External USB 2.0 DVD Writer from I-O Data Inbound

For those end-users that own systems, mobile or otherwise, that lack a DVD writer, I-O Data will soon begin to sell one such device, namely an external drive unit known as DVR-UN24GE.

While Buffalo is busy getting its act ready on the BDXL market, I-O Data decided to take things a bit slower.

Granted, said format has only recently started to be used, and disks of that type, plus the hardware supporting it, are fairly expensive (the disks especially).

Thus, it will take quite some time before their cost goes low enough for them to be accessible to the markets below the enthusiast market.

Sony will probably end up using them for its new PlayStation games, but that will not exactly propel the BDXL format closer to the mainstream with very much speed.

I-O Data decided to settle for delivering a DVD writer this once, an external optical drive that can work in two modes.

This DVR-UN24GE is not the smallest external drive in the world, measuring 170 (W) x 240 (D) x 50 (H) mm, but does have another advantage.

Since external ODDs usually end up plugged into laptops that lack a disk writer of their own, they tend to drain the laptops' battery more quickly.

To assuage this, I-O Data implemented what is called a 'SiLent' mode, which can cut the necessary power by up top 17%.

As for actually performance, the DVD writer, obviously, supports not just DVDs but also CD formats.

The speeds at which the scribing process is accomplished are, thus, varied, ranging from 6x to 32x.

CDs are, of course, written faster, with CD-RW running at up to 32x and CD-R at 48x.

The speeds drop, to 24 X for DVD+R/-R and 12 x for DVD-RAM, and then even lower, to 8x in the case of DVD+R/-R and 6x for DVD-RW.

As one would expect, the DVR-UN24GE connects via the USB 2.0 interface. It should debut later this month, priced at roughly $141.