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  • HP launches new DVD writers

    This looks interesting:

    press release

    HP Launches Easy-to-use DVD Writers
    First External Drive and New DVD+R Write-once Feature Make Home Video Editing a Snap
    PALO ALTO, Calif., March 11, 2002


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HWP) today announced it will ship its latest super combination DVD writers, which allow customers to create and share custom CDs and DVDs using video, digital images, music and data.

    The HP DVD Writer dvd200i, a powerful internal drive, and the HP DVD Writer dvd200e, HP's first external DVD writer, include features making them very easy for consumers to use and enabling the creation of DVDs by notebook PC owners.

    Now, consumers can safely save their cherished memories -- everything from photos to custom-made home movies(1) -- with the confidence that they can't be erased or copied over. This new protection is made possible by the drives' support for the new DVD+R format. Additionally, DVD+R discs offer increased compatibility with most existing and future DVD-ROM drives and DVD video players.

    According to a recent IDC report,(2) DVD writer shipments are expected to grow from 3.9 million units this year to 35 million in 2005. While consumers use rewritable DVD for a variety of applications, a primary benefit of HP's new products will be simplifying the transfer and editing of home video. In fact, in a recent HP consumer survey, 66 percent of respondents indicated video applications were the primary appeal of DVD writers.

    "The idea of sending video highlights of a child's soccer game to Grandma on a personalized DVD really arouses consumer passion for DVD writers," said Dean Sanderson, product portfolio manager, HP Customer Business Organization, North America. "As such, we are bundling with our DVD writers software that gives customers a quick and simple way to edit movie clips and allows anyone to produce great video."

    Also included with the drive is the latest MyDVD software by Sonic Solutions that offers powerful Edit-on-DVD technology, making it simple to change content already on a DVD+RW disc without going through the time-consuming process of rewriting an entire disc.

    To support the variety of ways consumers use DVD writers, these new drives can write to several different media formats, including DVD+RW/+R and CD-R/RW. And, with the industry's fastest write speeds, the HP DVD Writer 200 series burns those discs quickly --allowing consumers to write three hours of video to a DVD in less than 30 minutes. (3) The drives offer speeds of 2.4x (write), 2.4x (rewrite) and 8x (read). In addition, CD recording is simple and fast with 12x CD-R (write), 10x CD-RW (rewrite) and 32x CD (read) speeds.

    Furthermore, the HP DVD Writer dvd200e drive allows customers to choose a connection type -- either IEEE 1394 or USB 2.0 -- with the flip of a switch, making it easy to install and share the drive on a desktop or notebook PC.

    Pricing and Availability

    The HP DVD Writer dvd200i drive is expected to be available at major retail outlets in the United States by mid-April at an estimated U.S. street price of $499.(4)

    The HP DVD Writer dvd200e drive is expected to be available at major U.S. computer retail outlets in May at an estimated U.S. street price of $599.(4)

    HP DVD+RW discs are currently available nationwide at an estimated U.S. street price of $10.99. HP DVD+R discs are expected to be available in April at an estimated street price of $5.99. At the same time, HP also will release a three-pack of DVD+RW discs at an estimated U.S. street price of $25.99 and a five-pack of DVD+R discs at an estimated U.S. street price of $27.99.

    About DVD+RW/+R

    DVD+RW/+R is the leading format for consumers storing video, music, images and data to DVD discs. The benefits of DVD+RW/+R include: the capability of recording up to 4.7 gigabytes of digital video, images, music or data -- this equates to the storage capacity of nearly seven CD-R/RW discs and the potential to store thousands of digital photographs or approximately two hours of digital video; two-way compatibility that allows DVD+RW and DVD+R discs to be played in most DVD-video players and DVD-ROM drives in use today; and support for write-once DVD+R capability, which protects information from being accidentally changed or deleted.
    - Mark

    Core 2 Duo E6400 o/c 3.2GHz - Asus P5B Deluxe - 2048MB Corsair Twinx 6400C4 - ATI AIW X1900 - Seagate 7200.10 SATA 320GB primary - Western Digital SE16 SATA 320GB secondary - Samsung SATA Lightscribe DVD/CDRW- Midiland 4100 Speakers - Presonus Firepod - Dell FP2001 20" LCD - Windows XP Home

  • #2
    Has anyone actually documented the "superior" DVD deck compatability of DVD+R yet?

    If not very convincing the DVD-R/RAM drives sound like a beter deal because of their transparent usage as a system drive with DVD-RAM media, even given minor speed differences.

    Dr. Mordrid
    Dr. Mordrid
    ----------------------------
    An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

    I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

    Comment


    • #3
      All one has to do is visit the Google NewsGroups and perform a search on the DVD+RW term and the result is a hoard of messages from irate purchasers who have been advised there will be no firmware upgrade to allow their drives to support the DVD+R discs.

