1. Retail Package - Installation
Nec ND-2500A DVD±RW recorder -
Page 1
NEC
is probably the leading supplier of chipsets for the latest DVD recording kits
of various manufacturers. Having two giants on the oposite side, MediaTek and
Sanyo, the company has strengthened its position in the OEM market and offers
fully combatible chipset solutions for high speed DVD recorders. The drive
we have in our hands is the NEC's own proposal for 8x multi-format recording.
The drive is capable of 8x DVD±R
recording and rewrite speed with DVD±RW media of 4x. With CD
media, the unit allows recording up to 32x and 24x with rewritable
media. As
a reader it supports 12x for DVD-ROM, 8x for DVD±RW and 40x for CD.
Features
The
Nec ND-2500A recorder uses the Just-Link feature to prevent buffer under-run
errors.
Specifications
Drive |
NEC ND-2500A |
Media |
DVD |
CD |
Transfer Rate Read |
5...12x (max 16200 kb/s) |
17...40x (2550-6000 kb/s) |
Transfer Rate Write |
DVD-R 8x ZCLV (max 11040 kb/s) |
CD-R 32x ZCLV (max 4800 kb/s) |
DVD-RW 4x CLV (5520 kb/s) |
DVD+R 8x ZCLV (max 11040 kb/s) |
CD-RW 16x CLV (max 2400 kb/s) |
DVD+RW 4x CLV (5520 kb/s) |
Access Time |
140ms |
120ms |
Mechanism |
motorized Tray load mechanism for horizonal and vertical
use |
Interface |
IDE / ATAPI |
Burst Transfer Rate |
PIO mode 4 / Ultra DMA 33 |
Cashe Memory |
2MB |
Audio |
headphone jack and volume control at front plus digital-out
and line-out at the back (MPC compatible) |
Media/Modes supported |
DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-Video, CD-ROM,
CD-ROM XA, CD-Audio, CD Extra, CD Text, CD-IReady, CD-Bridge, Photo-CD,
VideoCD, Hybrid CD |
Writing methods |
DAO(disc at once), SAO(session at once), TAO(track at once)
with zero gap, variable or fixed packet, multisession |
Compatibility |
MPC Level 3, MultiRead, PC2001 |
Weight |
1.02kgr |
Dimensions |
148mm x 42mm x 190mm |
The drive uses a 2MB buffer memory store and supports RAW DAO 96 writing
(CD). However the NEC drive does not support Mount Rainier,
nor does it read or write DVD-RAM media.
The drive uses the RPC II region control, allowing a user to change
the drive's region at most 5 times. For our tests, we set the region
code to 2 (Europe).
- The drive
The
european retail package includes an installation guide and two
blank media (one recordable and one rewriteable). Also included is Nero 6
software
for writing, InCD for packet writing, Nero wave
editor
for sound editing, NeroVission Express 2 and MyDVD 4.5 for authoring, Cine
Player and Showtime for DVD playback, Recode, and Nero Digital (MPEG4).
The IDE cable, audio cable and mounting screws are also included.
The drive's front panel is coloured white. On the tray door are the DVD-R/RW,
DVD+R/RW and CD-RW logos, all located at right. Below the tray door are
the headphones jack, volume control and the power/activity led on the left.
The power/activity led lights green during playback and orange while recording.
The emergency eject hole
is found in the middle of the panel, while the eject button is placed
on the right, below the logos.
On the rear panel there are
the analogue and digital audio outputs (SPDIF), the IDE connector
and the power input.
Removing the screws and opening the drive's cover voids the drive's warranty.
For reference reasons, we post the following pictures. Click on the photo for
an enlarged view.
- Installation
The NEC ND-2500A was connected to our test PC and was identified
as "DVD_RW ND-2500A" under
WinXP. All tests were done with firmware revision v1.06.
The following pages include the test results for the NEC ND-2500A drive
in comparison with the Pioneer DVR-107D, since both drives are capable of
8x DVD recording.
2. Data CD Reading Tests
NEC
ND-2500A
DVD±RW recorder - Page
2
Data CD Reading Tests
- Pressed CD results (Click for
CDSpeed results)
According to CDSpeed, the NEC drive confirms the manufacturer's specifications
of 40x reading. In comparison with the Pioneer drive, the NEC was slightly
slower reading our pressed test disc.
