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Sony To Offer Free 8x DVD-R and 4x DVD-RW Upgrade For 530A

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Sony To Offer Free 8x DVD-R and 4x DVD-RW Upgrade For 530A

Postby Ian on Tue Jan 13, 2004 12:38 pm

Sony Offers Free 8X DVD-R and 4X DVD-RW Firmware Upgrade For 530 Series of Dual Format DVD Burners

Users Can Satisfy Need for Faster Burning Without Additional Costs

SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sony Electronics is rewarding owners of its 530 series of dual format DVD/CD-recordable drives with a free firmware upgrade that will allow them to achieve up to 8X DVD-R and 4X DVD-RW recording speeds.

Owners of the internal DRU-530A or external DRX-530UL Dual RW drive will be able to download the free firmware upgrade from Sony's Storage Support Web site at http://sony.storagesupport.com/dvdrw/dru530adwn.htm before the end of February.

With the firmware upgrade, users will be able to record a full 4.7GB DVD-R disc in around 10 minutes, using 8X DVD-R media to achieve the faster speed. In addition, using 4X DVD-RW media, users will be able record a full 4X DVD-RW disc in less than 15 minutes.

The firmware upgrade will increase the drives' DVD-R speed from an original 4X, and their DVD-RW speed from an original 2X. Both drives also support up to 8X DVD+R and 4X DVD+RW, as well as up to 40X CD-R and up to 24X CD-RW recording speeds.

"Our goal is to maximize customer satisfaction and deliver the best experience possible for users of our Dual RW DVD drives," said Robert DeMoulin, marketing manager for branded storage products in Sony Electronics' IT Products Division. "By offering speed upgrades free of charge, we are providing our customers with higher performance without having to purchase new hardware, while allowing them to fully enjoy the fun and creativity made possible by the 530 line of DVD burners."

Sony has been recognized as the leader in PC-attached DVD drives since it introduced the world's first multi-format DVD burners in September 2002. Its Dual RW drives have garnered a number of industry awards and continue to be a top choice for consumers looking to transfer their VHS tapes to DVD, edit and share their home movies and back up their personal and business data.

Availability and Pricing

The DRU-530A and DRX-530UL DVD/CD rewritable drives are sold through nationwide resellers and retailers, mail order catalogs and select online shopping sites, including SonyStyle.com. The estimated selling price for the internal DRU-530A model is less than $220, while the MSRP for the external DRX-530UL drive will be less than $300 when it becomes available in early February. There is an additional $30 mail-in rebate in place for both models through July 4, 2004.
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Postby Ian on Tue Jan 13, 2004 12:39 pm

Now if they'd make it so that the drive can write to 4x DVD+R media at 8x.

Anyway.. discuss!!
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Postby Noua on Tue Jan 13, 2004 12:50 pm

Am I reading right?!?!?!?!?!??!?! :o :o :o

Did I read the Sony is offering free upgrade to -r/rw burning speeds??? :-? :-? naaaa, that's just probably someone that hacked the site... loooooool..
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Postby MonteLDS on Tue Jan 13, 2004 2:03 pm

others will do the same... but at least we know for sure now that it can be done. i figured it could, but glad to see that i have no reason to doubt it..
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Postby Ian on Tue Jan 13, 2004 2:13 pm

According to Sony, they're also planning on boosting the 8x writing speeds. The drive will jump to 8x sooner than it does now. I don't have all the details on this yet...
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Postby guitarmania on Tue Jan 13, 2004 2:19 pm

I hope pioneer/plextor are feeling the pressure.
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Postby RJW on Tue Jan 13, 2004 2:38 pm

Why would pioneer feel pressure.
The a06 is a 4x burner by design.
And then there still is the dual layer dvd-r upgrade.
Will it finally work or will it not.
I personally like the dual layer update way more as a speed increasement which might sacrifice burning quality very much just for a couple of minutes faster. Which is the current thing with 8x burners !

