New DVR-A06 burner adds support for DVD+RW.
Pioneer is leading a radical shift in the optical storage market, broadening its support for DVD rewritable standards, with consumers coming out the winner.
The company"s sixth-generation rewritable DVD drive, the DVR-AO6 makes its debut this week with support for both the "dash" and "plus" DVD formats. That is, it will handle the DVD Forum standard format DVD-R and DVD-RW discs, as well as +R and +RW discs.
Scheduled to ship in June priced at $329, the DVR-A06 marks a change in direction for Pioneer, one of the top makers of DVD burners. Until now, the vendor has been a staunch advocate of the DVD-R and DVD-RW formats. With this release, Pioneer aims to widen its appeal to prospective DVD users who are otherwise mystified by the cacophony of competing--and incompatible--DVD formats of recent years.
Like Pioneer"s A05, the A06"s software bundle will include Pinnacle InstantWrite packet-writing software, which provides the Quick Format utility as well as Quick Grow, which enables you to use a DVD-RW disc as if it were a multisession CD.
The DVR-A06"s specs generally compare favorably to those of Sony"s competing DRU-510A; Sony was the first company to market with a dual-format DVD burner last fall. The DVR-A06 features 4X write-once speeds for both DVD-R and DVD+R, and 2X DVD-RW write speeds. However, it lags slightly on its support for DVD+RW (2.4X, compared with the Sony"s 4X +RW) and CD-RW (16X/10X CD-/RW compared with Sony"s 24X/12X).