      There are also several messages from disappointed users who say their discs were not recognized in as many DVD players as discs from other drives that produce DVD-RW discs!

      At least, that was my impression from watching the newsgroups very carefully.

      I was amazed because I thought the DVD+ formats were promised as being more compatible than DVD-R... yet that's not what is being reported by users.

      Jerry

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      • #4
        I have a hunch that it will be a while before DVD R discs play reliably in DVD players. It's a shame. If the industry wasn't so worried about people copying DVD's I'm sure something would have been worked out by now. The last link in the video editing chain is to be able to create DVDs that work reliably in DVD players.

        Anyway, I'm more interested in these new DVD recorders from HP for their ability to burn both DVD's and CD's. If they create "more readable" DVD R's, all the better.

        I've got an awful lot of CD's lying around that could be condensed onto many less DVD's.
        - Mark

        Core 2 Duo E6400 o/c 3.2GHz - Asus P5B Deluxe - 2048MB Corsair Twinx 6400C4 - ATI AIW X1900 - Seagate 7200.10 SATA 320GB primary - Western Digital SE16 SATA 320GB secondary - Samsung SATA Lightscribe DVD/CDRW- Midiland 4100 Speakers - Presonus Firepod - Dell FP2001 20" LCD - Windows XP Home

        Comment


        • #5
          The $$$/MB of the media doesn't make much sense to me for data.

          For the price of the drive alone you could buy 1394 drive and copy all your CDs to it and have plenty of cash left over.

          Recently, 1394 Hard drive kit $99.95 (actually 1394 and USB1.1)
          WD 120GB drive $189. The volume of the drive and enclosure is a good bit less than the ~24 DVD-X media and cases it's take to hlod this much data.

          Whats the cost of a DVD-burner and enough blanks to hold ~120GB?

          Video is the only way to justify these things for me, and without compatability in existing players its like SVCD, fun to play with, but of no real value.

          --wally.

          Comment


          • #6
            Burning DVD video's makes the expense of the burner moot as it then becomes more than a single purpose device.

            Given that DVD-r blanks are now often seen at about $2-3 each and taking the average of $2.50 each;

            120gigs/4.7gigs per blank x $2.50 = $64.83 USD

            That's a lot cheaper than using a $189 HDD to store 120 gigs in my book.

            Lowest price I've seen: $2.29 per 4.7 gig CD-R in a 25 pack for $57.25. That's 117.5 gigs of storage.

            Prices: http://store.yahoo.com/cdrdvdrmedia/

            Dr. Mordrid
            Last edited by Dr Mordrid; 12 March 2002, 12:10.
            Dr. Mordrid
            ----------------------------
            An elephant is a mouse built to government specifications.

            I carry a gun because I can't throw a rock 1,250 fps

            Comment


            • #7
              Doc beat me to the math but I'm am in line with his thoughts. In addition, I would rather archive my projects to a relatively small CD folder than on a hard drive. I think that DVD's are more reliable than a hard drive, especially after a few years. One drop of the hard drive and, "POOF" all gone!
              - Mark

              Core 2 Duo E6400 o/c 3.2GHz - Asus P5B Deluxe - 2048MB Corsair Twinx 6400C4 - ATI AIW X1900 - Seagate 7200.10 SATA 320GB primary - Western Digital SE16 SATA 320GB secondary - Samsung SATA Lightscribe DVD/CDRW- Midiland 4100 Speakers - Presonus Firepod - Dell FP2001 20" LCD - Windows XP Home

              Comment


              • #8
                I've had far more "poof its all gone" with all manner of optical media than hard drives.

                I'm accumlating quite a collection of audio CD-R that played fine and suddenly won't play at all. Same for mp3 data CD's I use in my portable mp3 CD player. CD-RW and packet writing is totally unreliable, especially if you try to write a single disk in multiple burners.

                All flavors of DVD writable storage are unproven.
                If you believe, fine, but in my experience the best way to back up a hard drive is by copying the data to another hard drive, its not the cheapest, but my actual experience has been that all the alternatives are less reliable. Things like Jaz and Zip are near the bottom of the list despite being magnetic instead of optical.

                The price of hard drives has come down to the point where IMHO if your data is worth backing up, its worth backing up to multiple hard drives instead of slightly cheaper, but less reliable alternatives.

                Real backup doesn't start until you've got copies is physically distinct locations so a single flood/fire/disaster event doesn't wipeout all copies.

                Don't underestimate the problems caused by having your backups held hostage by propritary backup file formats.

                I only care about DVD-R DVD-RW DVD+RW DVD+R for video
                and so far I've not been satisified with compatability in standalone players. If DVD+R really is "more compatible" than DVD-R IMHO its got a bright future, if its not, it'll die quickly.

                --wally.

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