Mac peripheral maker MCE Technologies Inc. on Wednesday announced a 2x DVD-Recordable drive upgrade for the PowerBook G4. The drive can burn DVD-R media at up to 2x speed and DVD-RW media at 1x speed, and it can burn single or double-sided DVD-RAM media at up to 2x speed as well.
MCE’s new drive is compatible with Apple’s iTunes, Disc Burner and DVD Player software. It also comes with software that makes it possible to author DVDs that can be played back in most home and computer DVD players — the discs can include customized menus, backgrounds and background music. Also, the drive ships with Roxio’s Toast Lite software for DVD and CD data disc authoring.
The new drive is compatible with all 12-inch, 15-inch and 17-inch PowerBook G4 models. The suggested retail price is US$349, though it costs an extra $40 ($389) for PowerBook G4/400 and 500MHz systems. MCE Technologies requires the upgrade to be handled either by itself or by authorized upgrade centers — the company maintains a list of authorized upgrade centers on its Web site.
MCE plans to beginning shipping the drive in quantity beginning on August 18, 2003.