Anyone tried Sony DRU500A?

[scimani2]

-y are you talking about copies or personal home videos that you burn with nero?

[helo4v]

An update to my previous post. Using the new Nero update, 5.5.9.17,
I was able to successfully write a Fuji +R disc at 2.5X. Disc worked fine on my Toshiba 4800 and all my DVD-Rom drives could read it ok.
I was also able to write to a Pioneer -R at 2X speed without problems.
For me, this completes my testing of all four media types at various speeds using multiple brands of media. Just in time too, my two weeks is up tomorrow for a return. I will definitely be keeping this drive. The RecordNow Max update 4.5 was delayed another 10 days. I'm not sure I will even bother with it since Nero works great now.

[Caedel]

Got some Riteks today. They burned fine with RecordNow, though they are supposed to be 2x and RecordNOw did them at 1x. One of them was messed up around the outer area and ended in a failure. The rest of the disks look good though. I will have to try Nero 5.5.9.17.

[Caedel]

When using RecordNow i had this experience with the Ritek 2x DVD-Rs. First, the DVD-Rs will only write at 1x (this is the case in Nero too). Second, the burning gets stuck around 83% and the time loops but then after a long while it continues like normal. Then when there was about 8 mins left it just jumped to 100% and said it was complete. Disc came out fine. Anyone else experience this???

[alexnoe]

Why should these Ritek be supposed to burn at 2x? Only because it workes with the hacked Pioneer firmware :confused:

[chips144]

Caedel,

Your description of what happens using RecordNow is exactly what I have experienced. In fact I burned 2 coasters because of it. When I saw the looping the first 2 times I used the program, I CTRL+ALT+DELETE'd the program, ergo 2 coasters. The next time I walked away and came back just as it was exiting the loop. Same results as you. Disks are fine. I think it is a problem with the Sony in combo with the software not the media since I tried several different types of media and get the same thing. Perhaps this will be corrected when the upgrade to RecordNow Max becomes available.

Stomp has officially announced version 4.5, but I have yet to find it at their website.

[Taxidermista]

The '83% loop bug' is an old one in Recordnow MAX. I've been suffering it with my DVR-A03, but all burnings went fine at the end.

[caprioles9000]

Originally posted by chips144
Caedel,

Your description of what happens using RecordNow is exactly what I have experienced. In fact I burned 2 coasters because of it. When I saw the looping the first 2 times I used the program, I CTRL+ALT+DELETE'd the program, ergo 2 coasters. The next time I walked away and came back just as it was exiting the loop. Same results as you. Disks are fine. I think it is a problem with the Sony in combo with the software not the media since I tried several different types of media and get the same thing. Perhaps this will be corrected when the upgrade to RecordNow Max becomes available.

Stomp has officially announced version 4.5, but I have yet to find it at their website.

@Caedel & Chips144....

I also have the same problem with my new drive and recordnow ...the description that u guys gave is excatly what happens when using RecordNow. Till now i have burned 4 coasters ..2 with Nashua DVD-R and 2 with Imation DVD-R...however the Pioneer DVD-RW worked without a glitch!!! Straanggeee...its driving me nuts ..i hope that VOB Instant DVD will support this drive soon ..i seen to have had always great results with vob instant!!...I also went by the SONY HEADQUARTES here in amsterdam ..and they said that usually after a couple of weeks when things like this occur they come up with a firware upgrade ..but they would not verify if it would happen or not..and when this firmware upgrade would arrive:(.....however ..at this point i guess its just trial and error.....the store owner from where i bought the drive had good results with Thats Write DVD-R and Princo DVD-R ..so i if i can get my hands on it i will try the Thats Write DVD-R and will post my findings here!!!!

[Caedel]

As far as that bug is... i've only witnessed it twice. And it only gave me a coaster once. The coaster though i think was a media problem. One of the Ritek's that i received, and of course the first one i used, had scratches all around the outer edge. I think that was the cause of the error. Otherwise though, the Ritek's have worked well. Havent tested the new Nero yet though... too scared.

[Caedel]

What's the fastest you can get DVD Decryptor to rip with this Drive? I get about 2X. My old Pioneer 6X peaks out at 4X.

[preston]

I bought 100 Ritek DVD-Rs at supermediastore.com for $1 each (on spindle) and have successfully burned the first one, using Ulead Video Studio 6 at 1X. It plays in both my home players, one an old panasonic that won't play VCDs. I also succeeded in burning using Imgtool to create the img file from my VIDEO_TS )constructed with ifoedit), and then burning with Decrypter, which is an elegant solution and works great.

It took me a while and several reviews of documentation to realize that checking test mode didn't burn anything. Time, but not blanks, was lost.

[Caedel]

The update appears to be on their page now... under the downloads section.

[scimani2]

caedel can you post a link to this update?

[preston]

http://www.stompinc.com/support/downloads.phtml?stp

[napalongcasidy]

Nobody seems to mention this drive with NERO, also nobody is talking about what I think is the MAIN feature - the 4X record speed? Are people having luck with 4X?

