The recorder is based on the NEC chipset. The label on the top panel provides basic information about the place and time this drive was manufactured.
The rear panel of the drive contains an operational digital audio-out. The tray is equipped with rubber padding to reduce noise and dust penetration inside the device. The front panel houses the following controls: Eject button, emergency eject hole, and one-color busy light. In fact, it hasn't been changed for a long time. We got an OEM sample, that is without any accessories. Write Disc Formats: TAO with zero gap, DAO, SAO, Multisession, Packet Writing (fixed & variable packet).CD: CD-DA, CD-ROM XA, Photo CD, Video CD, Hybrid CD, CD-Text.DVD: DVD-ROM, DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD-Video, DVD+R9.As we found no other differences in specifications of the new ND-4551 versus ND-4550, the main interest to the new model may be directed only at the new labeling technology.
But NEC didn't license this technology and developed its own, similar, but more interesting technology, called LabelFlash. If you keep tabs on the optical storage news, you may have noticed the curious Lightscribe technology that allows to use a standard laser to draw high-quality labels on CD/DVD with special coating. What's this modification about? If you expect hardware changes, I'm afraid I'll disappoint you: 45 models are absolutely identical inside all changes come down to firmware. Similar modifications were made to the ND-3550, which got the name ND-3551. Almost right after the launch of the flagship DVD recorder NEC ND-4550, there appeared an interesting modification of this model, called ND-4551.