Sony DRU110A/C1 DVD+RW/CD-RW internal EIDE

After so much battling over DVD-recordable standards, the trickle of shipping products has been almost anticlimactic. Take Sony's DRU110A/C1 DVD+RW drive. Its combination of DVD read/write and CD-RW capabilities lifts it a step above competing DVD-RAM/R drives, such as the QPS Que DVD burner (which writes to DVD-RAM and DVD-Rs but not to CD-Rs and CD-RWs). But the Sony's capabilities are almost identical to those of the Hewlett-Packard's DVD-Writer DVD100i, so a choice between the two comes down to the finer details, such as software and service.After so much battling over DVD-recordable standards, the trickle of shipping products has been almost anticlimactic. Take Sony's DRU110A/C1 DVD+RW drive. Its combination of DVD read/write and CD-RW capabilities lifts it a step above competing DVD-RAM/R drives, such as the QPS Que DVD burner (which writes to DVD-RAM and DVD-Rs but not to CD-Rs and CD-RWs). But the Sony's capabilities are almost identical to those of the Hewlett-Packard's DVD-Writer DVD100i, so a choice between the two comes down to the finer details, such as software and service.

Too close to tell
The factors that most people weigh when choosing a product, such as price, specs, and performance, don't really apply in this case. Both the Sony and the HP feature 2.4X DVD+RW, 8X DVD-ROM, and 12X/10X/32X CD-RW speeds. The DRU110A/C1 retails at $499, $100 less than the HP DVD-Writer, but you can currently find either online for about $450 (the QPS is cheaper than both).

Granted, the field is currently limited to these three drives; still, the Sony and the HP were a close match in CNET Labs' tests. The Sony DRU110A/C1 lagged a little behind the similarly equipped HP DVD-Writer but not so much that it would be noticeable to the average user. For writing movie files, the Sony logged 2.1MB per second, a hair slower than the HP's 2.2MB per second. The Sony took 4.1 minutes to write a 500MB directory to DVD, while the HP hit 4.5 minutes, though on a smaller (383MB compressed) file, the HP was faster. The DRU110A/C1's most notable lag appeared in our read tests; the drive took 12.3 minutes to move a 500MB directory from DVD to hard drive, substantially slower than the HP's 3.3 minutes and even slower than the QPS Que DVD burner, which the Sony otherwise outperformed on all of the other tests. On the other hand, Sony's 383MB read test produced results comparable to the HP's.

Easy as IDE
Installing the Sony drive into your system is no different than adding a simple CD drive. Slide it into a free 5.25-inch bay, add it as a master or a slave to either of your IDE cables, and plug in a power cable. While the drive ships with four screws, it doesn't come with cables for either its CD or digital-audio ports, so you might find yourself making a quick run to the computer store to correct this deficiency. The drive is compatible with Windows 98 SE, Me, and 2000 Professional; according to Sony, it's also compatible with Windows XP, though the box doesn't say so. On our test system, Windows Me recognized the drive instantly.

I want my DVD
The application disc that ships with the drive features WinDVD for DVD playback, MyDVD for recording, and B's Clip and Recorder Gold for burning audio and data CDs. Though users familiar with the more widely distributed Roxio Easy CD Creator might be uncomfortable with the interfaces found on Clip and Recorder Gold, most of the same functionality is there, along with adequate online documentation. One major exception: There's no way to make an image of an entire audio CD as you can with Easy CD Creator, which might frustrate audiophiles. On the other hand, Sonic's MyDVD is very simple to use and includes some useful features. When making a DVD, it will offer a number of preformatted menu systems for DVD navigation on a standard player. Also, it makes discs that retain project information, so you can reedit the DVD without having the original files from your hard drive. Hide Review