For Plextor it's a different story.
They could do it. But on the other hand I think Plextor is more interested in selling a newer drive than do a lot of fine tunning to get 8x dvd-r and 4x dvd-rw burning working.
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Postby Ian on Tue Jan 13, 2004 2:38 pm

The PIoneer A07 already supports 8x DVD+R/DVD-R. But yeah.. it will be interesting to see what Plextor does.
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Postby Noua on Tue Jan 13, 2004 3:12 pm

But, where is the A07? Does anyone sell it yet?? I have a feeling tha Plextor wont release any update. It has something to do with brand recognition/marketing and strategy.
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Plextor reply...

Postby cedpar on Tue Jan 13, 2004 3:46 pm

Since 8x DVD-R media isn't even available yet, it's too soon to know what may or may not happen in the future.

Plextor America Support Team - Jack
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Re: Plextor reply...

Postby Ian on Tue Jan 13, 2004 4:23 pm

cedpar wrote:Since 8x DVD-R media isn't even available yet, it's too soon to know what may or may not happen in the future.

Plextor America Support Team - Jack


Yeah, that sounds like Plextor's default answer for this question. They've been saying this since the 708A shipped. I can't blame them though.
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Postby guitarmania on Tue Jan 13, 2004 5:07 pm

RJW wrote:Why would pioneer feel pressure.
The a06 is a 4x burner by design.
And then there still is the dual layer dvd-r upgrade.
Will it finally work or will it not.
I personally like the dual layer update way more as a speed increasement which might sacrifice burning quality very much just for a couple of minutes faster. Which is the current thing with 8x burners !

For Plextor it's a different story.
They could do it. But on the other hand I think Plextor is more interested in selling a newer drive than do a lot of fine tunning to get 8x dvd-r and 4x dvd-rw burning working.


I am not saying that pioneer/plextor are feeling the pressure to release firmware. We got NEC ND2500, now we are getting SONY 530A (both 8x -R and 4x -RW capable). Where is the beef (drive) from pioneer and plextor? I say if pioneer/plextor does not release their 8x +/- R drive by end of Feb, they are gonna suffer in earning due to the capacity of the market and the everlasting price drop.
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Postby RJW on Tue Jan 13, 2004 6:02 pm

I don't think that Plextor will come out with a new drive or firmware just for 8x dvd-r.
What I do think is that they might one of the first companies with a dual layer +r drive maybe incombination with 8x DVD-R. That's more Plextors style.

The Pioneer a07 will be there as soon as the specification for 8x dvd-r and 4 DVD-RW are there. Which will probally be in February.
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plex and 8dvd+r

Postby konsolen on Tue Jan 13, 2004 7:23 pm

plextor are very crap if they make no firmware for dvd-r 8x.
i spend a lot of money for a grat burner with no futuretech. upgrades??
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Postby noycan on Tue Jan 13, 2004 9:08 pm

The A07 was on sale at the Fry's in Anaheim, CA last Saturday. The box showed 8x DVD-r speed. Cost was $229

Noua wrote:But, where is the A07? Does anyone sell it yet?? I have a feeling tha Plextor wont release any update. It has something to do with brand recognition/marketing and strategy.
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Postby Ian on Tue Jan 13, 2004 9:13 pm

It's up for preorder here as well:

http://www.esbuy.com/pioneerdvr107.html

I bet places like Livewarehouse will have it by the end of the week.
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Postby guitarmania on Tue Jan 13, 2004 9:33 pm

it is finally....(nearly) out...but it sure IS expensive, compared to the $136 ND2500...
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Postby qdmp on Tue Jan 13, 2004 11:04 pm

So, since the Sony is based on the Optorite...what are the chances that the Optorite will also get this speed increase?
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Postby BMR on Tue Jan 13, 2004 11:11 pm

qdmp wrote:So, since the Sony is based on the Optorite...what are the chances that the Optorite will also get this speed increase?


Possibly but Optorite has already anounced a new successor to their latest DD401 drive that will have 8X -R and 4X -RW.

See this thread:

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=14451

Thus it depends if they are feeling "Generous" or not.

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Postby Ian on Tue Jan 13, 2004 11:17 pm

qdmp wrote:So, since the Sony is based on the Optorite...what are the chances that the Optorite will also get this speed increase?


There are rumors that they are also planning on doing this. However, nothing has been confirmed yet.
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