Sony, Optorite add 8X -R support to 8X +R/4X -R drives

I'm glad I didn't wait for A07. :cool:
<nobr>Sony</nobr> Electronics is rewarding owners of its 530 series of dual format DVD/<nobr>CD</nobr>-recordable drives with a free firmware upgrade that will allow them to achieve up to 8X DVD-R and 4X DVD-RW recording speeds.

<!-- IntelliTxt -->

<!-- IntelliTxt --> 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 <nobr>Web</nobr> 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. Note that Optorite will also release a firmware upgrade for DD0401 adding 8x DVD-R and 4x DVD-RW writing.

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.
I got this from CDR-Info.
 
I just got off the phone with Andy at optorite. Try to find optorite's phone number thats was a pain. Anyway Andy had no clue about this and said he would get back to me if he found out something. You got to love it!!! Well for all those members like me who hate when a company doesn't answer emails and you need to talk to some one try this: 1-909-839-2480 :D
 
They responded to my email.

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Hello,[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The improvement made with firmware DD0401 drive uses 120E[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1) Adds more media support for the drive. See the list at http://www.optorite.com/dd0401.htm.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]2) Fixes a bug in the 110E firmware which does not allow the reading/burning of CD-R media after reading/burning a DVD-R disc.[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]3) There should be a firmware that will allow the DD0401 drive to write to - media at 8x. However, I do not have the firmware available to test this out.[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Thank you,[/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]OptoRite Support[/font]
 
Top