lost most control of my fingers so pleaqe bear with me, it hurts like hell 2 type.

ZEVIA;

I'm Roald T shaw an ex GM Tech, Burroughs, Honeywell, Nasa engineer ownd 2 electronics businesses, now bedridden & Terminal so all i do when i can move is play computer guy. I wanted to apoligize publically about saying your review suxed it does not and i certainly used the wrong word
u did a great review.
i am also sorry it took me so long 4 this apology( i go back and fourth to a specialist hospital and try to do or answer all my stuff when i get home the hospitals wont le me bring my laptops or ipods) i am very sorry please forgive me.
for some reason verbatim made a media change to the (seems like0 the same media u did your test on if u get time checvk the reports at new egg th eshould still be there
the modt i was able to burn at is as my oigional msg said
of course i now know i was working with a bad drive and people at sony who didnt know squat andtheir own product.
thos 2nd until i have updated to the 1.0D firmware yet cause i want a backup drive if the firmware is what scewed the thing up. so i have (for home not my shops) 1000,
18,00 per month 2 spend on com;uter items just 2 experiment with while lying here waiing [to die really]) doesnt borher me except the loss of my fingers, left eye, the horribgle spasms i must go thru and the morphine withdrawal igo thru a few times each month.(i refuse 2 be a junkie)
your review helped me a lot especially now that i have a working sony dru 810a drive that i can play with.
So pleas forgive mesaying your review suxed it didnt. im sure it was the meds, bad drive, verbatims change and me,. and i hope thatif anyonefinds out about this verbatim thing they will post it. did they disconue the entire line? i see the ne ones say 2.5 to 6x.. i tried those andthe 3 pak.

I AMVERy sorry for MY REMARK.I watch this site cause iget more real and honest info. some sites give good reviews for everything especially when they are paid. i look for real legit honest info so i come here.

i buy a lot of hardware what i need is more good reviews like yours not a review thats based on the sites advertiser so they are afraid to tell the truth. thers a whole lof of em out there. the good ones are a lot harder to find cause most people although they think they do do not know computers or eolectronics, u can kinda spot these (the ones who have only used xp so they think its the greatest thing next to bacon)

again i APOLIGIZE

Ronald T Shaw

p.s. please ecuse the errors. one eye left,constant seisures and spasms, fingers dont type the right keys, sorry.

evidntly u didnt read my entire msg. 1st sony 810a i did upgrade to 1.0d

why? i own one already if i'd wanted another thats what i would have odered. for most you youngsters you bought your burner to burn, thats not my first prioriy. if i wanna burn i have at least 4 computrs running with 7 diff burners running at any given time.

Hi RTShaw, don't worry about it.

If you have any problem regarding DVD burning and need more help just let us know, I'm sure you will find a lot of knowledgable and dedicated members in this forum.

Edit: So you also own a BenQ 1640? You do know that this Sony DRU-810A is based on BenQ 1640?

Thanks for the explanation Ronald. Sorry to hear about your ailments. I hope cdfreaks can be a place that helps to take your mind off your pain (at least while you're not typing anyway ).

C0deKing
how did u do that? you are really good thats exactally what it does, being on cdfreaks doing what i love (sucking up the knowldge) how could u possibly know that unles u've been thru this hell. i can handle the pain and stuff not using my hands/fingers is harder takes the ole lady up to 10 mins to install a dimm (they know so much u cant tell em squat) wheni can install the dimm with my eyes closed except now in seconds but i havent given up yet. i have the plans done 4 my 3rd com[puter center and if i have 2 crawl totht sucker im opening this spring. computers, electronics its just my love
i recall my 1st oscilloscope ba&K dual trace trigger scope i slept with that sucker and my simpson 260 multimeter hahaha aint that sad. i wasso afraid thery wouldbt be there in the morning now u see i am old 59..
u r good and thank you

If you need anything please do not hesitate to ask, my prayers are with you.

thank you. just keep on learning. Knowledge is power - it set me free..

Ron

i used to have a DRX-710UL. i bought it about 12/27/2004. i burned a total of four (4) dvd's over about a one year period (mostly within 2 months of buying the drive). those four dvd's were very difficult to burn. drx-710ul was very finnicky and unreliable.

the drive spent most of the one year ownership period in the box. i pulled it out about a month ago to make some more year-end dvd backups. this time, it wants to give me a lot of hassle just to burn one reliable dvd ("data verification" always failed). tried multiple computers. tried reformatting. tried firmware upgrade. firmware update failed and hosed the enclosure hardware. sent it to sony. they sent me back a DRX-810UL.

i had the DRX-810UL in use for about two weeks. was using sony media, which did not burn reliably. couldnt format some dvd-rw's after a screwed up burn. finally bought some generic dvd-r's. burned at 2.4x (whereas the sony media wouldnt get faster than 1x). burned perfectly, but the "data verification" failed miserably each time.

finally, i couldnt take it anymore. i had to rid myself of this problematic thing made by sony. i most certainly will not be buying another one of their products. here's a sony drx-810ul that wont be screwing up ever again...

