Reprinted from a Pioneer Electronics press release:
Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc., Business Solutions Division, the leader in recordable DVD technology, today announced the new DVR-A05 DVD-R/RW and CD-R/RW combination drive. Pioneer’s fifth generation drive doubles writing performance across the board with 4X DVD-R, 2X DVD-RW, 16X CD-R and 8X CD-RW capabilities. The new 4X DVD-R recording speed translates into approximately 15 minutes to fully record a high-speed 4.7 GB DVD-R disc. Pioneer will offer the DVR-A05 in November with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $299.
“The new DVR-A05 offers a substantial recording speed increase for DVD-R and DVD-RW, which means a lot less time spent waiting for video and other data to be recorded. At the same time, we’ve been able to achieve a very attractive price point that should help make the drive appeal to a larger number of consumers and professional users,” said Andy Parsons, senior vice president of industrial video & mass storage sales and marketing, Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc., Business Solutions Division.
Using data writing software bundled with the drive, the DVR-A05 also offers two-minute quick formatting for DVD-RW data discs, and allows finished DVD-RW discs to be “unfinalized” for writing additional data files. A DVD authoring tool and DVD/CD data recording application are also included with the drive, as well as blank 4X DVD-R and 2X DVD-RW discs.
The drive features a new high-speed writing pickup, implemented by new laser driver technology that ensures stable writing performance at high speeds. A new liquid crystal tilt mechanism has also been included, providing accurate and reliable operation with discs that have uneven curvature or thickness. The DVR-A05 also doubles the CD-R and CD-RW write speed of earlier models at 16X and 8X respectively, and can be used as a DVD-ROM and CD-ROM drive as well.
Consumers and industrial users have recognized that DVD recording is a compelling solution for video authoring and archiving. As a result, industry analysts expect DVD recordable drive sales to surpass 3 million units in 2002 and more than 30 million drives by 2005. Pioneer has been at the forefront of the market as a leading provider of DVD technology by consistently setting industry milestones. They were the first to offer the world’s first DVD recordable drive, the first to offer a 4.7GB capacity DVD-R drive and the first to combine DVD and CD recording in a single drive.
