Samsung has rolled out its fastest DVD burner yet, with the Super-WriteMaster (ha!) SH-S203N running at 20x for DVD±R discs, 16x for dual layer DVD+R variants, 12x for DVD-RAM, and progressively slower for other disc standards. It's all kitted up with a SATA connection standard, and supports LightScribe burning so you know what the hell's on that disc you just burnt. Samsung says this is the fastest dual layer DVD burner out there: we don't know if that's true, but we do know it's faster than our crappy 8x DL burner. Pick it up anywhere from now for $79.99.

Inventing the dual layer DVD-RW standard may seem like an extreme example of too little too late in the days of 15GB+ HD DVD and 25GB+ Blu-ray, but JVC has gone ahead and done it anyway. Hitting up the same 8.5GB capacity as regular double layer DVD-RWs and dual layer DVD-RWs, the JVC discs come with a specially hardened coating which is apparently "150 times" more effective than the coating on plain old DVDs. Unfortunately, the new format requires entirely new burners, is only available at 2x write speeds, and no shipping dates or details are available. Sounds like JVC's got a winner on its hands ... yeah.

Sony has unveiled a new line-up of 830 series DVD burners which somehow have the ability to burn 16x media at 18x speeds, or a whole 4.7GB DVD in around 5 minutes. The new burners come in three different enclosures: firstly, the $90 DRU-830A, a internal drive that comes bundled with Nero 7 authoring software; secondly, the $130 DRX-830U, which is an external drive running off USB 2.0; and finally, the $150 DRX-830UL-T, which comes with Toast 6 Lite and a FireWire port to cater to Mac users. Sony has also announced a new external slimline model called the DRX-S50U -- a $130 drive capable of 8x single-layer DVD writing from inside its diminutive 4/5-inch thick enclosure. Mail-in rebates will be available on the 830 series drives, and all but the Mac-compatible DRX-830UL-T will be available in October -- Mac users will have to wait until December to get their burn on.

So you're thinking of picking up Toshiba's new RD-A1 HD DVD / HDD recorder when it's released on the 14th of July? Nice, only thing is, if you're planning on burning to those supported 30GB HD DVD discs you'll need some media first. Fortunately, Mitsubishi also announced the first dual-layer HD DVD-R discs this morn' set to drop in Japan at the "end of July" for an estimated ¥4,500 (or about $39); hot on the heels of that ¥2,000 (or about $17) single-layer disc's July 5th drop date. Yeah, that's not quite up the 50GB capacity of dual-layer BD, but hey, you've got a 1TB drive in that beast so quit complaining.

[Via Impress]

Lest anyone question their position as king of the Blu-ray mountain, Sony has announced that it has started shipping single-layer 25GB Blu-ray discs, and will begin follow up with 50GB discs in June. Yes, we know that TDK has already announced their own dual-layer discs (and is even working on eight layer 200GB versions), but it looks like Sony may just get their 50 giggers out the door first. Pricing is set at about $20 per disc for the single-layer version and $48 for the 50GB discs. Yes, that's right. The higher-capacity disc will have a higher per-GB price than the single-layer version. Such is the price for burning on the cutting-edge (and, no, we're not even going to try to visualize that horribly mixed metaphor).