Haha very good. I have 2 agree they sux. and just try to get a real person in customer relations if I ever (and im looking) find info to write em I sure willl but me enither they will never see any of my money again either.

Hi, I'm new in this forum so forgive me for blabbering on like I know everyone of you...

Recently...well, about 4 months ago I purchased a retail Sony DRU-810A - I got fooled with the "DL" thingy - Anyway, the drive works fine and beautifully for the next few months. I've only recorded about a handful of DVD-Rs[RITEK] and couple of DVD+Rs [VERBATIM].

Imagine my surprise when I tried to backup some 40 GB of data a week ago when the drive started to go crazy...A few failed recordings and a bunch of successful recordings but failed verification of written data. So I ruined around 10-15 of the abovementioned DVDs before I started thinking radically. Meaning...I formatted my OS Hard Drive (Thank God I have one HD dedicated for Windows). And voila, it actually works with those same DVDs. I almost started dancing around outside on the yard when something happened.

Well, when I inserted one of my friends DVD disc - a Rurouni Kenshin DVD Collection - (it says DVD-ROM on the drive icon in My Computer) a small muted sound was heard from the direction of the drive. So I said to myself...What NOW?!!...Thankfully when I opened up My Computer it was fine so I continued with my potato chips while watching Kenshin preach about pacifism...

The next day when I wanted to continue watching...Guess what happened? When the computer booted up (I left the DVD disc in the drive) the muted sound was heard again...except there were three short muted sounds now...And when I opened up My Computer, the drive did not read the DVD. So I tried ejecting and inserting it again, and again those muted sounds with similar bewildering result. After numerous - and I mean a lot - of ejecting, inserting and booting as well as different types of DVD discs, I found out that if the muted sound only sounded once or twice the drive will still read what's inserted in it. BUT, if there are three muted sounds then I started hearing my dough going down the drain.

I've always had faith in Sony products since they've never let me down...Now I'm having second thoughts. Has anyone ever experienced this? Anyone with suggestions as to what is causing it? Is the drive physically imperfect? I mean...It's only been 4 months and less recordings than the fingers on both of my hands and smelly feet (which would be toes)...

Please, someone find it in their heart to enlighten me...Humor me...Anything...or even better yet someone with the same problem so I will feel better in knowing that another sucker is in the same pit of despair.

OK...Now the drive is giving me a lot of grief...Just now the drive will not read any of my DVDs. I tried rebooting and changing DVDs, even different types, and still it won't read them. Now the muted hiccuping sounds are more than just three times.

I feel like poking the insides of the drive with a sharp object...Maybe the optical lens just got stuck, maybe if I poke it with something it'll work, maybe...@#$&*#@

Can someone help me out? I already reformatted my HD and it worked fine for a day...I've even upgraded the firmware to 1.0d...Seriously, I'll do anything to get this thing working again, I have some important data from a backup DVD to open...And to think that I confidently threw away my old matshita DVD-ROM drive when I bought this DRU-810A.

I'm no expert, but I'll give this a shot.

From your description, it appears likely that your drive's DVD read laser is malfunctioning or perhaps dead. This is a bit odd -- usually the write laser, not the read laser, is the first to die -- but not unprecedented, even for a four-month-old drive.

My first bit of advice is do not poke foreign objects inside your drive. And don't open it up either. After all, the drive is still under warranty, and doing either would void your coverage.

If reformatting your hard drive helped, then it's possible that some other program's drivers were interfering with Nero. You are using Nero to burn your discs, right? Run InfoTool and check the ASPI information to see if there are any non-Nero ASPI drivers installed, and remove them (you'll have to figure out what program installed them to do this). Also, disable the Windows IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service from the Services if you haven't already. But if your problem is hardware-related as I suspect, none of this will solve your problem.

Here's one thing I might try: if your PC is in an environment where dust, dirt, or smoke could get inside the drive and onto the lens, try spraying compressed air into the drive. But be careful because the laser mechanism is delicate, and the force of the air could knock it out of alignment. If you attempt this, aim the spray down the center of the drive (that's where the laser is) and don't overdo it.

