DVD-Recordables.......................................
newmedia.com
Stop Making Sense
Our comparison this month (see "Rewriting: Simply a Drag") covers CD-RW, the first of a mish-mash of 5-inch optical formats -- DVD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW -- on the way. At Comdex, several companies announced DVD writable drives of varying capabilities. One of the earliest to arrive will be Pioneer New Media's DVD-R-S101 DVD-R drive, a $16,995 bauble that can write DVDs that are readable in any DVD-ROM drive, as well as DVD-video discs compatible with consumer DVD players. Capacity is 3.95GB and blank media are about $50.
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In January, Panasonic will ship the first DVD-RAM drives for the more-earthly price of $799. Hitachi, which made its announcement last summer, should also ship DVD-RAM soon for a similar price. Panasonic's LF-D101 uses cartridges to enclose single or double-sided DVD-RAM discs of 2.6GB ($25) or 5.2GB ($40), respectively. While the double-sided discs can only be read in other DVD-RAM drives, the single-sided discs can be removed from the cartridges and played in new Panasonic DVD-ROM drives, which have DVD-RAM read capability. (There is no guarantee of readability in other companies' DVD-ROM drives.)
Meanwhile, companies like Sony and Philips, which partnered on the CD-RW standard, are working to bring you DVD-RW drives, phase-change drives that will be able to write 3GB DVD-ROM discs as well as rewritable discs. Expect these drives early summer, but don't buy one of the first ones. Second-generation DVD-RW drives should be able to write CD-R media as well, making them backward-compatible with the millions of CD-ROM drives out there. We'll wait until then.... |