All the reported seek times for the NEC drive were quite good. Comparatively,
the Pioneer had a very high full seek time at 295ms, being almost double that
of the NEC.
- CD-R results (Click for
CDSpeed results)
We made a copy of the previous, pressed CD in order to test the drive's
behavior with a CD-R media. Again there isn't a lot between the drives and
the resulting speeds are very close to those of the test
with the original pressed media above.
Here too the NEC ND-2500A had low seek times, a little higher than in the
previous test, but still good. The Pioneer drive again returned
a very
slow
full seek time.
- ReWritable Media (Click for
CDSpeed results)
For the reading test
we used 24x High Speed rewritable media from Mitsubishi Chemicals.
This time the NEC drive was slightly faster than the Pioneer in average and
final speeds although there was little difference between them.
3. CD Error Correction Tests
Nec ND-2500A DVD±RW recorder -
Page 3
Error Correction Tests
In the following tests we check the drive's behaviour when reading
scratched / defective audio discs. The test discs used were the ABEX series
from ALMEDIO.
- ABEX TCD-721R
Errors
total
|
Num:
3621791
|
Errors
(Loudness) dB(A)
|
Num:
592873
|
Avg:
-72.1 dB(A)
|
Max:
-18.4 dB(A)
|
Error
Muting Samples
|
Num:
127881
|
Avg:
1.0 Samples
|
Max:
89 Samples
|
Skips
Samples
|
Num:
10538
|
Avg:
6.3 Samples
|
Max:
12 Samples
|
Total
Test Result
|
65.0
points (out of 100.0 maximum)
|
C2 Accuracy
|
99.6 %
|
The performance with this disc is not the best. The total error count was extremely
high, as was the maximum loudness error level at -18.4dB and the number of skipped
samples. The final score of 65.0 is rather low and is indicativee of the poor
performance of the drive.
- ABEX TCD-726
Errors total
|
Num:
4100
|
Errors (Loudness) dB(A)
|
Num:
6622
|
Avg:
-84.4 dB(A)
|
Max:
-25.1 dB(A)
|
Error Muting Samples
|
Num:
63
|
Avg:
4.2 Samples
|
Max:
102 Samples
|
Skips Samples
|
Num:
0
|
Avg:
0 Samples
|
Max:
0 Samples
|
Total Test Result
|
81.2
points (out of 100.0 maximum)
|
C2 Accuracy
|
100.0 %
|
The Abex TCD-726 test disc is much easier for drives in general to read. The
NEC ND-2500A managed to do better this time, but the score of 81.2 is low, especially
when most drives score somewhere in the 90's and the better drives close to
100.
- CD-Check Audio Test Disc
The CD-Check Test Disc is a very useful tool for evaluating the Sound Reproduction
/ Error correction capabilities of a CD player. The disc offers a signal combination
with disc error patterns to rate the drive's abilities to read music and reproduce
it completely. Five tracks on the disc contain a sequence of progressively
more difficult tests. These tracks are referred to as Check Level-1 through
Check Level-5.
The
tracks are reproduced (played) through a software multimedia player (i.e.
Windows Media Player). Each level is considered as passed, if the tone coming
out
from the speakers is smooth, continuous without interruptions, skipping or
looping. The higher the Check Level passed, the more reliable the sound reproduction
of the tested drive.
Error Level
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
NEC ND-2500A
|
5/5
|
5/5
|
0/5
|
0/5
|
0/5
|
The drive successfully passed only the first two out of the five check levels
for this test. Once again the drive had poor performance. While it is accepted
that the 5th level is difficult to read with almost all but the very best of
drives, most drives will pass the third level and a good drive the
4th.
- Summary
Test Disc
|
Reading Speed
|
Score
|
ABEX TCD-721R
|
Max
|
65.0
|
ABEX TCD-726
|
81.2
|
Average Score
|
73.1
|
The NEC ND-2500A managed an average score of 73.1 out
of 100. This is a very low score and poses some doubts as to the abilities
of the drive to read and correct defective discs.
4. DVD Reading Tests
Nec ND-2500A
DVD±RW recorder -
Page 4
DVD reading tests
- Single Layer DVD-ROM (Click
for CDSpeed results)
In the DVD single layer reading test, both drives performed well with the
Pioneer drive being slightly faster. The NEC drive however, did not manage to
reach the 12x final speed, falling just short at 11.93x.
The NEC drive's seek times were good, being faster than those of the Pioneer,
especially in the full seek time where the NEC drive's time was almost half
that of the Pioneer.
