Original URL: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/08/30/sony_ships_fastest_dvd_recorder/
The first fruit of Sony's optical drive partnership with NEC have arrived in Europe: a drive the company claims is the world's fastest DVD±R writer, capable of burning single-layer discs at up to 18x speed.
Sony admitted the availability of media certified for use at 18x was "limited", but it claimed the drive - dubbed the AWG170A - would write 16x discs at the higher speed. It also said the drive will write DVD-RAM discs as 12x. DVD±R DL discs are written at up to 8x, it added, the same speed the drive writes DVD+RWs. DVD-RW discs are written at 6x. CD-R/RW discs are burned at 48x.
Sony touted the AWG170A's compact, fanless self-cooling design, along with mechanisms to compensate for unbalanced discs - all that spinning would do anyone's head in, we say - and to minimise vibration during the read/write process, another cause of coasters.
The drive is available in with a choice of four different bezel colours.
The drive is made by Sony NEC Optiarc, formed in April (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/02/27/sony_nec_merge_optical_drive_teams/) when the two companies combined their optical drive businesses. Sony owns 55 per cent of the JV; NEC owns the remainder. ®
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