Nec ND-2500A

Review Pages

1. Retail Package - Installation
2. Data CD Reading Tests
3. CD Error Correction Tests
4. DVD Reading Tests
5. DVD Error Correction Tests
6. Protected Disc Tests
7. CD-DA - DAE Tests
8. CD Recording Tests
9. 3T Jitter Tests - Page 1
10. 3T Jitter Tests - Page 2
11. C1 / C2 Error Measurements
12. DVD Recording Tests
13. KProbe PI/PO Error Measurements
14. Conclusion

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.