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NEC ND-2500A 8x+R ,8x-R / 4x+RW ,2x -RW+ /32X16X40X /12X DVD Dual Format INT IDE Drive Oem No Softwa... (ncnd2500a) DVD Drive |
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NEC ND-2500A: Burn, burn, burn ... (DVDs)
Written: Jul 01 '04 (Updated Jul 09 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: DVD writing performance, media compatibility, quiet operation, effective buffer underrun routine
Cons: limited overburning capability, CD-RW writing performance, support, dual-layer DVD read only, 2MB buffer
The Bottom Line: Great budget DVD burner with relatively high performance. Great for most applications.
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| theuerkorn's Full Review: NEC ND-2500A 8x+R ,8x-R / 4x+RW ,2x -RW+ /32X16X40... |
Storage media confusion has not improved much since my review of the Samsung SM-348B CD-RW/DVD, but the drives' capability to deal with most of them. That of course applies to newer drives only and NEC offers a cost effective but high performing DVD burner - the ND-2500A.
With the introduction of DVDs to computers not only different media types add to the confusion. Speed rating is also hard to compare to CD drives unless the actual data rate is given. For starters 1X CD equals 150 kB/sec, while 1X DVD means 1,350 kB/sec. In other words, a 1X DVD would be equivalent in speed to a 9X CD.
Anyway, with the short career of my Norcent RW521* CD-RW (52x24x52), the stars were friendly to another step writable disk based media. Those stars - called 'Price' and 'Performance' - pointed to NEC's 8X DVD burner and here is why ...
*...I had trouble with this drive all the time but about 1 month ago it finally quit reading any CD with windows still being convinced that the drive is fine but the media is wrong (any kind of CD).
Hardware & Installation basics
Compatible Media approved blanks
Software n/a in OEM version
Speed Test actual test data
NEC support if you need help
Burning hot! my 2 cents, compressed
Feature Summary stated specifications
Hardware / Installation
The ND2500-A has 2 major arguments going for it: 8X DVD burning and wide variety of usable media. That of course goes on top of the supported CD writing with near-top performance. Nevermind that in a year or two the DVD burning part may be a little outdated once dual layer DVDs and DVD-RAM become widely available. ;-)
The ND-2500A has been succeeded by the ND-2510A which supports dual layer DVD burning. There are experimental firmware updates for dual layer on the net which are not officially supported. In fact, NEC points out that without adjustments done in the factory, the ND-2500A cannot be upgraded via firmware only. (Loss of warranty and possible damage!)
Installation is a snap as form factor and all plugs are driven by standards and easily fit in any PC that has room for a 5 1/2" half-height drive. The Master/Slave jumper is factory-set to Slave which in my case required reconfiguration since I put it on the Master connector of my secondary controller. (Recommended to set the drive to "cable select".)
I used the ATA100/133 cable that was included with my motherboard (Gigabyte SINXP1394) since the OEM version of the ND-2500A doesn't have one included. The cable was already installed and a natural choice with this motherboard.
Anyway, once plugged in and powered up, the BIOS flawlessly recognized both drives and the same held true for WindowsXP (HE). Ahead's Nero Burning Suite (6.3) had no problem to recognize and use the new drive either.
The 2 MByte buffer suggests a disadvantage over Samsung's SM-348B CD-RW/DVD (8 Mbyte), but does not seem to make a difference in normal operation. DVD replay is just as smooth and recording does not profit from it either. This kind of prooves Samsung's claims wrong that 8MByte provide smoother replay, at least to the degree that there seems to be no issue with 2MByte either.
The external noise level is low and not very obvious, it's even hardly noticeable when the ND-2500A switches into high gear. Admitedly that's lower than other high-speed drives. DVDs are a whole different thing, since even 12x doesn't require too much rpms and noise level is extremely low.
