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Home Entertainment
If you've been thinking about picking up one of Toshiba's HD DVD players, you might want to hold off a bit. According to High-Def Digest, the company plans to drop the price of its low end player, the HD-A2, to $399, making it cheapest stand-alone high-def solution on the market.
Continuing their aggressive push to lower HD DVD player pricing, Toshiba has announced they will reduce the cost of both of their first-generation decks beginning April 1st.

Beginning next month, the new prices will be as follows:

Toshiba HD-A2: $399 (previously $499)
Toshiba HD-A20: $499 (previously $599)

The manufacturer has also dropped the price of its current best-selling HD-XA2 second-generation HD DVD deck, which now retails for $799 (previously $999).
I'm not sure if cheaper players will give HD DVD the boost it needs, but its definitely a step in the right direction. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here.

Edit: If you can't wait until April 1st, Amazon already has the Toshiba HD-A2 marked down to $357 with free shipping. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment
As many of you know, the FCC has mandated that all TV and video products shipped with an analog TV tuner must also include a digital tuner. To get around this, many manufacturers have decided not to include any tuner at all. Panasonic has announced that they've decided not to take advantage of this "loophole" and will include digital tuners with their 2007 DVD recorder line.
"While many of our competitors have introduced barebones units to avoid the expense of putting digital tuners in their models, we decided not to take that route," Reggiani said. "Not incorporating any tuner at all is an excellent way to comply with the new law but in the end it's a real disservice to consumers."

"Unless the consumer has a DVD recorder with a digital tuner, he or she will need a separate set-top box to be able to record content. In a room without a set-top box the consumer will have to leave their TV on and tuned to the channel when they want to record," Reggiani added. "Our research shows that a great many owners connect their DVD recorders to secondary TVs in bedrooms or dens and use the tuners in the recorders in lieu of buying and/or paying an extra monthly fee for a second or third cable box.
More information, including a list of Panasonic DVD recorders with digital tuners, can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
Plextor Europe sent out a press release this morning, announcing the PX-DB608AL. This new new space-saving solution takes two slim drives and fits them into a single 5.25" drive bay.


Proving that two-into-one does go, Plextor announces the first space-saving Slim line optical drive solution for desktop PCs. The compact 'dual-bay' Plextor PX-DB600 enables two optical slim line drives to be positioned into the space of just one 5.25" drive bay - making it ideal for lifestyle chassis and small form factor Media Center PCs.

Developed from their extensive experience in laptop opticals, the dual-layer multi-format (DVD+/-R and DVD-RAM) Plextor PX-608AL and the dual bay PX-DB600 (combined as the PX-DB608AL) enables greater flexibility and convenience for 'small footprint' PC-owners. For example, users can watch a DVD movie while burning other media to disc, and copy discs directly without saving to the hard disk first.
Take note that the PX-DB608AL includes only one PX-608AL. If you'd like the dual configuration, you will need to pick up a second PX-608AL or some other slim line optical drive. No word on price yet, but our European readers can expect to see the PX-DB608AL on store shelves some time in April. More information is available on Plextor Europe's website. Add a comment

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Other

Lite-On LH-20A1H @Overclockers Online
HP TouchSmart IQ770 PC @HardwareZone
ASRock ALiveNF6G-DVI AMD Socket AM2 Motherboard @Redaktion ocinside.de
EnzoTech Passive RAM And Chipset Cooling @BCCHardware
Logitech VX Revolution Laser Cordless Mouse For Notebooks @The TechZone
Thermaltake Soprano DX PC Case @ThinkComputers.org
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Software
Nero released a new version of Nero 7 this morning. There is no change log yet. However, this new update brings the version count up to 7.8.5.0. If you'd like to check it out, the update can be downloaded here or via BitTorrent. As usual, feel free to share your experiences in our forum. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
DigiTimes has reported that CD-R disc prices have gone up 5-8% since the fourth quarter of 2006. According to their article, the price increase was partly due to Philips' Veeza licencing scheme.
OEM prices for blank CD-R discs have risen 5-8% since the fourth quarter of last year mainly due to Royal Philips Electronics' promotion of it Veeza licensing, but quotes for next quarter will not meet makers' expectations, with prices expected to remain flat, according to leading Taiwanese makers of optical discs.

