Details
Optical Storage
Pioneer Europe has officially announced their new series of 20x DVD writers. The DVR-115D, DVR-215D and DVR-215 are capable of 20x DVD±R and 10x DVD±R DL writing speeds and feature Pioneer's Disc-Resonance Stabiliser technology. The DVR-215 ups the ante further with support for 12x DVD-RAM writing speeds.

The DVR-115D is a dual-format ATAPI DVD writer (writing to DVD-R/+R, DVD-RW/+RW and CD-R/RW media). Also available are two SATA drives: the DVR-215D writes to an identical range of media as the DVR-115D whilst the DVR-215 is a multi-format unit that adds DVD-RAM writing capabilities.

All models offer read-support for DVD-RAM discs and the ability to write at 20X speed on DVD-R/+R discs. They include our original technologies to enhance reading and writing performance and are available in three colours, beige, black and silver.
As usual, Pioneer is reserving a special drive for the Japanese market. Along with a nicer looking bezel, the DVR-A15J supports LabelFlash and Pioneer's new PowerRead and PURE READ technologies. Both of these technologies are designed to cope with discs that may be scratched or dirty and, in the case of PURE READ, deliver the best music quality possible. Add a comment

Details
Optical Storage
Samsung sent out a press release this morning, announcing their latest optical drive, the TruDirect SE-S204S. With this new drive, consumers can connect a digital device such as a camcorder or digital camera to their PC and burn videos or photos to DVD in real-time.

Samsung Electronics Ltd., the worldwide digital consumer electronics and information technology leader, introduces a powerful new optical disc drive, TruDirect SE-S204S, which allows consumers to create DVDs and burn digital content through a PC without the need for a hard drive. The TruDirect SE-S204S provides easy and fast real-time recording from nearly any digital device.

With camcorder and digital camera sales skyrocketing, predicted to be nearly 100 million units sold in 2008, consumers can now conveniently create DVDs in record time. Similar to VCR recording, users can connect a digital device such as a camcorder, digital camera or Web cam to their PC or notebook, and then connect the Samsung TruDirect SE-S204S to the computer to burn DVD movies directly.
The TruDirect SE-S204S can also function as an external DVD writer and is capable of 20x DVD±R, 16x DVD+R DL and 12x DVD-RAM writing speeds. The drive is shipping with a street price of $159.99. More information can be found here. Add a comment

Details
Other

AMD ATI Radeon HD 3870 And HD 3850 @Chilehardware,HotHardware
A-DATA Classic PD18 2GB @Phoronix
Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound @HardwareLogic
ECS P35T-A Motherboard @Virtual-Hideout
Icydock MB663 2.5-inch Internal/External Hard Drive Enclosure @ThinkComputers.org
Kingwin KF-4000-BK 4-Bay Hot Swap SATA Drive Rack @Bigbruin.com
LG L204WT 20.4" Widescreen LCD Monitor @ThinkComputers.org
LG L226WTQ 22" LCD Monitor @Review Spring
OCZ DDR3 PC3-12800 Titanium With XMP @TweakTown
PowerColor Radeon HD 3850 Xtreme @NGOHQ.com
Add a comment

Details
Home Entertainment
Sales of the PlayStation 3 have more than doubled in the weeks following a $100 price cut and the launch of a lower-priced version of the console. According to Reuters, sales rose to 75,000 in the week of Oct. 29 and more than 100,000 in the following week.
U.S. sales of Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 (PS3) more than doubled in the weeks following a price cut and the launch of a lower-priced version, the company said on Friday, in a sign of changing fortunes for the game console.

Sony said it sold about 75,000 PS3 consoles in the week of October 29 in the United States, and more than 100,000 in the following week, compared with weekly sales of 30,000 to 40,000 before.

Sony cut the U.S. price of its PS3 with an 80-gigabyte hard disk drive by 17 percent to $499 in mid-October. It started selling a new model with a 40-GB hard drive on November 2 for $399 in an effort to ignite demand ahead of the crucial holiday season.
While these price cuts have given PS3 sales a much needed boost, it still has a long way to go to catch up to the Wii and Xbox 360. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

Details
Other
The DVD Forum held their 40th Steering Committee meeting earlier this week. Among other things, the group approved the logo for the China HD DVD format as well as version 2.0 of the physical specifications for the triple-layer 51GB HD DVD-ROM disc. Here are some of the highlights from the meeting:
  • Approval of
    DVD Specifications for High Density Read-Only Disc [HD DVD-ROM (51G)] Part 1 Physical Specifications, Version 2.0
  • Approval of
    Logo/Mark for China HD DVD Format
  • Approval of
    Be it resolved: That representative companies of the DVD Forum on the License Enforcement Committee specified in the China HD DVD Format and Logo License Agreement be; 1. Members of the DVD Forum Steering Committee, 2. Selected by vote of the Steering Committee following each SC election for a 2 year term, 3. Collectively represent industry segments including content publishing, consumer electronics, and information technology.
  • Approval of
    CHINA HD DVD FORMAT/LOGO LICENSE AGREEMENT (FLLA) with the following conditions:
    1. Territorial Restriction Plan agreement
    2. Forum counsel finalizing the language for FLLA, which will include the resolution of LEC membership
  • Approval of
    -HD DVD-VR Recorder for HD DVD-RW Test Specification, Version 1.0
    -HD DVD-VR Recorder for DVD-R/RW/RAM Test Specification, Version 1.0
If you'd like to read more, the Steering Committee's entire list of resolutions can be found here. Add a comment