The front panel sports the normal eject button and a plug for head phones with volume control. This may be useful for directly playing CDs, but in my case not accessible since I am using the Ahanix dbox ATX tower. That's fine because I like the flip cover of that case more than having the CD drives in their diversity prominently displayed. However, the eject button fits mentioned case good. (For information on the case please see www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1767)
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Compatible Media
CD-RW Media compatibility already got a huge boost as the SM348B seemed to take anything I threw at it. Neither Memorex (4x, HighSpeed 14X, Ultraspeed 24x), nor Imation (4x, 14x), or Sony (4x) CD-RW media had even one issue. The same held true for the ND-2500A.
The ND-2550A's DVD RW Media compatibility is quite extensive and I don't have the resources to test them all. I picked Memorex 8X DVD+R and FujiFilm 4x DVD+RW and both worked without a flaw. One exception was that the program CD-DVD Speed was unable to burn one of the Memorex. Note: DVD+R and DVD+RW media are slightly faster protocols than DVD-R and DVD-RW.
Note: Dual layer DVDs 'cannot' be burned with the ND-2500A. For more info on ND-2500A vs. ND2510A check out this link.
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/9786
List of compatible Media:
http://www.nec.co.uk/productfile.asp?id=442
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Software
Since I bought the OEM version, no documentation or software was included. That's really not necessary if you own a package like Nero or EasyCreator and PowerDVD and similar tools.
I am using Nero 6.3 (Ultra Burning Suite) and did not run into any issues so far. Of course this covers standard applications only, and attempts like overburning and copying protected CDs/DVDs is a different scope anyway.
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Speed test
The test software Nero CD-DVD Speed 3.12 is included in the Nero Ultimate Burning Suite, but can also be downloaded for free at www.cdspeed2000.com/go.php3?link=download.html. The NEC ND-2500A (Firmware 1.07) scored as follows, attached to an ATAPI controller (UltraDMA).
Write Transfer Rate (CD-R/DVD+R)
- Start: 16.02x / 4.14x
- End: 32.09x / 8.33x
- Average: 27.37x / 6.80x
- Type: CLV / Z-CLV
Read Transfer Rate (CD/DVD+R)
- Start: 17.93x / 3.92x
- End: 41.14x / 7.98x
- Average: 30.91x / 5.82x
- Type: CAV
Seek Times (CD/DVD+R)
- Random: 114 ms / 124 ms
- 1/3: 124 ms / 157 ms
- Full: 175 ms / 234 ms
CPU Usage (CD/DVD+R)
- 1X: 0% / 15%
- 2X: 1% / 31%
- 4X: 2% / 53%
- 8X: 5% / -
Interface (CD/DVD+R)
- Burst Rate: 25010 kB/s / 26697 kB/s
- Spin Up Time: 3.82 sec / 2.20 sec
- Spin Down Time: 1.62 sec / 1.91 sec
- Load Time: 7.69 sec / 15.35 sec
- Eject Time: 1.81 sec / 1.81 sec
- Recognition Time: 0.14 sec / 0.07 sec
For comparison return to the same website and review other tests. (www.cdspeed2000.com) However, keep in mind that some values don't seem to reflect reality and also are depending on the CD type and data structure. For comparison only use a CD created by this program (F9).
Reviewing the test, most numbers for the CD are on target, but the burst rate slightly under target with 26MB/sec, maybe due to some handshake bandwidth. The rated speed is at 33MB/s for UltraDMA.
The DVD read speed appears to be highly depending on the right media. A commercial dual layer DVD (brand new, no defects) topped out at 4.5x and falls significantly short. That's intentional since the NEC firmware puts an artificial speed limit on DVD replay for quiet operation. The Samsung SM-348B is clearly in the lead by reaching 6.51x read speed with the very same DVD, under a slight noise penalty.
Judging from the unusual high CPU usage for reading DVDs, the CPU might have been the limiting factor for the NEC ND-2500A. (P4, 2.4GHz, 533MHz FSB, 1GB DDR333 RAM) The much lower CPU load for the Samsung (50% at 8x DVD) suggests to be the root cause for its much better test values. Or would it be the advantage of the extra 6 MByte buffer?
