BIOS: Technology Means Business

Sony's 810 series of DVD burners are designed for consumers wanting to store and share home movies, digital photos and music, as well as businesses needing to deploy DVD video-based training and share large files. The internal DRU-810A drive comes with an ATAPI interface for installation inside a PC and includes a black replacement bezel for those with black-coloured PC cases, while the external DRX-810UL reviewed here sports an attractive vertical design (can also be used horizontally).

Until we actually see a final appearance of blue laser-based media such as HD-DVD and Blu-ray, DVD burners keep getting better, faster and cheaper. Sony Electronics has once again raised the bar on the DVD recording speed front with the introduction of its 10th generation of DVD burners. Available in two versions, the internal DRU-810A (Best Current Prices: £44.20/$65) and external DRX-810UL (Best Current Prices: £94.95/$132) support 8x DVD+R Double Layer (DL) recording speed, and can burn up to 8.5GB of video, data, music or images on compatible media in about 15 minutes. As expected from Sony, the DRX-810UL looks good too, with a wholly silver plastic enclosure, reflective drive door and clear plastic stand.

In terms of specifications, the DRX-810UL (52x164x250mm) is up there with best. It writes at 8x to DVD+R DL media, 4x to DVD-R DL, 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 48x CD-R and 32x CD-RW. The drive also ships as standard with both USB 2.0 and i.LINK (FireWire) interfaces, so you needn't have to make a decision at the point of sale. The drive comes bundled with a feature-rich software package suite from Nero for burning, authoring and editing home movies, creating digital scrapbooks, and backing up critical data.

Technical details of the drive can be bettered but they're still excellent. It has a random access time of around 135ms (CD-ROM) and 130ms (DVD-ROM) and a 2MB buffer. Buffer under-run error protection technology is included, too. Recording methods implemented for CDs include Disc at Once, Track at Once, Session at Once and Packet Writing, while for DVD you get Random Access Write (DVD+RW/DVD-RW/CD-RW) and Sequential Write (DVD+R/+R DL/+RW, DVD-R/-RW/CD-R/RW). Compatible disc formats include DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD+R DL, DVD-R DL, DVD+RW, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD-R, CD-ROM, CD-DA, Video CD, Photo CD (multi-session), CD Text, and CD Extra.

There are currently two formats on the market that support recording to two layers of a DVD disc. The first was presented by the DVD+RW Alliance for the plus ('+') format and given the formal name 'Double Layer'. The DVD Forum followed with its own standard for the dash format ('-'), which it dubbed 'Dual Layer'. For now, drives are only available in write-once formats called DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL. Needless to say, Sony's DRX-810UL supports both formats, offering up to 8.5GB of data storage space on a single disc (single layer drives offer 'just' 4.7GB).

The burner comes bundled with Nero DVD video authoring software, as well as with DVD/CD burning software for the creation of data, music, and video DVDs and CDs. The comprehensive software suite also includes packet-writing software that allows you to easily record files and folders by dragging a file or folder. All tasks and applications are accessible via the Nero StartSmart launcher, which serves as a command centre and gives you one-click access to all programs in the package.

The software suite includes Nero Burning ROM 6 SE and Nero Express 6 CD/DVD mastering software for data, audio and CD/DVD writing and copying, and Nero VisionExpress 3 VCD/SVCD and DVD authoring software for advanced video capturing, authoring, full video editing and photo slideshow creation. Nero InCD 4 packet writing software is used for formatting rewritable discs so they can be used like large floppy disks with drag-and-drop capability, while Nero ShowTime DVD-Video lets you view DVD movies and personal video projects, and supports MPEG-4 files.

Nero PhotoSnap/PhotoSnap Viewer is supplied for capturing and viewing digital photos from a digital camera or scanner, Nero MediaHome streaming media server can be used to share media files over a home network, Nero Recode2 DVD-Video converter is available for backing up copies of unprotected DVDs, while Nero BackItUp lets you backup your entire Windows-based computer. Finally, Nero MediaPlayer/Wave Editor are audio management and audio-editing software, respectively, and Nero Cover Designer is disc label creation software.

Overall the DRX-810UL offers the advantage of high rates of transfer, complete compatibility with double- and dual-layer DVD writing, and both USB 2.0 and FireWire connectivity, allowing for a convenient connection to your computer. Its chic design with its vertical ergonomic features and its simplicity of use make the DRX-810UL a dependable and fast tool for work environments and home users. And with the cost of blank DVDs plummeting, the DRX-810UL represents good value in terms of removable desktop storage. [8]