Sony DRX830U 18X External USB 2.0 Double-Layer DVD±RW/CD-RW Drive

I really like this product. I can use it on either my desktop or notebook computer. I have not had any incompatibality problems as I have had with other dvd's hooked to the ide ports. I have a 18x drive (plextor px-760a) in the ide slot and it will not write over 8x. This one writes about 16x (Taiyo Yuden 16x in both devices)and all of the dvd's worked on my dvd players and other dvd devices on my computers. It was easy to set up and am using it on Windows XP.

Also at an awesome price. I am going to buy another one just to keep in case the one I have needs to be replaced.

This burner is so great and doesn't take too much space. we purchased it and never had any problems with it. It is very easy to use, you just connect it to the computer with the USB cord and the rest is just a piece of cake. Good software as well. I definately recommend it

Despite the box saying Windows-only compatibility, this DVD burner works just fine my Mac Powerbook with Toast 8. However, the burn speed is far slower than Sony claims. I was only able to get around 5x burns with 16x DVD media. It may due to its vertical orientation (vertical drives must burn slower). But overall, a very nice, inexpensive no-frills DVD burner.

We bought a new computer and almost had a DVD+RW/CD-RW drive built in, but... we heard so many stories of break downs and then having to take the whole tower in, loosing the computer, we decided against it. Thank heavens we did. this unit is easy to use and very compact. It works quickly nad we are very pleased with the results. A good buy, though shop around. Prices vary greatly.

I purchased this DRX-830U from best buy for $99.99. It is quite easy to install the hardware and software. I start to use this unit in 10 minutes after I open the box.

DRX-830U comes with Nero 7. It comes with a complete software package. Maybe it is "too" complete; it has a huge software package that consumes too much CPU time. I am using 2.4G Pentium CPU + 512Mbyte memory. During DVD editing process with DV signal, computer lagging badly! It is about 1.5 frames/second. But I can hear movie sound continuously. However, after DVD burning process, the result just likes a good regular DVD. I highly recommend that you use other software to edit your DVD movie. You can find them on-line for pretty good price.

When I use DRX-830U to burn DVD (Verbatim 16X DVD-R), with full DRX-830U burning speed (x18), I fail 3 out of 22 burns with over disk recommend burning speed limit. DRX-830 was not setup properly! If I burn it at 8X, so far there is no problem! It takes less then 10 minutes to complete each DVD burning (>1 hours movie).

Someone has mention about its noise during burning process. Well, it does make some noise, but its noise level similar to a CPU fan, and most of time it is very quire! I use computer more then 6 hours a day, and I burn DVD occasionally. Its noise problem seems does not bother me at all!

It is external model, so it can work for my desktop and laptop computer where I need it. Also, its front panel design looks good! But, its indicator is not very clear to me, such as there is no power indicator! Anyway, it is good enough for my application.

Due to panel design, and software issue, I give this product 4 star! I just purchase it one week ago, and I am going to keep it!

It is a good product, and I will recommend my friend to buy it!




I have been using the Sony DRX830U external burner for about over a month and I have not had one problem. I use it both with my PowerbookG4 and Windows box and not a glitch. It has worked with iTunes6 and 7 (listening, ripping and burning audio), Toast 7 and Nero 7 (on the windows machine). I've been burning full dvd images at 16x speed in three and a half minutes with no coasters. It does start off being loud when burning but it quiets down after 5 seconds. My only really complaint is the size (length wise). I doubt the entire dvd-drive is sitting in that long case. Otherwise, it has been a great replacement from my old lite-on external drive.

I bought this product thinking a Sony drive should be a good one, right? Wrong. The drive claims to be 18X, but even with high-quality expensive media, I couldn't get the drive to burn any faster than 8X. To make things worse, I was looking forward to the fast CD read speed so I could copy music to my iPod. It turns out iTunes will not play CD's from this drive. I can use Winamp, MusicMatch, and Windows Media Player to play CD's from this drive, but not iTunes. What a disappointing product.

Bought the DRX-830U to replace an internal LG burner that gave out after about 6 months of fairly regular use. Have previously had an IOMagic internal that gave out after about 5 months and a Sony 500-series external that still works fine after over 3 years, albeit at 4x max w/no DL capability. I chose the new Sony because of the longevity of older one vs my other models, plus I only paid $70 for it at a major electronics store (on sale).

Installation went fine. Plugged in the cables, turned it on and Win XP automatically loaded software for it. After a required restart I burned by 1st DVD (Sony 16x -R single-layer disk) using Nero Express and was disappointed at the 10+ minute burn time. Took over 3 minutes for the unit to spin up and down over and over before actually starting to write. Also noticed that the unit was considerably louder than my previous 3 burners.

Went to Sony support site, downloaded latest firmware update (SS22) and installed it (unit came with SS20). Install went fine, just be warned that it automatically initiates a Windows shutdown upon completion. No option to delay it.

Burned the same data to new disk and was surprised to find that, even though write process started much more quickly, total burn time increased to over 12 minutes. I immediately tried burning same data one more time. The burn failed after about 4 minutes with just a 'write error' showing up in the log. When I ejected the disk, it was very warm to the touch and I caught a faint whiff of burning silicon(!). I waited a while before trying again, burned the same data one more time, and everything went fine with a burn time of just over 8 minutes. Immediately went to burn another disk of new data and had another failure after about 4 minutes. Disk was again very warm. Tried again immediately afterwards - same result.

Upgraded Nero to latest versions, just to be safe. First burn went ok, a little over 9 minutes, next burn immediately afterwards failed. Faint smell of burning silicon again.

Since then I've burned several disks successfully, but burn times have ranged from 8 to over 15 minutes. I now always wait at least 30 minutes bt burns to let the unit cool off.

Overall, the excessive heat and noise, along with the varied burn times, leaves me disappointed with this unit.
Maybe I just got a lemon?