Just when I finally got a DVD Burner

[McNevin]

Sony Ushers in Double-Layer DVD Burners - [Computer Hardware]
Submitted by 7n7 on 3/19/2004 6:25:14 PM 3 Comments

Sony Electronics is looking to heat up the DVD recording arena. The company is adding two DVD+R Double Layer (DL) DVD drives to its line of Dual RW burners. An internal DRU-700A drive and an external DRX-700UL drive represent the company's move into double-layer recording.
The new burners and accompanying compatible discs promise to almost double the storage capacity of recordable DVD discs. Users will be able to store four hours of MPEG-2 video or up to 8.5GB of multimedia data on a single disc. Sony officials say the initial burners will have 2.4x DVD+R recording speeds, 40x CD-R speeds, and 24x CD-RW recording speeds.
The new DL discs are single-sided, but have two layers for storing information, and each layer can independently record material. DVD+R DL discs are compliant with DVD-9 discs, so they will work with most available DVD players and DVD-ROM drives.
So will dual-layer discs be readily available when the new burners appear? It's likely that supplies will be limited. "The new double-layer media has been a major challenge for Verbatim and its parent company, Mitsubishi Kagaku Media," Verbatim officials told PC Magazine. "The company is currently delivering media to Sony and others for compatibility testing, and products will be available at the time the new burners appear at retail.
The internal and external drives will begin shipping by the end of the second quarter, at estimated prices of $230 for the internal drive and $330 for the external drive.

[enderzero]

Cool new tech, but expect the media to be expensive. But with DVD+RW drives below the $75 mark these days they should be progressing along well. What is the ETA on blue laser technology?