Thats true that Sony does not build their drives. Yes, some are Liteon. 
The test info that I have found on dvd burners is that the Sony drives are 
faster than all others except for $Plextor drives. This info comes from Maximum 
PC.
Burning DVD's fast is a good thing. A full DVD-r in five min. with the 
DRU810a is hard to beat.

                   Bud Jarman

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