Sony announces the DRU-700A and the DRX-700UL double layer DVD burners

March 17, 2004

A while ago some pictures and info showed up about Sony's first double layer DVD+R burner and today Sony has officially announced the new models, the DRU-700A and the DRX-700UL. The former is an internal ATAPI model and the latter is an external USB 2.0 & IEEE 1394 (i.LINK) model. Besides burning 2.4x DVD+R DL both models also support 8x/4x DVD±R/RW and 40x/24x CD-R/RW write speeds.

"Sony continues to be a forerunner in DVD technology by leading the charge in delivering double layer technology to the market," said Robert DeMoulin, marketing manager for branded storage products in Sony Electronics' IT Products Division. "As the pioneer of dual format drives, we were the first to address confusion over competing DVD standards; with double layer, we will now satisfy the need for higher capacity."

**Sony DRU-700A/DRX-700UL**
Write speed		Read speed
DVD+R DL	2.4x	DVD-ROM SL	12x
DVD+R/RW	8x/4x	DVD-ROM DL	8x
DVD-R/RW	8x/4x	CD-ROM	40x
CD-R/RW	40x/24x	Access time
Buffer	2 MB	CD/DVD-ROM	160/200ms

The drives are expected to be available in late Q2 for an estimated selling price of $ 230 (DRU-700A) and $ 330 (DRX-700UL) including Nero 6 software suite. The complete press release and more pictures of the drives are available here.

Source: Sony