- Dual Layer PTP DVD-ROM (Click for
CDSpeed results)
The two layers of a PTP DVD-ROM disc are read sequentially with the drive
starting the read process from the inner tracks on the disc, which is the beginning
of each layer,
and progressing outwards towards to the outer tracks for each layer.
In this test the NEC drive was a little on the slow side comapred to the
Pioneer, managing a final speed of 7.28x as opposed to 8.46x for the Pioneer.
For both drives the seek times were slightly up in comparison
with the single layer DVD, as is to be expected. However, the Pioneer drive
once again had a poor showing with the full seek time. NEC's was much better
at 213ms.
- Dual Layer OTP DVD-ROM
The
first layer of an OTP dual layer DVD-ROM is read exactly the same way as the
first layer of the PTP disc we tested previously. The difference here is the
reading strategy of the second layer on the disc. The beginning of the second
layer is located at the outer tracks of the disc, so the drive starts reading
from the outer tracks inwards towards the inner tracks of the disc.
As can been seen from these screenshots, the drive returned similar speeds
with the OTP dual layer DVD test disc as it did with the PTP disc. The seek
times are also very close if only slightly higher.
- DVD Ripping Tests
We measured the DVD-Video ripping speed for the NEC ND-2500A using the latest
version of DVD Decrypter. The DVD Video title is the "Matrix" pressed
DVD-Video.
It's not one of the fastest ripping speeds, especially when we consider that
some drives have managed speeds above 9000kbs, but at 5125kb/s it is an acceptable
tranfer rate. The Pioneer drive was slightly faster at 5816kb/s.
- DVD Recordable / Rewritable reading Tests
The chart below shows the Nero CDSpeed average reading speed results with
the following media:
The NEC drive is very consistent in its average speeds shown in the graphs
above, with DVD±R and DVD±RW media. The range was from a minimum
of 5.89x with DVD-RW up to a maximum of 5.91x with DVD+RW media. However, while
it is reported as being an 8x reader, none of the final speeds in each instance
above managed to reach 8x.
5. DVD Error Correction Tests
NEC
ND-2500A
DVD±RW recorder - Page 5
DVD Error Correction
Tests
In the following tests we examined the DVD reading capabilities of the NEC
ND-2500A drive with scratched / defective DVD media.
For the tests we used CDVD Benchmark and Nero CDSpeed. The reference test media
come from ALMEDIO.
- Single Layer media
ABEX TDR-821
This is a single sided, single layer DVD-ROM with a 4.7GB capacity, and its
surface has an artificial scratch of dimensions varying from 0.4 to 3.0 mm.
The following transfer rate picture comes from the CDVD Benchmark v1.21 transfer
rate test.
The drive read the contents of the 821 test disc without reporting any reading
error. There were no speed deviations while reading the defective areas on the
disc's surface. The resultant graph is clean and smooth.
ABEX TDR-825
This is also a single sided, single layer DVD-ROM of 4.7GB capacity. The
data structure of the disc is exactly the same as that of the TDR-821, with
the difference that there are no scratches on the surface and instead
defective areas ranging in dimensions from 0.5 to 1.1 mm. There
are also fingerprints with height
between
65 and
75 micrometers.
Again a very clean effort. The drive managed to successfully read the defective
areas on the disc.
- Dual Layer media
ABEX TDR-841
This is an 8.5GB dual layer, single sided DVD-ROM disc with artificial scratches
of dimensions ranging from 0.4 to 3.0mm, on both layers.
Once again the disc was read without any reading errors. However, the drive
had a few more problems reading this disc. The yellow dots which have formed
what is almost a second line below the main, thicker line over the defective
areas, especially in the second layer, are the drive's attempts to read through
the defects by changing (droppping) speed.
ABEX TDR-845
This disc is a single sided, dual layer DVD-ROM disc with capacity of 8.5GB.
The only difference between the TDR-845 and the TDR-841 is that the first includes
both defective areas and fingerprints. The dimensions of the defective areas
range from 0.5 to 1.1 mm and the fingerprints have height sized from 65
to 75 microns (micrometers).
The test finished successfully without reporting any error. Again a very clean
output.
