Wayne N. Kawamoto
Managing Editor, www.smallbusinesscomputing.com
Panasonic unveiled its DVDBurnerII, the company’s next-generation combination DVD/CD drive that promises to take the confusion out of buying a Recordable DVD drive. Meeting DVD Multi specifications, the new DVD Multi drive builds on the success of Panasonic’s DVD-RAM/R DVDBurner by extending the drive’s capabilities to include read/write support for all Recordable DVD formats approved by the DVD Forum and read/write support for CD-R/RW discs. In addition, the company says that its DVDBurnerII will offer higher write speeds, faster playback, broad compatibility and the convenience of being able to switch between formats and capacities.
With read/write support for all DVD Forum recordable DVD specifications and read/write support for CD-R/RW discs, Panasonic’s DVDBurnerII should have broad appeal among consumers, businesses and professionals.
Panasonic’s DVDBurnerII will be fully compliant with the DVD Forum’s DVD Multi specifications. The specifications should ensure disc compatibility for all recordable DVD formats established by the more than 200-member DVD Forum -both for consumer electronics products and personal computers. In addition to reading and writing DVD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, CD-R and CD-RW discs, the DVDBurnerII will also play DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-Audio and CD-ROM discs.
When writing to a 4.7GB DVD-R General disc, the new drive promises to achieve speeds of up to 2x, with DVD-R playback at 6x. With huge storage capacity, reliable data management and rewritability up to 100,000 times, DVD-RAM discs should be suited for PC applications. The discs’ write speed is 2x, equivalent to at least 18x CD rate. Smaller files can be stored on low-cost 650MB CD-Rs at up to 12x speed or on CD-RW discs at up to 8x speed. CD playback is at 32x. To ensure error-free CD recording, Panasonic’s new multifunction drive includes buffer under-run technology.
Availability and Pricing
The Panasonic brand DVDBurnerII drives will begin shipping in October 2002 and, like the continuing DVD-RAM/R DVDBurner, will be available for resale at retail or OEM applications. The Panasonic brand DVD BurnerII drive for retail sale will be priced at less than $500. For more information, please visit the company’s web site at www.panasonic.com.
