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Optical Storage

19 May 2008

Good news for Plextor fans. Shinano Kenshi announced today that it will begin shipping two new Plextor brand 20x DVD writers by the end of May. The PX-820A (PATA) and PX-820SA (SATA) are capable of 20x DVD±R, 12x DVD-R DL, 8x DVD+R DL, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW and 12x DVD-RAM writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 16x. The two drives also feature 48x CD reading and writing speeds, 32x rewriting speeds, a 2MB buffer and support for CPRM.


At this point, it is not clear whether or not the PX-820A and PX-820SA are original Plextor designs. However, going by the lack of advanced features, I'd have to say that they are most likely based on designs from another company such as Pioneer, NEC or LG.

Shinano Kenshi has not announced a price. However, AV Watch expects the PX-820A and PX-820SA to be priced at about 7,000 Yen ($67US) and about 7,500 Yen ($72US) respectively. Add a comment

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Other

16 May 2008

abit I-N73HD GeForce 7100 Motherboard @TweakTown
Alienware Area-51 ALX System @HardwareLogic.com
LaCie Mini Hub 500GB USB 2.0 FireWire External Hard Drive @ThinkComputers.org
Lian Li PC-A09B Classical Series Mid-Tower Case @Benchmark Reviews
Lite-On DX-401S USB 2.0 Blu-ray Drive -TweakTown
NesteQ ECS5001 500w Modular PSU @Virtual-Hideout
NZXT Tempest Mid-Tower ATX Case @Bigbruin.com
Seagate Barracuda ES.2 1TB SAS Hard Drive @HotHardware.com
Vantec NexStar eSata/USB Hard Drive Dock @Futurelooks
XFX 9800 GX2 Black Edition Video Card @I4U

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Hard Disks

16 May 2008

Western Digital recently introduced the My DVR Expander USB Edition. This new 500GB external drive increase the recording capacity of DISH Network's ViP Series HD DVRs by storing up to 300 hours of standard-definition or up to 60 hours of high-definition television programming.

Just in time to make a perfect Father's Day gift, WD (NYSE: WDC) today introduced its new My DVR Expander USB Edition external hard drives that are verified compatible with DISH Network Corporation's (NASDAQ: DISH) ViP Series HD DVRs (digital video recorders). The new 500 GB external drive increases the recording capacity of the DISH HD DVRs by storing up to 300 hours of digital standard-definition (SD) or up to 60 hours of high-definition (HD) television programming1. Users can instantly increase2 their recording storage capacity by simply attaching the My DVR Expander USB Edition drive to their DISH Network ViP Series HD DVRs.

"WD's My DVR Expander provides an ideal complement to the innovative archiving feature of DISH Network's award-winning line of ViP HD DVRs," said Jessica Insalaco, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for DISH Network. "Combined with the already industry-leading storage capacity of our DVRs, DISH Network customers can create and control their own on-demand programming - reinforcing DISH Network's leadership in digital entertainment."

WD's My DVR Expander USB Edition external hard drive is available now for a suggested retail price of $149.99. Full details can be found here. Add a comment

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Flash Memory

15 May 2008

Verbatim Europe sent out a press today, announcing two new USB drives. Along with an updated version of the standard Store ´n´ Go, Verbatim has introduced a new drive aimed at business users. The Store ‘n' Go Executive features 128-bit AES encryption and is capable of 30 Mbyte/s read and 12 Mbyte/s write speeds.

The newly developed Store ´n´ Go generation comes in the colour blue. It combines functionality with a smart design. The Retractable System is the perfect alternative to the tiresome cap of the past. “The Retractable System protects the USB interface and is more convenient for our clients”, explains Hans Christoph Kaiser, Business Development Manager Flash and USB Memory Verbatim EUMEA. Software for secure data encryption and a blue LED-light are part of the package which is all rounded off with a free European Hotline Support telephone number. The support of Microsoft ReadyBoost enables Windows Vista users to work faster. The USB drive is available with capacities from 1GB to 16GB. Weighing just 10 grams, it can read data at a speed of 11 Mbyte/s and write data at 8 Mbyte/s.

The Store ‘n' Go Executive USB drive is the star of the Verbatim USB Range. For business users and professionals who need access to large volumes of data, its 4GB to 16GB storage capacity offers the perfect solution. The Store 'n' Go Executive delivers first-class read and write speeds of up to 200x (30 Mbyte/s) and 80x (12 Mbyte/s). The stylish, silver-colored design with its protective rubber coating looks perfect with any model of laptop or PC. Confidential data is secured to the satisfaction of all professional users thanks to 128-bit AES encryption. With the special design of this Store 'n' Go product range, the USB connection is protected by simply sliding the jack in, making the protective cap obsolete here too.

