Asus sets the bar higher with its upcoming DRW-1814BLT Super-multi DVD burner capable of writing on DVD-RAM media at a speed of 14x. This is the first DVD burner to offer a recording speed of 14x for the DVD-RAM format. The DVD Forum approved the high-speed recording standard for DVD-RAM in September of 2005. The RAM2 media can be recorded at 6x, 8x, 12x and 16x. Thought the 14x speed is not included in the specifications, we can assume that the Asus drive will not have the RAM2 logo stamped on the drive.

The DRW-1814BLT will be available in the Japanese market by the end of January, priced at around 6,500 Yen ($54).



Other features of the new SATA drive include the Lightscribe disc labeling capability, 18x writing for DVD±R, 8x for DVD±R DL and DVD+RW, 6x for DVD-RW as well as 48x/32x for CD-R and CD-RW, respectively.

Specifications:

Interface: Serial ATA

Read:
16x DVD-ROM SL
8x DVD-ROM DL
18x DVD±R
8x DVD±R DL
8x DVD+RW
6x DVD-RW
14x DVD-RAM
48x CD-ROM
48x CD-R
40x CD-RW

Write:
18x DVD±R
8x DVD±R DL
8x DVD+RW
6x DVD-RW
14x DVD-RAM
48x CD-R
32x CD-RW

Access time: 140ms for DVD, 150ms for CD
Buffer:2MB