If you need to back up data in a pinch, it's possible that your drive can still read and write CDs. A different wavelength of light is used for CDs, so it's possible that CDs would work even if DVDs do not. But if CDs are problematic too, then something is wrong with the entire laser function, and your drive will probably need to be replaced.

You should also contact Sony tech support from their web site. I asked them a technical question once and was surprised to receive a helpful and informative answer, so they're not totally incompetent over there.

Some good advice, thanks Drewd. I wonder if a brush type lens cleaning disc would be a safer idea than the compressed air and another good test is to try the drive in another system, just in case it's the system and not the drive.

In my opinion, compressed air is better because it's less invasive. Brush-type cleaners work by actually contacting the lens surface, and I think that results in a greater potential for either scratching the lens or bumping it out of alignment. But that's just my opinion -- I have no empirical evidence to back that up.

Yup, that's another thing to try. But if your drive is making weird noises right after a disc is inserted, the laser's probably at fault.

In my experience the compressed air will remove dust and hairs but it doesn't remove the cloudy film that forms on the lens.

Thanks a lot for the advices and suggestions. For some odd reason, the drive is able to read again...yes, I think it's toying with me. After several tries and a load of stress I realized that if I turned off my PC while a DVD is inserted inside the drive then the next time I boot up my PC the muted hiccuping sounds will occur. BUT if I leave the drive empty then when I insert a DVD after booting up the PC then the drive will read those same DVDs that it failed to read before.

As for ASPI there is only Nero's and I'm using the bundled software that comes with the drive.

Now I'm in a dilemma...Basically my drive is "broken yet not broken." If it's simply broken then there would be only one solution left which would be to send it back to Sony. However, since it works under odd circumstances then Sony Support would likely try various methods that is most certainly does not include sending it back to them. Should I or shouldn't I? Now *that* is the question isn't it?

P.S. Here's another difficulty...I live in Southeast Asia and well...I don't think Sony's support here is as accomodating as the one in the states.

P.S.S. I need a reliable DVD RW since I work a lot with DVDs - reading and writing - as foolish as it sounds I got duped with the Dual Layer/Double Layer and the 16X speed as well as Sony's brand. Now I'm starting to regret my decision getting this drive. Maybe this kind of thing only happens with 1 out of 1000 products...But it still angers me. I'm trying to calm down and find a solution out of this mess. If things take a sour turn - as if it's not sour enough right now - then it's quite likely that I'll be getting another drive because I can't afford to wait that long for Sony to receive and send it back to me. Therefore I'd like some suggestions on what DVD RW do you think is reliable. DL is a boost but not required. I just don't know what to do with this DRU 810A.

I apologize for the delay in responding. You're raising a lot of issues here, so perhaps you should consult other parts of this forum or start a new thread to explore them further. For example, if you want buying advice on a new drive, you should consult the Optical Drives forum or the DVD User Reviews and Comments forum.

Have you asked Sony support about your drive's quirky behavior? I have no idea how helpful their support is in Southeast Asia, but you'll never know unless you try.

Also, if you've been reading this forum, you will know that this drive is a rebadged BenQ DW1640, so if you want to exhaust your options you could try contacting BenQ support about the issue.

If you're technically adept (and adventurous), you could try cross-flashing your drive to the aforementioned BenQ or to the Plextor PX-740A (another virtual twin) to see if the issue persists. Doing so would violate the conditions of your warranty, of course, but you should be able to flash back to Sony's 1.0D. The cross-flashing details can be found elsewhere on this forum.

lost most control of my fingers so pleaqe bear with me, it hurts like hell 2 type.

Well, i tried the new Verbatim 2.4x-8x verified media in my Sony DRu-810A (2nd one Sony sent this one) firmware 1.0D
beautiful brun at 8x cpu at 1-2 %. So i thought..
then it happened..
CD-DVD Speed v 4.11 wouldnt even read the socalled verified media error was
"UNRECOVERABLE READ ERROR"(031100)
THEN I TIRED COPYING A FILE FROM THE dvd to my hard drive, no success of course - cyclic errors.

i wrote, Sony, verbatim and newegg.com to explain again the situation.
guess they need firmware updates. the verbatim media is still MK001 (or what ever the 2.4x DL media was previously)
Soooo.. on a recorder that the only recommendds Verbatim DVDR Dl media none have ever worked at 8x on his drive!!!!!
its not the drive..

i am so sick of this crap, i'd buy another burner if i knew of one that really burned DL media at 8x.

I've got to agree with RTShaw here. Other than the Sony in my laptop (see below), I also have a Samsung TS-552B rev TS11 in an external box I have as well. I wanted to get another drive 'cause I write so much +DL media and it'd be nice to overspeed, so based on so many people liking the Benq drives, I bought a 1640.

