The Disk Products Division (DPD) of Toshiba America Electronic Components (TAEC) just introduced a new, advanced DVD-RAM drive, the SD-W1111. Based on demand from customers for progressive DVD-RAM drives for imaging and storage applications, Toshiba integrated a larger cache into the drive, giving users higher sustainable transfer rates.

The SD-W1111 DVD-RAM drive employs 2MB of cache to give users significantly improved transfer rates. The larger cache uses a more robust buffering technique, allowing large blocks of data to be read and written to and from the media quickly, giving users the fastest access to their data.

The SD-W1111 reads and writes DVD-RAM media at a fast 1,350KB/sec., reads DVD-ROM media at a rate of 2,700KB/sec. and 2,400KB/sec. (16x speed) for CD-ROM media. The SD-W1111 supports burst transfers in SCSI synchronous mode of 20Mbps. These fast transfers are optimized by the drive’s 2MB buffer. In addition to its fast data transfer capabilities, the SD-W1111 DVD-RAM drive offers fast random access times for quick data delivery. The drive provides a speedy 180ms average random seek when reading DVD-RAM media. Access times vary when reading other types of media.

DVD-RAM drives offer the reliability needed for critical recording environments such as video record-and-playback, security, back-up and data storage. The SD-W1111’s high recording capacities of 2.6GB on a single-sided disc and 5.2GB on a double-sided disc is achieved through wobbled-land-groove recording. The drive is available now in volume to OEMs, systems integrators and distributors at a suggested list pricing of $599.