Details
Optical Storage
Philips announced this week that they will be reducing the royalty rate for CD Rewritable discs by 44% from USD 0.045 to USD 0.025 per disc. The reduction shall be valid from the 4th quarter of 2007 and will be available to licensees who are in full compliance with Philips' terms and conditions.
Royal Philips Electronics announces today that it will reduce the royalty rate for compliant licensees in the CD Rewritable discs license program by 44% from USD 0.045 per disc to USD 0.025 per disc.

The reduction shall be available to all licensees who are in full compliance with the terms and conditions of their license agreement with Philips. The reduction shall initially be valid from the 4th quarter of 2007.
If you'd like to read more, Philips' entire announcement can be found here. Add a comment

Details
Other

AirLive WMU-6500FS Wireless Hard Drive @HardwareLogic
Antec Veris MX-1 Actively Cooled Hard Drive Enclosure @Futurelooks
ASUS Radeon HD 3870 512MB G-DDR4 @TweakTown
Galaxy 8600GE Overclocking Adventure @Madshrimps
OCZ ATV Turbo Flash 4GB Drive @Virtual-Hideout
Add a comment

Details
Optical Storage
Good news for American Blu-ray fans. Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions (PLDS) USA has announced that the DH-4O1S Blu-ray BD-ROM drive will be available through retail outlets in the U.S. in late November at a suggested list price of $199.99.

Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions (PLDS) USA, proudly introduce its first internal BD-ROM (Blu-ray Disc Reader) drive to the market. The new Lite-On DH-4O1S is the perfect all-in-one disc reading device for most popular media formats including Blu-ray Disc, DVD and CD discs. The DH-4O1S Blu-ray BD-ROM drive will be available at retail outlets in late November with an affordable suggested list price of $199.99.

“With the increasing availability of Blu-ray Disc movies and other video content, consumers now have an affordable way to view the brilliant picture quality Blu-ray technology offers right on their personal computers,” says Christine Hsing, Marketing Manager at PLDS. “Beyond that, the BD-ROM can serve as a playback device to their HD TVs by connecting an HDMI cable from the PC to the TV. This would save consumers hundreds of dollars on the purchase of a standalone Blu-ray player solely for that purpose,” Ms. Hsing added.

The DH-4O1S BD-ROM retail pack comes with an extra silver bezel to match some computers, and a SATA cable for easy connection. Also included in the package is the latest Cyberlink Power DVD software for playback of Blu-ray disc media, DVD, or CD multi-media content.
If things go as planned, we should have a review of the DH-4O1S in the coming weeks. In the mean time, PLDS USA's entire announcement can be found here. Add a comment

Details
Optical Storage
PC Advisor has reported that PLDS (Philips Lite-On Digital Solutions) plans to introduce a read-only Blu-ray drive in time for the holidays. According to the article, the DH-4O1S is able to read both single and dual layer Blu-ray media at 4x and is backwards compatible with most CD and DVD formats.
PLDS (Philips Lite-On Digital Solutions) says the world’s first BD-ROM (Blu-ray DVD-ROM) drive will be a versatile read-only device capable of reading every major optical disc type. As well as Blu-ray discs, the PLDS DH-401S will be able to access and read content from any DVD+/-R and DVD+/-RW drive and any type of CD-R/RW media.

Jelmer Veldman, marketing manager for PLDS Europe, explained that because it is a read-only device, the Philips-Lite-On partnership was able to keep retail costs down. They hope the probably price tag of £125 will entice consumers to swap their existing PC CD-ROM drives for the DH-401S Blu-ray drive.
While I applaud PLDS for introducing a read-only Blu-ray drive, the £125 ($258US) price tag is still a bit high for consumers, especially when they can get a Blu-ray combo drive for nearly the same price. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

Details
Other

ASUS P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP@n @InsideHW.com
Asus Xonar U1 Dolby USB Sound Card @Everything USB
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS4 Motherboard @Virtual-Hideout
Gigabyte Volar CPU Cooler @ThinkComputers.org
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6950 @ChileHardware
Logitech G15 2007 Programmable LCD Gaming Keyboard @Benchmark Reviews
Microsoft SideWinder Mouse @Metku.net
Rosewill RDF-670B 7" Widescreen Digital Photo Frame @Bigbruin.com
Scythe Kama Connect 2 Adapter @NGOHQ.com
Ultra HDD Cooler @BCCHardware
Add a comment

Latest Reviews

Latest Headlines

Latest Forum Threads