+RW)