I'v heard many Pioneer 04 owners record at 1x even though the drive can do 2x to avoid coasters.

[Thwiipp]

did anyone actually download it? cause its gone form there site now...... and you cant burn 4x yet the 4x discs aint out yet. and i burn at 2x just fine.

[scimani2]

thwipp whats your method? do share.

[Caedel]

Wow, you're right... they took it down. I was able to download it. And it recognized the drive. I tested by burning a PS2 image ISO onto DVD+RW. And if anyone knows where I can get real 4X... ID LOVE TO KNOW.

This is the only link i could find http://downloads.stompinc.com/support/stprnm450v.exe

I believe that is the upgrade for those that have previous versions (not eval).

[Thwiipp]

Well Scimani2 there's no real secret, ive been making some backups of some of my anime DVD using DVDDecryptor's ISO mode with TDK DVD-R and it burned at 2x, complete burn with Lead In and everythign in about 28 Min.

[napalongcasidy]

Judydeals - mine arrive today...

[preston]

I've now burned eleven DVD-Rs with the Sony DRU-500a, all 1X Riteks from Supermediastore.com, $83 for 100, and reasonably priced shipping. No coasters so far, and all eleven recognized in all of my DVD players, including an ancient panasonic that won't play vcds as well as a modern Toshiba and 4 PC DVD-ROMs. I've burned using Ulead video studio and Decrypter (making the image first with imgtools).

Personally, 2X isn't worth that much to me, since I tend to start the burning process and go do something else. I bought a few TDKs for emergencies, though.

[diogo6]

I noticed no one else replied to your post Caedel, but I also have only been able to get 2X max when using DVDDecrypter.

[DirtyAbdul]

Originally posted by napalongcasidy
Judydeals - mine arrive today...

do you have the link by any chance??? :D
so what's your burning status? those discs any good?

DA

[napalongcasidy]

see item # 2066473238 ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2066473238

This points to a 100 set but I bought a 10 pack last week - I gave wrong address so its being re-shipped.

I would not risk 100 look for the ten pack. OR OR OR email them direclty.

judysdeals@hotmail.com

[Caedel]

So how fast can YOU burn these 4x media??? And what program are you using and what drive? THanks!

[caprioles9000]

UPDATE:

[caprioles9000]

UPDATE:

I have finally been able to burn DVD-rs with the new sony.,....pfff was till now a pure media issue....anyways as my earlier post ..the sony burns fine without a problem to Thats Write DVD-Rs...so those who are in europe ...this might be helpful to know!!

Greeeettzz..
caprioles9000

[napalongcasidy]

But when they get here the latest Nero 55917 - released oct 31 - probably includes the DRU500. The FIRST on ONLY thing I will try until the discs run dry is the 4X recording...

BTW: The rip speed of this clunker is well documented at 2x max. One review suggested NOT replacing your DVD-Rom drive with with proported "Do-all" drive.

[caprioles9000]

Originally posted by Caedel
Wow, you're right... they took it down. I was able to download it. And it recognized the drive. I tested by burning a PS2 image ISO onto DVD+RW. And if anyone knows where I can get real 4X... ID LOVE TO KNOW.

This is the only link i could find http://downloads.stompinc.com/support/stprnm450v.exe

I believe that is the upgrade for those that have previous versions (not eval).

@Caedel....

So how is that RecordNow Max 4.5 comming along ..has it made coasters yet???/...Please let me know.....i had luck with burning DVD-r's with recordnow ...but it still makes coasters occasionally:(..so i do not know what to go for !!!!!

[Caedel]

I have only used it once. With a DVD+RW. They have it on their site now though. I'll be able to say more once I get my PS2 back. Anyone want a V2/V3 Apple Modchip ($45)???

[scimani2]

ill definately take one if you are sure it works and you know how to put it in and can guarentee me it will work..let me know man thanks

[preston]

With the supermediastore riteks, I have now made 25 DVD-Rs on the Sony DRU-500a, at 1x, and no coasters. I've used Ulead Videostudio 6 and Decrypter to write, mostly writing image files with decrypter. This is better than I usually do with CD-Rs. I ordered more Riteks from supermediastore at 83cents per plus modest shipping. This is great!

I have the Recordnow Max upgrade to 4.5 (I'm a registered user) but haven't yet tried installed it, although I will when I'm ready to make data DVDs rather than video DVDs.

