Plextor Europe sent out a press release this morning, announcing its first external Blu-ray drive. Along with support for both FireWire and USB 2.0, the PX-B920UF features 4x BD-R, 4x BD-R DL and 2x BD-RE writing speeds and is capable of playing back both Blu-ray and HD DVD movies.  The drive will be available through European retailers at the end of this month.

Leading optical drive manufacturer and storage expert Plextor announces its first external ReWriter drive for burning high capacity Blu-ray discs – the PX-B920UF. Offering up to 50GB storage capacity (double layer), the dual-format drive is capable of writing Blu-ray discs at 4x (BD-R) and also plays HD-DVD ROM discs.

This fast drive is ideal for users serious about their storage and movies - and with both USB2.0 and FireWire connectivity, it’s compatible with Mac and PC systems. In addition, Plextor has added extra convenience by including LightScribe technology to enable custom text and designs to be printed/burned onto discs.

Developed from the company’s existing internal range of Blu-ray drives, the technology is experiencing serious demand from high-end users.  Rudy de Meirsman, Sales & Marketing Manager of Plextor Europe, explains: “Blu-ray drives are really taking off as HD movies become popular, availability increases and prices come down. Consumers still want high end, high reliability premium drives as part of their PC/audiovisual setup, despite the economic slowdown.”

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Plextor Europe sent out a press release earlier today, announcing its new external 20x DVD writer. Along with support for both FireWire and USB 2.0, the PX-830UF features 20x DVD±R, 12x DVD±R DL and 12x DVD-RAM writing speeds.

Plextor launches the latest update to its external DVD Rewriter family – the high end Plextor PX-830UF. This fast 20x drive is ideal for all users looking for the latest optical speeds and with both USB2.0 and FireWire connectivity, it is compatible with both Mac and PC systems.

Rudy De Meirsman, Sales & Marketing Manager at Plextor, says: “Fast external drives, such as the 20x Plextor PX-830UF, are particularly useful for laptop users without optical drives, for example the latest small form-factor ultra-portable PCs and the MacBook Air. Plus anyone looking for a reliable drive in their home or office setup.”

Building on the success of the external PX-810UF 18x DVD ReWriter, the PX-830UF offers the latest burning speeds for professional and enthusiast users, through to anyone looking for a stylish addition or upgrade to their home/office set-up. Simply connect the unit using a USB or FireWire cable supplied, and you’re off!

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Intel has begun to ship its new enterprise-class solid-state drives (SSDs). The Intel X-25E Extreme SATA Solid-State Drive features 50nm single-level cell (SLC) NAND flash memory and is capable of 250MB/s read and 170MB/s write speeds. The 32GB capacity drive is in production and is priced at $695. A 64GB version is expected to go into production in the first quarter of 2009.

Intel Corporation has begun shipping its highest-performing solid-state drive (SSD), the Intel® X-25E Extreme SATA Solid-State Drive, aimed at server, workstation and storage systems. Unlike mechanical drives, the SSDs contain no moving parts and instead feature 50nm single-level cell (SLC) NAND flash memory technology. Systems equipped with these drives will not suffer from the performance bottlenecks associated with conventional drives. By reducing the total infrastructure, cooling and energy costs, SSDs can lower total cost of ownership for enterprise applications by more than five times.

“Hard disk drive performance has not kept pace with Moore’s Law,” said Kirk Skaugen, general manager, Intel Server Platforms group. “Intel’s high-performance SSDs unleash the full performance of the latest Intel Xeon processor-based systems while increasing reliability and lowering the total cost of ownership for a broad range of server and storage workloads.”

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Pioneer Electronics sent out a press release this morning, announcing its first Qflix-enabled DVD writers. With the DVR-2920Q and DVR-X162Q, consumers can purchase and download movies directly from the Internet and then create a permanent copy that can be played back on standard DVD players. The two drives also offer 20x DVD±R writing speeds as well as support for features like Pioneer's Optimal Write Speed function.

Advancing the current state of digital downloading for entertainment fans everywhere, Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. today introduces two DVD/CD computer writers featuring Qflix™ DVD Download & Burn technology, enabling users to download their favorite movies directly from the Internet to DVD. As personal computers become media centers for many consumers, the new Pioneer® internal DVR-2920Q and external DVR-X162Q DVD/CD writers allow users to take advantage of this exciting technology while expanding their entertainment collections with a tangible, familiar media that will maintain into the future.

Jointly developed by Pioneer and Sonic Solutions®, Qflix is an emerging DVD technology that gives consumers the opportunity to purchase licensed Hollywood films, and eventually TV shows, from CinemaNow, some of which have previously been unavailable at retail.

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