With leading Taiwanese makers of CD-R discs accepting Veeza last quarter and early this year, large retail players in the US and Europe increased their inventory levels in anticipation of rising prices due to Veeza royalty payments, the sources indicated. The situation pushed up OEM prices of CD-R discs 5-8% this quarter and makers have been producing at full capacity, the sources noted.
Thankfully, it does not look like CD-R disc prices will go up at all next quarter and the OEM price of DVD+R/-R media will actually drop by 3-5%. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment

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Software
Global Technologies Group, Inc. (GTGI) has announced the release of SecureDisc Standalone. According to their press release, this new software gives you the ability to password protect the data on your CDs and DVDs using AES 256-bit encryption. Best of all, it works with most current recorders and does not require specialized media.
Global Technologies Group, Inc. (GTGI) announces the release of their SecureDisc Standalone encryption software, for encryption of data written to DVD and CD. SecureDisc Standalone is an easy to use, drag-and-drop disc encryption recording application and does not require specialized media.

SecureDisc Standalone utilizes the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 256-bit algorithm for on-the-fly encryption. The only way to access encrypted data is with an assigned password and SecureDisc decryption software, which is available at no additional charge.
SecureDisc Standalone is available now for $249. If you'd like to read more, GTGI's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
I-O DATA Japan has announced a new series of drives based on Sony NEC Optiarc's 18x "Super-Multi" drive, the AD-7173A. Along with with support for LabelFlash, these internal and external drives feature 18x DVD±R, 8x DVD±R DL and 12x DVD-RAM writing speeds. Here are some of the specs:



Writing Speeds:
DVD±R: 18x
DVD±R DL: 8x
DVD+RW: 8x
DVD+R DL: 8x
DVD-RW: 6x
DVD-RAM: 12x
CD-R: 48x
CD-RW: 32x

Read Speeds:
DVD-ROM (Single): 16x Max
DVD-ROM (Dual): 12x Max
DVD±R: 16x Max
DVD±RW: 13x Max
DVD±R DL: 12x Max
DVD-RAM: 12X Max
CD-R/ROM: 48x Max
CD-RW: 40x Max
I-O Data's internal (DVR-AN18GLV and DVR-AN18GLVB) and external (DVR-UN18GLV and DVR-UEN18GLV) drives should hit store shelves in early April. More information, including prices, can be found here and here. Add a comment

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Other
Miguel at ExtremeMhz has taken a look at Samsung's new Serial ATA equipped DVD writer, the SH-S183L. Along with 18x DVD±R and 12x DVD-RAM writing speeds, the SH-S183L supports HP's LightScribe technology. Here's a sample of what he had to say about it:
The biggest difference with this new model is its new SATA interface. However, don't expect a significantly higher level of performance with this drive over an IDE model. The biggest impact in performance was certainly the CPU usage. They are, by far, the lowest I've ever seen. This was expected though because an SATAI drive can indeed provide low CPU Usage over IDE. This was apparent is all read tests performed with this drive. Is it worth it? Honestly, the answer is no. For the most part, you'll get just as good performance with one of their older IDE models. Other than CPU usage, the other real benefit is that smaller cable.
Miguel also has some interesting insights about burning DVD's under windows Vista. If you'd like to read more, the entire review can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
According to DigiTimes, Dell and HP are thinking about using 20x DVD writers in their computers. If sales of Vista equipped PC's continue the way it has, Taiwan's drive manufacturers think that 20x DVD burners may become mainstream by the 4Q of 2007.
With Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Dell evaluating the feasibility of adopting half-height 20x DVD burners, and other PC brands already having decided to adopt such burners for market segmentation and the promotion of sales of desktop PCs equipped with Windows Vista in the second quarter, 20x stands a good chance of replacing 16x to become the mainstream writing speed of DVD burners in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to leading Taiwan optical disc drive makers.
The article also mentions that Hitachi-LG Data Storage (HLDS), Toshiba-Samsung Storage Technology (TSST) and Pioneer are preparing to start volume production of 20x DVD burners in the second quarter. If you'd like to read more, head on over to DigiTimes. Add a comment

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