ABEX TDV-541
The
TDV-541 is a single sided, dual layer DVD-VIDEO disc, with a capacity of 8.5GB.The
disc is based on the TDV-540 series which is designed for inspection
and adjustment of DVD-VIDEO players. The disc checks the layer switch operation
from layer 0 to layer 1 and also includes test pictures and test signals for
DVD sound files. The current TDV-541 also checks the error correcting
capabilities of the drive and includes scratches sized from 0.4 to 3.0 mm.
Unfortunately the drive did not manage to read the contents of the ABEX TDV-541
test disc. As can been seen from the graph above, reading failed while reading
the beginning of the second layer of the disc. We made several attempts but
the drive failed each time.
ABEX TDV-545
The
TDV-545 disc is based on the TDV-540 series. It is a single sided, dual layer
Video/S-2 disc with a capacity of 8.5GB. The TDV-545 includes artificial
black dots on the disc's surface, sized from 0.4 to 1.0 mm. It also has 65
- 75 micrometer high fingerprints.
This test disc posed no problems for the NEC drive, which read
past the black dots and fingerprints on the disc's surface. The maximum speed
of 4.59x however was a little slow.
6. Protected Disc Tests
NEC
ND-2500A
DVD±RW recorder -
Page 6
Protected Disc
Tests
- Reading Tests
To create an image of the various protected titles onto a hard disk, we used
CloneCD v.4.3.1.9 software and the appropriate settings, depending on the protection
scheme of the inserted discs. Below are summarized the capabilities of the NEC
drive, according to CloneCD software. As can be seen, the drive supports writing
of CD+G under RAW DAO:
The game titles we used with their respective protection schemes are given
in the table below:
Game Title
|
Protection Scheme
|
PSX "NBA Jam Extreme"
|
Lybcrypt
|
Serious Sam The Second Encounter v1.07
|
SafeDisc v.2.60.052
|
VRally II
|
SecuROM v.2
|
Lybcrypt
SafeDisc v.2
SecuROM v.2
The NEC drive managed to rip the contents of all the game titles successfully.
Apart from SafeDisc v2, where the ripping speeds for both drives are very slow,
times for the other two protection schemes are very good.
- Writing Tests
The NEC ND-2500A supports the DAO-RAW writing mode. For checking the drive's
EFM correction status, we used 3 different game titles with different SafeDisc
2 versions with the latest software patches installed. After making the images
of the various titles to the hard disk, we burned them (at maximum speed) with
CloneCD. Two different discs were created for each title; one with the "Amplify
Weak Sectors" enabled and one more with the function disabled.
The table below shows the results of the attempted backups and whether
they ran (game installed / played normally), or not.
Drive |
Game Title |
SD2 Build |
Settings |
Amplify Weak Sectors On |
Amplify Weak Sectors Off |
NEC ND-2500A |
Max Payne |
v2.51.020 |
Yes (only in Nec ND-2500A) |
Yes |
Serious Sam - The Second Encounter
v1.07
|
v.2.60.052 |
No |
Yes (only in Nec ND-2500A) |
The Sims Unleashed |
v.2.8 |
No |
No |
The NEC ND-2500A was not all that impressive in making working backups of protected
game titles. The drive managed to copy only up to version 2.6 of SafeDisc. Moreover,
the working backups were playable only in the NEC drive. No other drive managed
to playback the NEC drive's backups.
7. CD-DA - DAE Tests
NEC
ND-2500A
DVD±RW recorder -
Page 7
DAE Tests
- Pressed and CDR AudioCD results
The NEC ND-2500A uses 40x CAV reading strategy for CD-DA. Below is the resultant
output from the CDSpeed transfer rate test with a pressed audio CD:
According
to Nero CDSpeed, the average reading speed was only 25.72x, while the final
reading speed reached was 33.97x. This indicates that the drive supports 32x
read with AudioCDs. The seek times however were good.
We ripped the contents of the same audio disc to our hard disk, using the
CD-DAE software.
The average ripping speed (burst mode) of 24.2x, was slow.
The Pioneer drive was only slightly faster than the NEC, but these speeds are
slower than what we would expect.
The same pressed audio disc was copied onto CD-R media and was
read again with CDspeed.
No real difference from the original pressed disc. Again the
times are a little slow.
- Advanced DAE Quality
In the Nero CD Speed Advanced DAE test, the NEC drive returned
an average speed of 24.29x, which is an acceptable performance, and a quality
score of 98.1. CDSpeed reports that the drive can
read CD Text and Subchannel Data. Leadin and Leadout are not supported.
