X-bit labs

Sony MPD-AP20U: Portable CD-RW/DVD-ROM Drive with MP3 Inside!

Category: Storage

by Andrey Kuznetcov

[ 06/03/2003 | 11:57 PM ]

External optical drives occupy a special place among the CD/DVD-ROM devices. We wondered if it were possible to design a really miniature external CD-RW drive, capable of working with the entire range of standard disks? Read about a truly mobile solution from Sony with the whole bunch of cool features, including MP3!

Table of contents:

• Closer Look: Specifications and Design
  
• Software Bundle
  
• Retrospect Express
  
• B’s Recorder Gold5
  
• B’s Clip
  
• MusicMatch Jukebox
  
• ArcSoft PhotoBase
  
• ArcSoft PhotoStudio
  
• CyberLink PowerDVD
  
• Testbed and Methods
  
• Performance
  
• Informational Utilities
  
• CD WinBench 99
  
• Nero CD Speed: Basic Tests
  
• Nero CD Speed: Advanced DAE Quality
  
• Nero CD Speed: Quality Check
  
• CDRom Drive Analyzer
  
• Nero DVD Speed
  
• SiSoftware Sandra Standard 2003
  
• Nero InCD
  
• Nero Burning ROM
  
• Conclusion
  

External optical drives occupy a special place among the CD/DVD-ROM devices. They offer mobility, which is one of the values of our today’s life. There are not too many models like that in the market yet. On the other hand, they are not rarities and their number is on the rise rather than otherwise. Although, not every external optical drive can be called compact and light enough to carry around with you.

We wonder if it is possible to design a really miniature CD-RW drive, capable of working with the entire range of standard disks? Sony came up with a solution: here is a really small optical combo-drive supporting the whole range of disk standards and offering wide functionality. It is Sony MPD-AP20U.

Let us introduce this exciting product to you now!

Closer Look: Specifications and Design

You can learn about all the advantages of MPD-AP20U from the package, without taking the device out. So, we’ve got one more combo-thing: it understands compact disks as well as DVD media. Of course, the read speeds don’t reach the highest peaks in the industry, but that’s not so important for a portable drive: CD read speed equals 24x, DVD read speed – 8x, CD-R write speed – up to 24x, CD-RW write speed – up to 10x. The model features Power-Burn technology, which is nothing else but a variation of the well-known Buffer Underrun Error Protection technology.

The next thing worth mentioning is that Sony follows its own course of supporting both competitive DVD media standards, those with the minus and plus signs. People who watch high-quality DVD movies often will surely appreciate this feature, as it will save them time and trouble when they borrow disks from someone, because there will be no need to worry whether the disk is “the right one”.

Besides being an optical combo-drive, Sony MPD-AP20U reads Memory Stick cards, too. Memory Stick is Sony’s favorite pet, used in many of the company’s devices. Although other manufacturers are not very enthusiastic about this media type, the available Memory Stick slot is a definite advantage, as it will simplify the data exchange with the PC, if there are other Sony devices installed there.

One more specialty of MPD-AP20U is its multimedia capabilities. For example, it can be used as an MP3-player. The package of the drive includes all the necessary accessories. As for supported audio files, they are CD-DA tracks, MP3 and WAV-files (the latter two can be read from a Memory Stick card, too). M3u play-lists are also supported.