The Store ´n´ Go Standard and Enterprise are available now in capacities up to 16GB. More information on both drives can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment

15 May 2008

As we reported a few weeks ago, sales of standalone Blu-ray players have been down since January. To find out why, Harris Interactive surveyed 2,529 U.S. adults and found that only 9% owned a Blu-ray player or Playstation 3. Of the rest, only 9% planned on buying a Blu-ray disc player within the next year.

While many people expected sales of Blu-ray disc players to spike when Toshiba decided to drop out of the high-definition HD DVD market in February 2008, according to a new Harris Poll, it seems that the recently resolved high definition format war is not motivating consumers to purchase the advanced DVD players any time soon. The Harris Poll of 2,529 U.S. adults surveyed online between April 7 and 15, 2008 by Harris Interactive found that:

• Ownership of standard DVD players is practically ubiquitous (87%);
• Few report owning Blu-ray disc players (4%), Sony PlayStation 3 (5%), HD DVD players (6%) and the HD-DVD drive for the Xbox 360 (1% have external drive while 9% have an Xbox 360);
• Only nine percent of non-Blu-ray player owners report being likely to purchase a Blu-ray disc player within the next year, even when made fully aware that Blu-ray is considered to be the definitive technology for high definition DVD players going forward;
• Two-thirds of consumers are familiar with the recently resolved high-definition format war (67%) and seven in ten of them have heard that Blu-ray is the unofficial winner (69%);
• Nearly a quarter (23%) of those aware of the format war report that they had been waiting for the rivalry to play itself out before purchasing a high definition player, but by April they had yet to do so;

While research groups can forecast all they want, surveys like this show that its going to be some time before Blu-ray replaces the DVD. If you'd like to read more, Harris Interactive entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Other

14 May 2008

Aeneon XTune 2GB DDR2-1142 Dual Channel Memory Kit @Bigbruin.com
EVO-G MP1 Mousepad @HardwareLogic
NZXT Tempest @Phoronix
OCZ SATA-II 32GB 2.5-Inch SSD OCZSSD2-1S32G @Benchmark Reviews
Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 Toxic @ASE Labs
Ultra X3 800Watt Modular Power Supply @Tweaknews.net
Zalman FPS Gun Gaming Mouse @BCCHardware

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Optical Storage

14 May 2008

IDC has released a new study, analyizing the optical storage market for 2005-2007 and providing a forcast for 2008-2012. According to their findings, Blu-ray adoption will gain momentum 2009. However, DVD burners will continue to dominate the market until 2012.

Overall PC market growth, driven by portable PCs, will give the worldwide CD/DVD market a moderately positive outlook in 2008 and lead to increased demand for slim drives. Despite the ramp of Blu-ray drives, DVD burners will continue to be the leading volume product until 2012. However, as the PC market's adoption of DVD burners becomes saturated and increasingly commoditized, Blu-ray adoption will accelerate in 2009 and Blu-ray drives will become the majority of the total market value in 2012.

"DVD burners will remain the bread-and-butter business for ODD vendors," said Wolfgang Schlichting, research director, Removable Storage at IDC. "Despite Blu-ray's win over HDD in the format war, Blu-ray drive adoption will be limited in 2008 because of their high price and only moderate consumer interest."

If you'd like to read more, the IDC's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Other

13 May 2008

In Win B2 Stealth Bomber Mid Tower Case @TweakTown
Lian Li PC-P80R ATI/AMD Spider Series Case @Hi-Tech Reviews
Maxtor OneTouch 4 Plus 1TB External Hard Drive @ThinkComputers.org
PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 860 PSU @TweakPC
Samsung T220 22" LCD Monitor @InsideHW
Sapphire Toxic 512MB Radeon HD3870 Graphics Card @Bigbruin.com
Sungju TangoX Nano @VIA Arena

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Optical Storage

13 May 2008

Falcon Technologies International (FTI) sent out a press release today, announcing its line of FalconMedia Pro Century media. These new CD-R and DVD-R discs feature FTI's hard coat technology as well as a specially-optimized 24k Gold reflective layer that offers ultra-long achival lifespans.

Falcon Technologies International (FTI), the leading manufacturer of optical data storage discs for professional and archival applications, today introduced a complete line of FalconMedia Pro Century Gold CD-R and DVD-R media with specially-optimized 24k Gold reflective layer designs and formulations that offer ultra-long 300 and 100 year archival lifespans, respectively, based on accelerated aging tests.

Like all FTI media, the discs deliver best-in-class recording performance and reliability. The discs' long archival capabilities make them the ideal solutions for a wide variety of applications, including the preservation of important documents such as company and government records, photographs and video files.

FalconMedia Pro Century discs are available now in spindles of 10 or 25, with optional inkjet and thermal printable surfaces. Full details can be found here. Add a comment