- Support of 90/99mins AudioCDs
The NEC drive recognized the 99min disc but failed to playback or rip the
contents of the disc. On the other hand the 90min disc was not a problem for
the drive where it managed to rip the contents.
- Reading/Ripping Protected AudioCDs
For the test procedure we used two audio discs with different
audio protection schemes. We tested for both recognition and
ripping to the hard disk. The software used was Exact Audio Copy.
* Pressed Audio disc protected by Nec Key2Audio (Celine
Dion - New Day
Has Come)
* Pressed Audio disc protected by Cactus Data Shield 200 (Natalie
Imbruglia - White Lilies sIsland)
|
Key2Audio |
CDS200 |
EAC |
NEC ND-2500A
|
OK
|
OK
|
Pioneer DVR-107D
|
NO
|
OK
|
Both AudioCD protection schemes tried were not a problem for the drive. The
NEC drive managed to recognize, playback and rip the contents of both discs.
8. CD Recording Tests
NEC
ND-2500A
DVD±RW recorder -
Page 8
CD Recording Tests
- CD-R Writing Tests
The NEC ND-2500A supports 4x, 8x, 16x, 24x and 32x writing speeds. Below is
the CDSpeed writing simulation graph with Taiyo Yuden 48x CD-R media.
The
simulation test under Nero CD Speed confirmed the manufacturers specifications
for 32x recording which uses Z-CLV. The average speed was 27.43x.
- Recording Times
We created an 80min data compilation with Nero Burning Rom and recorded it
on a 700MB disc. The NEC drive returned a time of 3:39 minutes,
with 32x writing speed selected, which is a very good time (for 32x). The Pioneer
drive, due to its 24x supported writng speed, was slower at 4:49 minutes.
Below are the best writing times for the Nec ND-2500A drive at 4x, 8x, 16x,
24x and 32x with a Taiyo Yuden media.
In the following graph you can see the recording times with
various media brands.
- CD-RW Writing Tests
The NEC ND-2500A supports 16x CLV maximum rewriting speed, with Ultra Speed
rewritable media. Below are the results from the CDSpeed writing simulation
test with blank 24x US-RW media from Mitsubishi Chemicals.
The
test confirmed the drives specifications for 16x rewriting. The burning procedure
started at 16.01x and finished at 16.44x having an average speed of 16.02x.
For comparison, we provide the rewriting times of the NEC and
Pioneer drives.
We also used Nero Burning Rom software to burn a data disc using 24x US-RW
media from Mitsubishi Chemicals. The data compilation burnt, had a size of 651
MB. The duration of the recording process was 5:11 minutes
for NEC and 4:01minutes for the Pioneer.
Click on the link below for official media list provided by NEC:
Media
list for ND-2500A
- Packet Writing Tests
Using InCD and Mitsubishi Chemicals 24x US-RW media for all Packet Writing
tests, quick format took 37sec. The formatted disc had
530mbs of free space. We copied a 403 MB file (412.822 KB) from Hard Disk
(on the same PC as the recorder) to the formatted RW media through Windows
explorer (drag and drop).
Operation
|
Duration
|
Average speed
|
Read
|
2:37 min
|
17.5X
|
Write
|
3:31 min
|
13X
|
- Other features
Overburning
|
Up to 89:57
|
CD text reading/writing
|
Yes
|
9. 3T Jitter Tests - Page 1
NEC
ND-2500A
DVD±RW recorder - Page 9
Writing Quality Tests - 3T Jitter Tests
On an 80min 48x CD-R disc from Taiyo Yuden we burned the same AudioCD project
at 4x, 8x, 16x, 24x and 32x. The 3T Pit & Land Jitter graphs are presented
here.
- 3T Pit results
Looking at the graph above, we can see that the NEC drive performed well within
limits, where at all speeds the jitter was well below the Red Book limit. These
are amongst the best Pit Jitter measurements we have seen from any drive.
The average
3T Pit Jitter values for all recording speeds are illustrated in the following
table.
The average Pit jitter values for all recording speeds are very
good.
- 3T Land results
Once again we can see the excellent CD writing quality of this drive. Only
in the case of 4x recording the jitter levels were slightly high, but none the
less did not go over the 35ns limit. Besides, there are not going to be many
users who will purchase this drive for 4x CD recording.
The following average values graph confirms the very good burning quality of
the NEC recorder.
