New Dual RW Drives Take Guesswork Out of DVD Recording
from the PC, Let Users Easily Create Video and Data DVDs
Check out the
Drive Specs
SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 9, 2002 - Sony Electronics today
introduced its Dual RW drives, the first combination drives
for the PC to support the DVD+RW, DVD+R, DVD-RW and DVD-R
formats.
The new Dual RW drives, the internal DRU-500A and the external
DRX-500UL, encompass four popular DVD recording formats for
the utmost in recording functionality and playback compatibility.
By combining the DVD rewritable (DVD+RW/-RW) formats with
the DVD write-once (DVD+R/-R) formats, the Dual RW drives
allow computer users to transfer home movies from tape to
DVD discs, customize and edit them for a personal touch, and
then play them back in nearly all DVD-Video players and DVD-ROM
drives.
Sony's new drives are also the industry's first to support
up to 4X DVD-R recording, making them the fastest DVD rewritable
drives on the market. In addition, the drives support 2.4X
DVD+RW/+R recording and 2X DVD-RW recording. It is expected
that 4X DVD-R and 2X DVD-RW media will become available in
the near future.
Both Dual RW models also support 24X CD-R and 10X CD-RW recording
(using high-speed CD-RW discs), making them ideal all-in-one
recording devices.
"Sony is eliminating the need for consumers to choose
one format over another by introducing a drive that supports
the most popular DVD formats," said Robert DeMoulin,
marketing manager for branded storage products in Sony Electronics'
IT Products Division. "Whether consumers are looking
to create write-once discs to inexpensively share home movies,
or rewritable discs for video or data storage, the Sony DRU-500A
and DRX-500UL drives offer complete solutions for digital
recording."
"Two of the key issues for the success of rewritable
DVD drives in the future are affordability and compatibility.
The increasing market acceptance of DVD players and digital
camcorders underlines the need for recording formats that
are compatible with the majority of DVD players," said
Mary Craig, principal analyst for Gartner Dataquest. "Vendors
in this market need to do as much as possible to remove the
guesswork in the selection of a DVD recording format and to
help prepare users for the future of home video and DVD recording."
"The popularity of DVD players, digital camcorders and
powerful but affordable multi-media PCs are quickly increasing
the appeal of DVD recording," said Wolfgang Schlichting,
Research Manager Removable Storage for IDC. "Playback
compatibility with DVD players will be vital for the technology's
success, and Sony's new multi-format drives allow users to
record on all widely available DVD media formats. Also, these
multi-format drives greatly reduce the risk for consumers
to depend on less compatible or more expensive media in the
future," he added.
The internal Sony DRU-500A drive comes with an ATAPI interface
for easy installation inside a PC while the external Sony
DRX-500UL drive features both an i.LINK and a USB 2.0 interface
for simple set-up and maximum flexibility.
DVD & CD Software Suite
Both Dual RW drives come with CD/DVD burning and video editing
and authoring software. The full-featured software suite also
includes backup software for users to easily create custom
backup discs of up to 4.7 gigabytes (GB) of audio, video and
data, along with software to organize music files on a PC
and record them onto a CD or DVD. The software suite includes:
·Veritas RecordNow* is mastering software that allows
users to create custom CDs and DVDs, in addition to creating
backup copies of CDs or DVD-ROMs;
·Veritas Simple Backup* is full-featured backup and
data protection software that provides users instant backup
and disaster recovery capabilities;
·Sonic Solutions MyDVD* is authoring software that
allows users to quickly and easily transfer home videos to
customized DVD and Video CD discs;
·Arcsoft ShowBiz® is video editing software for
customizing video footage with easy import/export to and from
the Sonic Solutions MyDVD software;
·CyberLink PowerDVD® is DVD-Video playing software
that enables interactive viewing of both DVD-Video and Video
CD discs on a PC; and
·MUSICMATCH® Jukebox is a personal music system
to play, record, organize and discover new music with a guide
to thousands of streams of personalized music programming.
Availability, Pricing and Warranty
The DRU-500A DVD/CD rewritable drive will be available in
October for an estimated retail price of under $350, and the
Sony DRX-500UL will be available in November for less than
$430. Sony DVD/CD rewritable drives are sold through resellers
and retailers nationwide, mail order catalogs, and select
online shopping sites, including SonyStyle.com. Sony supports
what it calls "worry-free" installation and easy
operation with toll-free customer and technical service, Monday
through Saturday, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. CST, along with
a one-year limited warranty from the original date of purchase.
Key Specifications for the Sony Dual RW Drives
Sony DRU-500A DVD/CD Rewritable Drive
·ATAPI (EIDE) internal interface
·2.4X writing (DVD+RW/+R)
2X (max.) writing (DVD-RW)
4X (max.) writing (DVD-R)
8X (max.) reading (DVD-ROM)
24X (max.) writing (CD-R), 32X (max.) reading
10X (max.) writing (CD-RW), 32X (max.) reading
·Dimensions: 5.75 x 1.63 x 7.56 inches (W x H x L)
·Platform support: Windows 98SE/2000/Me/XP
·Burst data transfer rate: 33.3 MB/s max.
·Random access time: 160 ms (CD-ROM), 200 ms (DVD-ROM)
·Buffer memory: 8 MB
·Recording method (CD): disc at once, track at once,
session at once, packet writing(DVD): Random Access Write
(DVD+RW/DVD-RW), Sequential Write (DVD+R/+RW, DVD-R/-RW) ·Compatible
disc format: DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD+RW, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD-R,
CD-ROM, CD-DA, Video CD, Photo CD (multi-session), CD TEXT,
CD Extra and others ·Availability - October 2002 ·Estimated
Selling Price - Under $350
Sony DRX-500UL DVD/CD Rewritable Drive
·USB 2.0 and i.LINK external interfaces· USB
1.1 compatible with sustained read speed of up to 6X and write
speed up to 4X
·2.4X writing (DVD+RW/+R)
2X (max.) writing (DVD-RW)
4X (max.) writing (DVD-R)
8X (max.) reading (DVD-ROM)
24X (max.) writing (CD-R), 32X (max.) reading
10X (max.) writing (CD-RW), 32X (max.) reading
·Dimensions: 5.75 x 1.63 x 7.56 inches (W x H x L)
·Platform support: Windows 98SE/2000/Me/XP
·Burst data transfer rate: 480 mbit/sec max
·Random access time: 160 ms (CD-ROM), 200 ms (DVD-ROM)
·Buffer memory: 8 MB
·Recording method (CD): disc at once, track at once,
session at once, packet writing(DVD): Random Access Write
(DVD+RW/DVD-RW), Sequential Write (DVD+R/+RW, DVD-R/-RW) ·Compatible
disc format: DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD+RW, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD-R,
CD-ROM, CD-DA, Video CD, Photo CD (multi-session), CD TEXT,
CD Extra and others ·Availability - November 2002 ·Estimated
Selling Price - Under $430
