After invitation to the AOpen suite at Computex Taiwan, we had a chance to see the newest 16X dual layer DVD recorders in action; and we were surely not disappointed. Recent AOpen recorders, including the DDW8800, were based on alternative OEM designs and re-branded as AOpen. The newest DDW1608, on the other hand, will use an entirely new design and construction from AOpen. However, most intriguing is the Ricoh chipset inside. You may recall Ricoh's involvement in the first DVD recorder chipsets several years ago when 2.4X DVD+R drives were the norm.

Ricoh's newest endeavor in the DVD IC segment sports incredibly enticing features: 16X DVD+R, 16X DVD-R, dual layer support and fast CD write and read speeds. It seems Ricoh has been fairly busy over the last 18 months.

Here is a teaser of AOpen's DDW1608 burning a 16X DVD+R disc. When we actually receive the drive in a few weeks, we will run our typical battery of read, write and error tests.




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Below is a screenshot of BenQ's next generation 16X burner writing a disc in under 6 minutes.




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For an additional teaser, we included a shot of BenQ's entire next generation burner lineup, including 4X DVD+R9 devices.




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Other prototype designs were also featured on the show floor, including 16X LiteOn/Gigabyte designs using MediaTek's 16X MT1818E successor. Philips Taiwan also had a Nexperia reference design in a private booth, of which we were able to snag a picture. NuTech/Quanta has been using the Nexperia chipset design for their recent line of dvd recorders. Feel free to check out this document that we also snagged from Philips, which talks about the upcoming Nexperia 725x chipset.

Media and Direction
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  • tfranzese - Sunday, June 13, 2004 - link

    How much faster will DL get? Will it be down to 10 min burn times eventually?
  • MIDIman - Sunday, June 13, 2004 - link

    I heard along the rumor mill that a Philips HD-DVD drive was already on the market. Anyone have a link?
  • KristopherKubicki - Sunday, June 13, 2004 - link

    artifex: Verbatim DVDR+9 media costs about $5 a disc right now. I bet 12 months from now it will be around $1 per disc.

    Kristopher
  • artifex - Sunday, June 13, 2004 - link

    Okay, to get back on topic:

    Do we know yet what decent DVD+9 media is going to cost? I'm already seeing slower +9 compatible drives at places like NewEgg for $89; I really don't care about 12x or 16x speed so much as reliability at this point, especially in a part that costs so little.
  • tfranzese - Friday, June 11, 2004 - link

    I don't see how it is and this is definately news to me if so.

    "You used the word oriental not to refer to the words on the screen, you used it to say Kris is oriental... You are an idiot... "

    Not quite, but if you're this critical of language use on the internet you're a sad person.
  • sisq0kidd - Friday, June 11, 2004 - link

    The thing that bothers me about your use of it is, Oriental is derogatory when you call someone Oriental...
  • sisq0kidd - Friday, June 11, 2004 - link

    "#14, are you blind? I don't think Kris is oriental."

    You used the word oriental not to refer to the words on the screen, you used it to say Kris is oriental... You are an idiot...
  • tfranzese - Friday, June 11, 2004 - link

    Ignorant? No, you just seem to think you know it all.

    http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Oriental

    I use the word perfectly fine, especially in the context here where I was referring to an oriental language depicted in one of the screen captures. Pretty sad that even on a tech site people like you can't just stick to the topic, but rather flame others. I may have asked if someone was blind, but it was a retorical question. The fact you think that you know every use of the word oriental and use that as a basis for you to argue is truly sad and without any merit to me or anyone else reading these comments.
  • sisq0kidd - Friday, June 11, 2004 - link

    tfranzese calm down, you sound like an ignorant ass... For your information, you don't call people Oriental, you call objects related to those people Oriental... Maybe you need to pick up a dictionary...
  • tfranzese - Friday, June 11, 2004 - link

    #18, stfu prick. If you can't discern between a rug and a persons ethnicity then that's not my problem, last I checked oriental people were not known as rugs.

    As for bashing, no one was being bashed - only cited as inobservant. Get a life and pick up a dictionary while you're at it.

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