To proove the point, I took a single layer DVD+R (Data, 4.38GB) created by CD-DVD Speed v3.12 to bypass the limit. However, one more time the Samsung takes the lead (with the test DVD created by the NEC) and tops out at 14.95x while the NEC only got to 7.98x in this case. Nevertheless, this comparison has pure academic value since the Samsung does not burn (DVDs) and the NEC bested at a respectable 8.33x (DVD+R)!
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Support
NEC is an example for a giant of a company and seemingly disorganized subdivisions. Any of their websites is hard to navigate. In fact, the American site doesn't even have the ND-2500 listed and therefor no support information available.
Independent sites are stepping in and provide better information than most manufacturers anyway, especially in this case. Check out www.cdfreaks.com, www.cdrinfo.com, www.cd-rw.org, and www.cdr-zone.com for more.
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Burning hot!
... it's good and mainly for reasons that drove me to actually get a new drive. DVD Burning! At a rated maximum burning speed of 8x, I give it both thumbs up. By doing that, I also ignore the mediocre CD performance.
Reading (40x) and normal burning (32x) is good for Music CDs and creating backups. The DVD write speed of 8x represents upper class in today's DVD burners, but current development is still going strong and one might expect faster models soon, unlike CD burners that seem to have reached a plateau. However, DVD technology is said to have a short life and 2005 or 2006 get strong competition (blue laser) with about 70 GByte capacity.
Pricing is excellent at slightly more than $60 for the OEM or bulk version. The low price doesn't mean low performance and the NEC ND-2500A is certainly a best buy these days due to overall performance, reliability and media compatibility. However, with current price drops one might also consider to skip the 2500 and get the ND-2510A instead for only $15 more.
Having said that, my comparison base is limited to HP's (old) 8220e, Norcent's RW-521 and Samsung's SM-348B. The Samsung is naturally a better performer for CDs but the NEC sure takes the crown due to its added DVD burning.
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ND-2500 Feature summary
All features of the drive are listed here for a quick overview for those who only need technical information and can do without my two cents. Besides, the NEC site is not the easiest to navigate and even though most of it is on the box, who wants to do all the work in the store?
Rated Read Data Transfer Rate:
- DVD: 12x CAV (max. 16,200 Kbyte/s)
- CD: 40x CAV (max. 6,000 Kbyte/s)
Rated Write Data Transfer Rate:
- DVD-R: 8x (max. 11,040 Kbyte/s)
- DVD-RW: 4x (max. 2,760 Kbyte/s)
- DVD+R: 8x (max. 11,040 Kbyte/s)
- DVD+RW: 4x (max. 5,520 Kbyte/s)
- CD-R: 32x (max. 4,800 Kbyte/s)
- CD-RW: 16x (max. 2,400 Kbyte/s)
Access Time:
- DVD=140 ms;
- CD=120 ms
Buffer Memory:
- 2 Mbytes
Burst Transfer Rate:
- PIO Mode 4 (16.6 MB/sec)
- DMA Mode 2 (16.6 MB/sec)
- Ultra DMA (33.3 MB/sec)
Interface:
- ATAPI Ultra DMA 33 mode 2
Audio Connections:
- Headphone
- volume control
- analogue- and digital output
Media Supported:
- DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW
- CD-ROM, CD-R and CD-RW
- 80mm and 120mm diameter
Modes Supported:
- DVD-ROM, DVD Video
- CD-DA, CD Extra, CD Text
- CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA,
- CD-I, CD-I Ready, CD-Bridge
- Photo-CD, Video CD
Writing Methods:
- Random Access Writing (DVD±RW)
- Sequential Writing (DVD±R/DVD±RW)
- CD: DAO (disc at once)
- SAO (session at once)
- TAO (track at once) with zero gap
- variable or fixed packet
- multisession
Special Features:
- Vertical operation possible
- Anti-dust seal
- PC 2001 Certification MultiRead compliant
Interface:
- EIDE/ATAPI
Full specs ...
http://www.nec.co.uk/productfile.asp?id=413
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Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 65
Operating System: Windows
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