HP Unveils first DVD+RW Drive
  08/20/2001 1:42:04 AM MDT Albuquerque, Nm
  By Dustin D. Brand; Owner AMO

New DVD Re-Write+ to debut in September.   Hewlett Packard, highly credited for spreading the original CD-RW drives growth has just introduced their DVD+RW Drive.

  The HP DVD-writer dvd100i, will cost est. $599 when it hits store shelves in September, and will be the first commercially available drive based on the DVD+RW standard. The new drive is capable of recording DVD quality video and playing it back on a standard home DVD player. The drive is also capable of erasing the video, copying a new one in it's place, and playing that one back on the home DVD player.

  DVD recording and rewriting is important because a regular CD can only hold at maximum 780 MegaBytes of data - a DVD disc can hold 4.7 GigaBytes of data per side. Many computer manufacturers see this new DVD+RW drive standard as a way to spur sales of computer hardware, although this will not happen until demand spikes while supply spikes further allowing for a much cheaper price than $599.00 US per drive.

  There are 3 competing standards for DVD Recordable drives in the rewritable arena however. The standards are DVD+RW, DVD-RW and DVD-RAM. HP, along with Sony and Philips Electronics, developed the CD rewritable format.

  The DVD+RW standard is backed by HP and also has the support of Dell Computer, Sony, Philips Electronics, Mitsubishi Chemical, Ricoh, Thomson Multimedia and Yamaha. The media for the DVD+RW isn't as expensive as the other standards and is a cheap $15.99 initially per disc.

  HP's new dvd100internal, can write DVD discs at the speed of 2.4x which is comparable to a CD-ROM drive reading at 20x. In addition to DVD writability, the drive will rewrite to CD-R discs at a speed of 12x and to CD-RW discs at a speed of 10x. The drive and discs will be available initially at Best Buy, Circuit City and CompUSA.

  The potential DVD Recordable market is poised to outweigh the CD-RW market, and if the sale of DVD's and DVD player's are any indication, the DVD-Recorder could very well become the must have PC addition. The DVD Player became the fastest growing and selling consumer electronic in the history of consumer electronics.