Recording Speed
|
Average 3T Pit Jitter (ns)
|
Average 3T Land Jitter (ns)
|
> 35ns
|
Max 3T jitter values (ns)
|
4X
|
25.88 |
32.22 |
No |
28 Pit, 35 Land
|
8X
|
24.49 |
28.46 |
No |
26 Pit, 30 Land
|
16X
|
22.78 |
25.37 |
No |
26 Pit, 28 Land
|
24X
|
22.20 |
24.29 |
No |
25 Pit, 26 Land
|
32X
|
22.83 |
24.95 |
No |
25 Pit, 28 Land
|
- Summary
Judging from the results presented on this page, the NEC ND-2500A has proved
one of the best CD recorders with regard to quality that we have tested. The
jitter levels with Taiyo Yudon media are very low for all speeds. The results
on the following pages will show exactly how good a recorder the NEC drive is.
10. 3T Jitter Tests - Page 2
NEC
ND-2500A
DVD±RW recorder - Page 10
Writing Quality Tests - 3T Jitter Tests
The same Nero compilation used in the previous jitter tests was used once
again, this time with media from different brands. The recording speed was
the maximum
32x in all cases. The following graphs show the 3T Pit & Land Jitter results.
- 3T Pit results
Once again the NEC drive showed it is a quality writer. No matter what the
media brand used, the jitter levels were all low.
The average 3T Jitter values for all manufacturers discs are illustrated in
the following graph.
- 3T Land results
The drive continues to impress with regards to its writing quality.
The average values presented below illustrates the drives recording ability.
Recording Speed
|
Average 3T Pit Jitter (ns)
|
Average 3T Land Jitter (ns)
|
> 35ns
|
Max 3T jitter values (ns)
|
Mam 52X |
26.39 |
24.54 |
No |
27 Pit, 26 Land |
HiSpace 48X |
25.83 |
27.83 |
No |
29 Pit, 31 Land |
CMC 48X |
24.46 |
25.44 |
No |
26 Pit, 27 Land |
Ritek 48X |
22.29 |
22.15 |
No |
24 Pit, 23 Land |
SKC 48X |
27.24 |
27.61 |
No |
29 Pit, 29 Land |
- Summary
Generally, from this series of tests, we can conclude that the drive is a high
quality CD recorder. All the discs we burnt produced very low jitter values,
regardless of manufacturer or speed.
On the following page we check the C1 and C2 error rates for the same discs.
These are the last of the quality tests.
11. C1 / C2 Error Measurements
NEC
ND-2500A
DVD±RW recorder -
Page 11
Writing Quality Tests - C1 / C2 Error Measurements
The C1 / C2 error rate was measured for the recorded discs burned during the
previous writing tests (jitter). The software used was UMDoctor Pro II, and
the reader was the Optorite DD0203 drive.
-
Taiyo Yuden 48x recorded at 4x
-
Taiyo Yuden 48x recorded at 8x
-
Taiyo Yuden 48x recorded at 16x
-
Taiyo Yuden 48x recorded at 24x
-
Taiyo Yuden 48x recorded at 32x
-
HiSpace 48x recorded at 32x
Below is presented information on the CD-R
media used in this test.
Disc
|
ID Code
|
Capacity
|
Taiyo Yuden 48X
|
TaiyoYuden 97m24s01f
|
79:59:72
|
HiSpace 48x
|
97m25s07f
|
79:59:00
|
CMC Magnetics 48x
|
CMC Magnetics 97m26s66f
|
79:59:71
|
Ritek 48x
|
Plasmon 97m27s18f
|
79:59:74
|
Mam 52X
|
Mitsui 97m27s58f
|
79:59:74
|
SKC 48X
|
SKC 97m26s26f
|
79:59:73
|
According to our measurements, the drive's CD writing quality is very good
with all media brands. The C1 levels are all quite low and consistent in their
levels. No C2 errors were reported.
The NEC ND-2500A supports DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW writing. The maximum supported
speed for both DVD+R and DVD-R is 8x (4x~8x Z-CLV), and 4x CLV for DVD+RW and
DVD-RW media.
Currently, only a few 8x certified DVD-R media are available on the market.
The supported 8x DVD±R media which we tested came from Mitsubishi Chemicals,
Taiyo Yuden, JVC and CMC Magnetics.
