Sony DRU840A DVD-RAM Burner

Pros: Sony reliability and craftsmanship throughout
Cons: NO cables, accessories or extra faceplate

I have used and owned a few Sony CD and DVD drives like the DRU-710, DRU-720, DRU-810, and now this DRU-840. I have never uttered a complaint about these drives. The only problem i had was when the drawer was in the open position, and my knee smashed it ...

Pros: Worked fined.
Cons: Died young.

Worked fine overall - for a while. I found it slow to start reading discs and to open and close the drawer.

Pros: Probably a great piece of hardware.
Cons: No DVD playback software included in the bundle.

I purchased this with the impression that all the software for making this unit fully functional was included. The Nero 7 software is for the burning function but the playback function in Nero Show time is only a trial version which will not function unless you upgrade for $63.95 from Nero. After contacting SONY about this, they said that the words "trial version" is on the box (in very small print). I am disappointed they did not point me in the direction of finding a solution to the issue.
The salesman at the store gave me a tip to some "free ware" to get the playback of the DVD to work.
I have had better experiences from others who bundle fully functional software with their products.

Pros: Choice of colors. Reported excellent performance
Cons: Lacks software for formatting DVD

I bought this item to replace a little known brand DVD writer which stopped formatting DVD-RW, which I use for data storage. The Nero software included with the Sony drive seems to have many features, but not the one I needed first, a means to format DVD; perhaps InCd which I used previously for this operation is included, but I cannot find it in the instructions, on the installation disc or in the list of software in the autorun.inf file on the installation CD. The InCd for the previous drive does not work with the Sony drive. The web site of Office Depot where I bought the drive says InCD is included but I cannot find it. I have ordered a separate copy of Nero Express which is claimed to have InCd which I need. Other DVD drives I have bought included software for formatting DVD.
Other reviews I have seen are happy with the performance; perhaps I will be also when I can use the drive the way I want to.
The option of biege or black front panel is nice, although the instructions were not totally clear.

Pros: Price, performance, quality.
Cons: The removable face plates (one white, one black) NEVER mate up properly.

Burns great, no problems (I own three). I'm partial to Nero Express, too, so that fits the bill. Clean burns, quiet operation.