Burning Witches is so much fun, but takes so long...so try it Sony Style!
Written: Jan 19 '04 (Updated Jan 19 '04)
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Pros: Solid build, fast, easy to use, burns CD's and DVD's
Cons: Doesn't burn Witches.
The Bottom Line: If you want an external CD/DVD burner, I can think of no reason not to purchase and utilize this unit immediatly.
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| zoogelsnof's Full Review: Sony DRX 500ULX DVD±RW Burner |
Why?
My parents wanted a CD/DVD burner, and having only a midtower there were no open slots left on their computer for one, so external was obviously the only way to go. I trust the Sony name, always have, they make good products, and those products work, so after a bit of hunting I decided on the Sony DRX500ULX.
Test System
This was installed and testing on a standard IBM clone machine that’s about 2 years old running windows 2000. The machine runs at around 1.5 GHz, has 256 megabytes of ram, it’s very average in all ways.
Physical Construction
The unit surprised me with its heft, it’s very heavy, and feels very solidly constructed. It has a plethora of rubber feet which secure it to any surface and it takes a real effort to make it slide, certainly far more pressure then it takes to push in the CD tray. To me, companies that focus so much on building something solid instead of something, “newer, thinner, lighter!” like so many are advertised, is a company I want to buy a product from.
Installation
couldn’t be easier. Took the unit out of the box, plugged in the power cord, plugged in the USB, computer auto detected, put the drivers CD in my CD-Rom drive, it found the drivers, loaded them, rebooted, and it was ready to go!
Ease of use
This is the absolute most fantastic thing about this unit! It is so incredibly easy to use. Fries was running a promotion when I purchased this, and I got a copy of Roxio’s CD Burning software free with the unit. So far as I can tell, it is the most intuitive, easy to use CD burning software that has ever been made. I burned approximately 20 CD’s (Sony CD-R’s) and two DVD’s (HP DVD+RW’s) without a single coaster. I also use the new Napster, and it recognized and burns directly the CD from its internal burning engine without any hassle at all. I just add things to the CD, click burn, and 10 minutes later I pick up my CD and walk off, it’s that simple.
Speed
I don’t know from how fast things should burn, but full length music CD’s usually copied in about 9-14 minutes, which is easily good enough for me.
Other notes
I don't know why people want me to include information that you can find just by reading the box or the, "details" section of epinions on this website...but if thats what determins a good review...so be it.
It can connect with either a USB or USB 2.0, or firewire, with a USB 1.0 it goes significantly slower, but i'm not sure how much slower because I have USB 2.0.
Read speed is 32x for CD's, 8x for dvd's, rewrite speed is 10x for cd's, 2x for dvd-rw's, 2.4x for dvd+rw's, write speed is 24x for CD's, 4x for DVD's.
It has a one year warranty.
Overall
Construction: A
Installation: A
Ease of Use: A
Speed:B+/A-
Reviewer’s Tilt: A
Overall: A
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 250
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
zoogelsnof
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Member: Zac Cramer
Location: Boston, Mass.
Reviews written: 48
Trusted by: 17 members
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