Besides their new DVD-R/CD-RW drive, LaCie is also introducing two other new devices — a 24x10x40x CD-RW drive and combination DVD-RAM/R drive — at this week’s National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) trade show in Las Vegas.
One is a 24x10x40x CD-RW drive that incorporates “advanced BURN-Proof” technology and FireWire connectivity, according to Guillaume Mazieres, LaCie’s vice president of sales & marketing. The technology helps eliminate the possibility of buffer overruns and ensure error-free recording at 24x speeds — even when lower-performance personal computers are used, he added. And it lets users burn CDs in the background while working on other applications.
With the ability to write CD-Rs at 3.6 MB/s (24X), the industry’s highest CD recording speed, the LaCie CD-RW 24x10x40 can burn a complete 650MB CD in about 2.5 minutes, he said. The same drive can be used to rewrite CD-RW discs at 1.5 MB/second (10X) — the industry’s fastest rewrite speed, Mazieres said. The LaCie CD-RW drive also provides 40x playback and fast, 150ms access.
LaCie’s 24x10x40x CD-RW can be used with most types of CD-R and CD-RW media, including the latest 16x 700MB CD-R discs, which provide six additional minutes of audio storage or 50MB of data storage, compared to standard 650MB/74-minute CD-R discs. When quality 16X CD-R media is used, it will be checked by the drive and burned at 24X, when possible. If media is not 24X-capable, the drive will automatically downshift to 16X. All LaCie-branded 16X media is 24X compatible.
The CD-RW is available now at an estimated street price of US$399. The LaCie Recording Utilities CD package includes Adaptec Toast 4.1.2 for Macs.
LaCie also previewed a combination DVD-RAM/R drive that incorporates both USB and FireWire connectivity. The new drive incorporates all of the functionality of DVD-RAM and DVD-R drives, including optimum compatibility for media playback on today’s DVD-ROM drives, DVD players and DVD recorders, Mazieres said.
Using 4.7GB DVD-R General media, the Mac compatible drive provides a transfer rate of up to 11.08Mbps. With random-access 4.7GB DVD-RAM media, the drive delivers a data transfer rate of 22.16Mbps. Seek times for DVD-RAM are 75ms and 65ms for DVD-R, DVD-ROM or CD media.
The DVD-RAM bridge technology combines ease of use and the random-access performance of a hard drive with more than 100,000 write/rewrite cycles, according to Mazieres. With random-access, users can access specific files or video frames almost instantly. In addition to writing and reading 2.6GB, 5.2GB, 4.7GB and 9.4GB DVD-RAM media, LaCie’s DVD-RAM/R drive reads from discs currently accepted by CD-ROM, CD Audio, CD-R, CD-RW and video CD drives, as well as DVD-R, DVD-ROM drives.
The LaCie U&I DVD-RAM/R subsystems will be available mid-year through leading distributors and resellers across the country. Starting at $599, the external drives ship complete with cables, software drivers for Mac operating systems, one 4.7GB DVD-R General disc and one 4.7GB DVD-RAM disc. LaCie also offers 4.7GB DVD-R General media at $15 as well as DVD-RAM media at $29 for the single-sided 4.7GB disc, and $49 for the double-sided 9.4GB disc.
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