Sony DW-U18A DVD Writer
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Sony DW-U18A OEM:Lite-On Chipset:Mediatek |
40xCDR CAV 24xCDRW ZCLV 8xDVD-R ZCLV 4xDVD-RW CLV 8xDVD+R ZCLV 4xDVD+RW CLV |
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40xCD 12xDVD |
EIDE, 2MB
BitSetting More info |
$100 | 7.1/10 15 votes Read 16 comments (42532 views) Post comment |
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| DVD Media
comments for this DVD Writer (click on the link to
read the comments): 1 Bulkpaq 4xDVD+R (MEDIA ID001) comments, 0 good, 1 mixed, 0 poor. 1 CompUSA 4xDVD+R (INFOME..R20) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Cursor 4xDVD-R (GSC001......) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Fortis 8xDVD-R (TYG02.......) comments, 0 good, 0 mixed, 1 poor. 1 Imation 4xDVD+RW (MBIPG101W04) comments, 0 good, 0 mixed, 1 poor. 1 Memorex 16xDVD+R (PRODISC.R04) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Memorex 4xDVD+R (RITEK...R02) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Mirror Platinum 4xDVD-R (AN31........) comments, 0 good, 1 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Omni 4xDVD-R (VDSPMSAB 01.) comments, 0 good, 1 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Optodisc 4xDVD-R (OPTODISCK001) comments, 0 good, 1 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Philips 2.4xDVD+R (CMC MAG.R01) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 RiData 8xDVD-R (RITEKG05....) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Ritek 4xDVD-R (RITEKG04....) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 SKAZY 2xDVD-RW (OPTODISCW002) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Sony 8xDVD-R (SONY08D1....) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Verbatim 16xDVD-R (MCC 03RG20) comments, 0 good, 0 mixed, 1 poor. 1 Verbatim (DataLife) 4xDVD+R (RICOHJPNR01) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. 1 Verbatim (DataLifePlus) 2.4xDVD+R (MKM.....001) comments, 1 good, 0 mixed, 0 poor. Post your DVD Media comments here |
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| I am very happy with this burner it burns what ever media i throw in it sony, verbatim, benq, tdk, laser. I only have problems backing up my ps2 games, but it might be that im just burning them wrong :( Comments posted by Nathan from Australia, August 27, 2005. Rated this writer 10 of 10. |
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| I got this drive with a new PC I purchased almost a year ago. Burns CD's great! Now I'm starting to burn DVD's and nothing is working in this department. +R, -R, -RW...nothing... Either the burn works fine and doesn't play, or I get a nice coaster for my trouble. Great CD burner, but it gets a big zero where the DVD burning comes in. I'm giving such a low rating because, this is not just a CD burner. I think I'm going to dump this drive in a Linux PC and move on to something else. Comments posted by gillrock from United States, July 09, 2005. Rated this writer 3 of 10. |
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| This DVD writer came with my PC... it writes CD's fine but with those expensive DVD+RW I get nothing but coasters! V frustrating! Comments posted by Herman from United Kingdom, June 23, 2005. Rated this writer 1 of 10. |
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| This drive came installed in my PC. I have an older NEC DVD writer in another PC which burns anything. This drive however will only burn good quality branded discs. The best discs I have found for it have been Taiyo Yuden (TY02) discs. Since switching to them I get good results 99% of the time. The discs are readable in just about everything, and have stayed readable. Some of my older unbranded discs have become unreadable as time goes on. Good drive once you find media its happy with. Comments posted by Paul from United Kingdom, June 17, 2005. Rated this writer 8 of 10. |
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| Burnt several Arita's 4*DVD+R without problems. Bought datawrite blank label -R. Most of them coasters, the ones that burnt correctly are not readable at most drives. Comments posted by koorknaap from Netherlands, February 09, 2005. Rated this writer 5 of 10. |
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| Works fine with: Staples 40x CD-R TDK 4x DVD+R Thus far, makes coasters with: Memorex 8x DVD+R I've used Nero OEM Suite, an earlier download (63115), and the current download (6601). The Memory DVD+R media came with a warning about 4x burners requiring a firmware upgrade. I've STFW a bit, and it seems: 1. Sony does not support this product. 2. It is actually made by Lite-On. 3. Hacked firmware can be found on the web, but I don't feel like taking a risk. If anyone finds a way to get it to use the 47 remaining Memory 8x DVD+R disks I have sitting here, I'd appreciate a cc. TIA, David Comments posted by David Christensen from United States, November 21, 2004. Rated this writer 5 of 10. |
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| I have this drive and use Memorex 4x DVD+R media and have had problems probably 35% of the time. DVDs lock up or skip. I did not have this problem with my 4x Sony drive I just upgraded. Comments posted by Dr Robert from United States, September 14, 2004. Rated this writer 8 of 10. |
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| Not a bad burner but it's got two problems that I can see. First, it refused to read copy protected discs in programs like DVD Shrink that have no problem reading copy protected media. This wasn't a problem for me, as I just put in an additional DVD reader drive that could handle this, but it's still a dumb thing to see in a modern DVD drive. Second, I couldn't get any software to burn DVD-R media in single speed mode. It could burn DVD-RWs in single speed, but all the DVD-Rs I put into it would only burn at 2x and 4x with no option for single speed burns. I prefer single speed, so it's a pain for me, but I will say this - the 2x burn isn't half bad so it's not a total loss. Also, the fact that this is a LiteOn drive with Sony stamped on the front of it is kinda bogus. If you're LiteOn, say you're a LiteOn and stop jacking people around. I also hear the firmware upgrades for this drive are kinda lacking and that (because it's a LiteOn and not a Sony) it's NOT IN ANY WAY related to the Sony 500 Series burners. Apparently a lot of people think this is some cheap OEM version of those drives - it's not - not in any way. Comments posted by teshia from Canada, August 17, 2004. Rated this writer 7 of 10. |
