DVD-ROM kits -- Samsung, Diamond, and DynaTek..........
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I Want My DVD
(09/09/97) -- If you simply can't wait another minute for DVD, you'll
want to consider three new DVD-ROM upgrade kits priced way
below the $1,000 drives that debuted last winter. These kits, which
are being offered by Diamond (800-468-5846), DynaTek
(800-461-0052), and Samsung (800-933-4110), include the drive,
drivers, a PCI-based MPEG-2 decoder board with Dolby Digital
(AC-3) audio, and a wide array of DVD titles.
From Samsung comes the SDR-130 ($400 to $600 street price).
Representing the second generation of DVD drives, the SDR-130
offers a fast 220-ms access time. More notable, though, is the fact
that this generation of DVD drives now supports the playback of
CD-R media in addition to the standard CD, CD-ROM, CD-RW,
and DVD formats.
DynaTek's new DVD471TII kit ($580 street price) features a DVD
drive with a 200-ms access time. The kit includes audio
pass-through for playing CD/DVD audio through a pre-existing
sound card.
Meanwhile, Diamond's Maximum DVD Kit($600 street price)
features Toshiba's DVD-ROM drive, which also has a 200-ms
access time. The adapter card features TV-out support for both
composite video and S-VHS. It also has a VGA pass-through
design, which offers compatibility with your system's pre-existing
graphics accelerator. -- Toni F. Kistner |
