AccessTEK

Accestek expands its optical storage product range with new ATAPI DVD burners, combo drives and slim type DVD recorders for notebooks. The successor of the DD0401 is the new DD0405. The new feature here is 8x recording for DVD-R. The drive shares the same internal components as the DD0401, but its firmware is upgraded to support 8x DVD-R burning. Soon after the release of the drive onto the European market in a couple of weeks, Optorite will offer a free firmware upgrade for the DD0401, adding 8x DVD-R recording capability.

Optorite is among those manufacturers that have chosen to support the 12x recording speed for DVD+R. Although support for 12x speed has currently been announced only from Plextor and LG, the company takes this first step before proceeding to 16x DVD+R recording, waiting until the market has matured and the availability of the 16x media is more widespread. The upcoming DD1203 will be available by July. The basic specifications are available below:

• Buffer: 2MB
• Write: 12x Z-CLV DVD+R, 8x DVD-R, 4x DVD±RW, 24x HD-BURN, 48x CD-R, 24x CD-RW
• Read: 12x DVD-ROM / ±RW / ±R, 78x HD-BURN, 48x CD-ROM / CD-DA

A firmware upgrade could also be released, allowing the DD1203 to burn at 12x for DVD-R.

The company's top product is the DD1601. Available by August, the drive will be a 16x DVD+R burner with double layer recording capabilities (DVD+R9). Of course, the availability of double layer DVD+R media will be the key factor that will determine the exact release date of the DD1601.

As in the case of previous Optorite DVD recorders, the 12x model (DD1203) will be based on the Sanyo chipset. For the DD1601, the company will possibly cooperate with Philips.