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| I have owned this burner for about 3 months. At first, I made about 3 coasters using Ritek 4X DVD-R Discs. I switched to Sonic 4X DVD-R discs, this thing smokes. I have burned everything and anything with no trouble at all after switching to Sonic. I have burned 60+ movies, with no coasters after that. Comments posted by Abel from United States, July 14, 2004. Rated this writer 10 of 10. |
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| Had the 4x speed version before this and had no worries then upgraded to this one and have had a few probs with it using princo DVD-R cd's 1-- Nero ver 6.0.0.11 ultra dont like it all dvd movies jump and carry on. 2-- the nero that comes with it 1 out of 6 dvd's jumps or is unreadable Have also tried ritek and a few other brands of dvd's and still have the same problems. Comments posted by Jamie from Australia, July 10, 2004. Rated this writer 6 of 10. |
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| Good - with ONE BIG EXCEPTION.... So far not one RW has been readable in any drive or player even though they complete burn with no error, usually at 2.4x. Disks were name brands that performed fine in a different Sony drive. No problems with single write R's. Came here as first stop in search for new firmware to hopefully correct issue and give it a better grade. Comments posted by Rusty from United States, May 05, 2004. Rated this writer 6 of 10. |
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| Great drive for the price. Had one issue but it was media related. Always works great w/Memorex +R 4x stuff. Get it on EBay for 136 delivered external. Comments posted by Martin Klie from United States, April 28, 2004. Rated this writer 9 of 10. |
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| Have had this drive for about a month and nothing but problems. Compusa and OfficeMax bulk packs (-R and +R) 1 good burn, 12 bad burns. Bought Sony media (-R, +R and -RW), - and + did not work, could not format -RW disk. Bought it at Livewarehouse. 2 emails and no response. Last time I buy Sony, last time I buy OEM and last time I buy from Livewarehouse. Comments posted by wasiii from United States, April 21, 2004. Rated this writer No rating. |
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| Have had this burner for a while now. Have looked around on the web and they say that this is actually a rebadged LITEON SOHW-812S. I have had no probs with this burner and it burned 4x media with no issues. Have burnt Mirror 4x -R media with no issues. Also burnt Ritek Printable G04 media too and CDs with no probs and no coasters. Excellent drive and am very pleased with it. Comments posted by Spinitboy from United Kingdom, April 11, 2004. Rated this writer 9 of 10. |
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| Burns DVD's fast. Works with Fuji DVD+R, Imation DVD-R and Imation DVD+R discs. Comments posted by dz from United States, April 06, 2004. Rated this writer 10 of 10. |
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| Great machine,I had a 107 i took it back and got the Sony,up till now i have had no costers burnt at least 50 dvd's It only burns yellow data write at 2 speed, bulk pack and Gold Sumvision at 4 speed. Comments posted by Bob in Welshpool Wales from United States, April 05, 2004. Rated this writer 10 of 10. |
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Column Explanation:  Click on this for
more technical information.New comments= New comments since your last visit. New Writer = New DVD Writer since your last vist. OEM Original Equipment Manufacturer. Chipset The manufacturer of the main chipset the DVD writer/recorder is based on. Write support / Read support DVD-R = Works DVD-R? = Not tested Single Layer(4.7GB) write speeds 1x (CLV) = about 58 minutes 2x (CLV) = about 29 minutes 2.4x (CLV) = about 24 minutes 4x (CLV) = about 14.5 minutes 6x (CLV/ZCLV) = about 10-12 minutes 8x (PCAV/ZCLV) = about 8-10 minutes 12x (PCAV/ZCLV) = about 6.5-7.5 minutes 16x (CAV/ZCLV) = about 6-7 minutes Dual/Double Layer(8.5GB) write speeds 1x CLV = about 105 minutes 2.4x CLV = about 44 minutes 4x CLV = about 27 minutes Single Layer (4.7GB) read speeds 1x read speed is 1.321MB/s = ~56 minutes 6x CAV (avg. ~4x) read speed is max 7.93MB/s = ~14 minutes 8x CAV (avg. ~6x) read speed is max 10.57MB/s = ~10 minutes 12x CAV (avg. ~8x) read speed is max 15.85MB/s = ~7 minutes 16x CAV (avg. ~12x) read speed is max 21.13MB/s = ~5 minutes DVD Write types CAV = Constant Angular Velocity, the DVD is written at a constantly increasing speed. CLV = Constant Linear Velocity, the DVD is written at a constant speed. ZCLV = Zone Constant Linear Velocity, the DVD is divided into zones. After each zone the write speed is increased. PCAV = Partial Constant Angular Velocity, the DVD is being written at an increasing speed until a certain speed. After this speed it will not increase anymore. Connection Desktop = Standalone desktop DVD Recorder EIDE = Computer DVD Writer with EIDE/IDE connection SCSI = Computer DVD Writer with SCSI connection USB = Computer desktop DVD Writer with USB 2.0 or/and 1.1 connection FireWire = Computer desktop DVD Writer with IEEE 1394/FireWire/i.Link connection (some standalone desktop dvd recorder supports this also but then it is usually to connect your DV camera to the recorder) Rating The first rating is based on a weighted rank (the true Bayesian), it requires at least 5 votes to get a weighted rating. The second rating between the ( ) is a normal average rating. |
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