Hmmmm... I thought that Sony's DRU-510A claimed to be "The industry's first multiformat DVD burner". I see from the specs that the Sony drive has the same DVD burner speeds but the CD-R and RW speeds are higher.
Yes, the sony was the first mulitformat, however, Pioneer's other DVD drives were highly regarded. The 06 is their first multiformat drive which is why folks are excited by it. BTW, I believe the current low prices are because the 07 is due to ship soon.