[Caedel]

Using RecordNow Max 4.5, I am unable to get it to burn a DVD+RW at 2.4x. Even if i tell it to burn at 2x, it will burn at 1x. Anyone else experience this? Nero burns the same disc at 2.4x no problem. ON top of that... if i use Nero, my older DVD Drive can read the disc. But if I use RecordNow Max, it doesn't. Also... I did not realize this at first, but the drive is 2x max in reading DVD-Video. THat explains the DVD-Decryptor thing... :-) Yep

[caprioles9000]

Well i finally upgraded to Recordnow Max 4.5 ...i was having trouble to burn SW2 properly ..and IT FINALLY DID :)...pfff...so now i am hoping that it will burn all the others without a problem as well.....again ..i repeat ..i guess you really have to be carefull what type of media u use with this baby ..but otherwise it works just great...has anyone tried it with FIREBURNER.....i did and i get buffer underruns like crazy ....i guess the writer is too fast for the computer ...the computer cannot seem to send info fast enough (funny i have a dual PIII 1 GHZ with 512 Ram)...so the audio burned seems to skip...:(.....i gueess i need to use a cd-rw ..and try to reduce the speed all the time until i find a speed where it does not do this anymore!!!!...if anyone else has the same results please post it ..it seems that this thread is becoming a long one however it is a very useful one for those who has this dvd drive!!!

[Future2000]

I ordered the Sony DRU500A A week ago from http://Dabs.co.uk seems their waiting for stock. Hope it runs the new firware. From what I've read in this thread I'll try Ritek DVD-R's first. Does anybody know a good reseller of these in the UK?


:confused:

[scimani2]

preston im with you.....riteks all the way and i dont want to sound repetitive or like an ad but supermediastore.com has been flawless so far with my orders...good luck guys

[chips144]

The 4x DVD-R disks advertised at judysdeals will only burn at 1X in the Sony DRU-500A. They will also only burn at 1X in a Pioneer A04 unless you have the 2x4all firmware installed. In that case they burn at 2X. I bought 300 of judysdeals 4X disks. Oh well.
Using the Pioneer, I have burned at 2X using $0.59 1X media with no porblems.

[napalongcasidy]

Sounds Judys was not such a deal....

[bobeuchre]

first of all thanks to all of you that posted info for the sony dru500a
so far im happy with the sony, since i took back the hp 100i junk
what i have found so far:
made a dvd with sony+rw that came with it no problem with record now
also made dvd's with princo 2x(36minutes) and princo 1x(51minutes)
both made with record now max ( too bad its 30 day trial)
messed one up with nero 55914 will try with 55917
been making svcd's befor this, made about 250 at 6-8 hours each, this is just a bit easier, haha
updated firmware to 10d and it still only rips at 2x speed (hp ripped at 6x speed or greater)
the princo dvd discs were 2.99 for 1x and 3.99 for 2x canadian (funny money) +rw's were 2.99 from www.greytech.com
also if your worried about reading you rw discs made hp100i, like i was, dont be worried i read mine just fine
dla has to be downloaded but works just fine moved 1gig in about 15min (this drive is real quiet)
using amd 1800xp - winxp-pro 786sdram
off topic if anyone wants to trade svcd's let me know
basically just wanted to say thanks for all the infor
ciao for now
BOB

[diogo6]

has anyone found good 2X media that works with this drive? Ritek's doesn't. It will only work at 1x

[chips144]

Sony has stated another firmware patch would be released approximately Dec. 9, 2002. This patch is supposed to address more 2X media burning capabilities, although they don't say which will be included in the support.

[scimani2]

someone post a link when that comes out thanks!

[Caedel]

Verbatim DVD+R work great... to address the individual that wanted 2x media.... 2.4X to be exact. And the latest firmware is to give us 4x DVD+R capabilities. The 2x issue was addressed with 1.0d.

[destemido]

i have that drive and i can rip faster than that, using dvd decrypter.
even faster then when i had the HP200i (yes i bought that one first, didn't like it and returned it.) i cannot confirm if it is even faster then my good'ol pioneer 116.

[bobeuchre]

the 10f is out and here
but follow the instructions, cause mine will still only rip at 2x speed
says to uninstall dla and disable dma, i forgot to disable dma
will try again
found here

http://sony.storagesupport.com/dvdrw/dru500adwn.htm

[helo4v]

The new firmware 1.0f is awesome! They just added PrimeDisc 9.4 GB DVD-R to their 2X allowed list - so I can write these at 2X. Something my Pioneer A03 will not do! This will save me lots of time since I prefer the doublesided media. I doubt if I will try the 4x media for -R and +R until the prices come down.

[Caedel]

Ritek 2x G03 are now recognized as 2x in Nero also! Go Sony!

[bobeuchre]

for those that installed the 1.0f
did it work ok, i can still only rip at 2times speed, but my firmware shows that i have the 1.0f firmware
can you read and rip faster, and if so please tell me if you had the 1.oe installed first
is it a must to have the 1.0e befor updating to 1.0f cause i never did see a 1.0e
let me know please

[Caedel]

Why would it rip any faster?

[Doom9]

as I understand it the firmware upgrade does not improve DVD±RW and CSS encrypted DVD read rates, only DVD±R and unencrypted DVDs can be read faster now. The limit on encrypted stuff is voluntary to prevent your drive from spinning up and down while watching a movie. Toshiba has used the same mechanism in some of their drives (that's why I only use Pioneer DVD-ROMs now).