Panasonic announced its latest multi DVD burner, the LF-M821JD. The ATAPI drive supports DVD±R DL and DVD-RAM recording. Availability in the Japanese market is scheduled for July 16, priced at 15,000 Yen ($136). The basic specifications of the drive include 16X writing for DVD±R, 4x for DVD±R DL 6x for DVD-RW and 8x for DVD+RW. The drive also supports 5x recording for DVD-RAM.



The Japanese retail package will include the following software:

- Cyberlink PowerDVD 6 (CPRM version) for DVD playback - Cyberlink PowerProducer 3 video editing (CPRM supported) - DVD-Movie Album SE 4.1 editing software for the VR and CPRM content
- B's Recorder GOLD8 BASIC CD/DVD Recording suite
- B's CLiP6 software for packet writing

Panasonic also announced that its first 16x DVD-R media will be in the market middle of July.

Basic specifications:

Seek times:
DVD-RAM 240ms
DVD-ROM 170ms
CD-ROM 200ms

Recording speeds:

5x DVD-RAM (4.7GB)
DVD-R: 16x
DVD-R DL: 4x
DVD-RW: 6x
DVD+R DL: 4x
DVD+RW: 8x
CD-R: 40x
CD-RW: 24x

Reading Speeds:

DVD-R/-RW: 8x
DVD+R/+RW: 8x
DVD-R DL/+R DL:8x
CD-ROM: 40x
DVD-ROM: 8x