An 8x DVD+R disc from Mitsubishi-Kagaku was used to check the 8x writing
strategy of the drive. The software used was Nero CDSpeed, and its "create
disc" function.
The best recording times are illustrated in the following table after burning
4315MB of data on various DVD±R, DVD±RW media, using the maximum
allowed writing speed for each disc. For
comparison, we
also include
the
writing
times for the
Pioneer DVR-107D.
The NEC drive was faster with DVD±RW media and the Pioneer with DVD±R.
The times are quite fast.
The following screen shots were taken from Nero, after successful
burnings. The
amount
of data
is the same for all the tests.
The table above presents the writing speeds, media name and media code for
the various
discs used.
For this test we copied a 403 MB file (412.822 KB) from the hard disk (on
the same PC as the recorder) to the formatted RW media through Windows explorer
(drag and drop).
The following screenshots show the PI/PO results for various DVD-/+R
and DVD-/+RW media, recorded with the Nec ND-2500A at the maximum allowed
speed.
The software used for the measurements was KProbe v1.1.28, the ECC was
set to 8 and the reading drive was the LiteOn LDW-811s. The specific methodology
is very dependent on the
drive
used as a reader, while the reliability of the PI/PO provided output is also
not technically confirmed. Hence as a result, we cannot safely come up
with conclusive results,
although we do make a comparison
of the drive's behaviour
when using
various
DVD recordable/rewritable
media.
The recording discs used came from Mitsubishi Chemicals, CMC Magnetics, Plextor,
Taiyo Yuden, TDK, Ritek, Maxell and JVC. Further details about each disc are
presented at the bottom of this page.
Mitshubishi Chemicals 4x DVD+RW and JVC 4x DVD-RW media were the worst performers
with excessive totals and average counts for both PI and PO.
Plextor 4x DVD+R (recorded at 8x), Taiyo Yuden 4x DVD-R (recorded at 8x), Ritek
4x DVD-R media were a little better. The other brands are all acceptable with
the best media being CMC Magnetics 8x DVD+R and Mitshubishi Chemicals 4x DVD-RW.
As a reader, the NEC ND-2500A returned acceptable speeds for both CD and DVD
with good seek times. But we would like to see the drive with a higher average
reading speed for DVD±RW media. Generally the drive performed well in
the series of reading tests and confirmed the manufacturers reading specifications
for all formats.
In the CD error correction tests, the drive had poor performance. It managed
to playback only the first two levels of our CD-Check Audio Test Disc. Most
good drives can easily play the first four levels, with the best managing all
5 check levels. The behaviour with the Abex-721R test disc was also quite disappointing.
The -18.4 dB(A) maximum
value for the loudness error level is high. We were hoping for a good score
with the Abex-726 disc, but here too the drive did not perform anywhere near
expectations..
The drive's error correction capabilities with DVD media was better than with
CD media. It managed to playback almost all of our test discs. However it failed
to read the ABEX TDV-541 which checks a drive's ability to switch between layers.
The drive failed to make SafeDisc v2.9 working backups, and backups of earlier
versions were playable only on the NEC drive itself but not on other drives.
Apart from this, the drive is fast in ripping process with all the game protection
schemes we tried, except of course for Safedisc.
According to the DAE test, the drive had average performance and we would like
to see faster operation. On the other hand the drive managed to playback and
rip both Key2Audio and CDS200 protected Audio CDs. The fact that the drive doesn't
play or rip 99 minutes AudioCDs is a minor issue.
Despite the fact that the drive could not overburn 99min CDs, the unit performed
extremely well as a CD writer and the 32x supported CD recording speed is
good.
What was most impressive however was the drive's CD writing quality which can
only be described as excellent! It registered very low jitter values with
all
the discs we tried, and the C1 levels were low while no C2 errors were reported.
In the DVD recording tests we would like to congratulate NEC regarding the
drive's compatibility with all the media we tested. It managed to burn at
the
speed of 8x most of our 4x DVD media. Also the DVD writing quality was very
good, with low PI/PO levels.
All in all, we can characterise the drive as being a very good quality writer,
but it does have problems with game protection schemes and defects on the disc's
surface, even minor ones.
The drive is currently availiable on the market at the price of around €100.
At such a low price, with the performance we saw and 8x dual DVD recording,
we feel that the NEC ND-2500A is a very good purchase, being better than other,
more expensive recorders. As long as you don't need to read scratched or troublesome
discs, but you need a good writer, then this is a good choice.