Mitsubishi Electric Corporation starts the sample shipment of the laser diode "ML1XX17" that support up to '4x DVD-R & 40x CD-R' recording from November 21st. The sample price is around 3,000 Yen ($24). The massive production starts from March of 2002, with monthly output of 10.000. Mitsubishi promises stability operation of more than 1,000 hours! - Picture.