I-O DATA Japan has announced a new series of drives based on the Panasonic's 4x Blu-ray Disc writer, the SW-5583. The internal BRD-SM4 and external BRD-UM4 feature 4x BD-R, 4x BD-R DL and 2x BD-RE writing speeds and a maximum BD-ROM read speed of 4x. Here are some of the specs:



Writing Speeds:
BD-R: 4x
BD-R DL: 4x
BD-RE: 2x
DVD±R: 16x
DVD±R DL: 8x
DVD+RW: 8x
DVD-RW: 6x
DVD-RAM: 5x
CD-R: 40x
CD-RW: 24x

Read Speeds:
BD-ROM: 4x
BD-R: 4x
BD-R DL: 4x
BD-RE: 2x
DVD-ROM (Single): 16x Max
DVD-ROM (Dual): 8x Max
DVD±R: 18x Max
DVD±RW: 8x Max
DVD±R DL: 8x Max
DVD-RAM: 5x Max
CD-R/ROM: 40x Max
CD-RW: 32x Max

Access Times:
BD-ROM: 210ms
DVD-ROM: 170ms
DVD-RAM: 350ms
CD-ROM: 150ms

Buffer Size: 8MB


The BRD-SH6B and BRD-UXH6 will ship in the middle of November and are priced at 63,500 Yen ($514US) and 69,000 Yen ($558US) respectively. More information can be found here.