First problem I have is I have several external FW/USB2 cases, and NONE of them work in USB (firewire's OK) mode. There's a Prolific chipset in one, Initio in another, and the USB-only box the Samsung was in has a Cypress chipset (and can't see the drive).

I cannot get any acceptable DL burns in any speed other than 2.4X (all Verb MKM001). What's also funny is when I fired up QSuite 2.1 and tried the QScan at 2.4x! it said "this is not an acceptable burning speed for this disc" with huge tracking error spikes (in the first 2G that it measures). It'll overspeed the MKMs to 4X and 8X, and they'll read- in the Benq only (I've made so many $2 coasters)- but in nothing else.

I've tried BSLB (as it shipped), BSMB, BSOB, BEFB and BEGB firmwares. No difference. I'll try taking this drive back and getting another one, but I wonder if this drive's just not as good as the raves I've been reading, when it comes to DL media. For some reason I also can't send the media descramble-authorization codes via Linux (my preferred OS) to play DVDs, either- first drive that's ever not been able to do that.

I'm gonna try a MadDog (NEC 4550A) next, and looking to see which Lite-ON to probably try, but unless someone has found a magic secret I couldn't in all my searches, I'm done with Benq.

yeah, after that great Review of the drives DL speed with verbatim DL media (which is the only DVD +R DL media they recommend) the drive has never lived up to what sony states or the review (it was not the reviewers fault i really think verbatim media changed so they could take advantage of people by coming out with 8x certified media). i'm thourhly ticked at Sony not benQ (although the soy is a benQ drive mech) they lied and i'm right on their heels about it. i orderd the lite-on SHM-165H6S and an Asus burner too(cant remember the model no) these will probably be the last drives i order till blue ray (yeah right) at 40- 80 buxs each hell i could have one drive from each company. i remember buying a 2x writer for 300 buxs haha.. pioneers we are damn microsux, they started the pratice of "let the customer be our beta testers" crap. i am thourougly discussted(sp doesnt look right) seems u need more then one burner to get optimum results even though all these multi-format writers say they burn everything.
i ate(so far) the sony drive even though its a litle over 1 month old. i do exprect 2 hear from Sony, verbatim and newegg today. i cant post the certified letter i sent 2 sony and Verbatim but i will keep u posted.

Well, I'm currently watching "Heat", burned onto (Verb) MKM001 on my brand-new MadDog/NEC 4550A at 6X, and it's playing perfectly in my finicky Polaroid TV/DVD/VCR combo. The Benq goes back tomorrow (and I'm just glad I'd decided to "test" from a B&M store before I'd bought an OEM 1655 from NewEgg).

Considering how many people here consider DL media as "expensive" (true enough, compared to SL anyway) and "not worth the price" I can see where DL scans (and I did see the "1640 DL scan" thread) just aren't as rigourously tested.

Very thorough review. Great job..

what a piece of crap. although i only bought the drive for DL media. i needed 2 burn a few copies of my brothers cd (hey is it pirating if you copy your own brothers cd with his permission?) he's a cop and a music artist.
Anyway i was running 3 burners(2 lite-ons and the sony) at once with regular 16x DVD+R media and i noticed the sony failing and finishing lat. this drive is just trash. Sony wrote me, Verbatim called. Vb is sending me 10 DVD+R DL printer writtable dvds, Sny says they will look further into the matter. Verbatim must know about all this cause when they called i just mumbled the problem and instantly they sad they were sending the media. not one arguement, nothing even though i only lost 2 of the 8x Dl media (not printer writteable), 2- 2.4-6x DVD+R Dl media and 1 - 2.4 vb media..
i'm considering ordering the Asus DL dvd burner today even though i havent received the lite-on SHM-165H6S yet (just ordered that one over the week end i think) all my sh.t comes from newegg.com .. yeah im gonna order it i wanna see what Asus is doing..i have the reader and its great

lost most control of my fingers so pleaqe bear with me, it hurts like hell 2 type.

i finally got to the bottom of all this unfortunately it was the fault of both companies

at the time of th review there was only the verbatim mkm 001 type DL media purchases could buy.
Sony came out syingthey were the firtst that burned DVD+R DL media at 8x, well that was probaby true ad i will verify it tomorrw. but now there is the mkm 001 and the mkm 003 the mkm 001 burns up to 6x
the mkm 003 burns up o 8-10x so when vb saw the postig and tha was the only suposedly the only high speed dl media they immediately changed chemials oe ercntages and came out with a 2.4,4,6x DL media, then they camw out wih the guarenteed 8x media - the mkm 003 !! so thats how that del went down