Sony has released some information on their new 18x DVD writer, the DRU-835A. Judging by its specs, its VERY similar to the DRU-830A... just with LightScribe.
http://www.sony.com.cn/ed/cp/ds/dru-835a.asp
http://b2b.sony.com/Solutions/product/DRU-835A
http://b2b.sony.com/Solutions/b2b/data/ ... 035740.pdf
Writing Speeds:
DVD+R: 4X CLV, 8X P-CAV, 16X, 18X CAV
DVD+RW: 2.4X, 4X CLV, 6X, 8X Z-CLV
DVD+R DL: 2.4X, 4X, 6X, 8X Z-CLV
DVD-R: 4X CLV, 8X P-CAV, 16X CAV, 18X CAV
DVD-RW: 2X, 4X, CLV, 6X Z-CLV
DVD-R DL: 2X, 4X CLV, 6X, 8X Z-CLV
DVD-RAM: 5X, 6X CLV, 8X, 10X, 12x P-CAV
CD-R: 8X, 16X CLV, 24X, 32X, 40X P-CAV, 48X CAV
CD-RW: 4X, 10X, 16X CLV, 24X, 32X Z-CLV
Read Speeds:
DVD-ROM: 16X Max
DVD±R: 12X Max
DVD±R DL : 8X Max
DVD±RW: 8X Max
DVD-Video: 6x Max
DVD-RAM: 12x Max
CD-ROM/CD-R: 48X Max
CD-RW: 40X Max
Access Times:
CD-ROM: 130ms
DVD-ROM: 140ms
Buffer Size: 2MB
List Price. $79.99 US