Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HWP) today announced plans to ship its first combination DVD+RW/CD-RW drive. The drive allows novice to expert users to easily create personalized rewritable DVDs and CDs from digital or analog video, data and photos at home or in the office.
Easy to install inside a PC, the HP DVD-writer dvd100i drive enables users to create DVDs from their own videos using the DVD+RW format. Users also can transfer analog or digital video directly from a camcorder or VCR to a DVD disc(1), create and play digital music CDs and store large amounts of data safely and securely on both CD and DVD media.
“Using the premier DVD+RW standard, this drive will change the way people create and share their precious video memories,” said John Spofford, vice president and general manager, HP Personal Storage Solutions. “With this drive, consumers can safely store large amounts of information, explore new ways to create custom video and music discs and share those discs with almost anyone who owns a DVD video player or DVD-ROM drive. And unlike videotape, the quality will last up to 100 years.”
The HP DVD-writer dvd100i drive is bundled with HP MyDVD Video by Sonic Solutions, a direct-to-DVD solution for DVD recording and editing that provides consumers with an easy, step-by-step method to transform home videos into interactive DVDs.(1) Also included is HP Recordnow by Veritas to quickly and simply make custom music and data CDs and DVDs; HP DLA(2) to drag and drop files to CD or DVD directly from any application; Power DVD by Cyberlink to play DVD movies on PCs; and, HP Simple Backup(2) to store critical data reliably.
The HP DVD-writer dvd100i drive offers the following technical specifications:
— IDE/ATAPI DVD+RW/CD-RW drive with buffer underrun protection technology;
— 2.4x DVD (re-write), 8x DVD (read) speeds; and
— 12x CD-R (write), 10x CD-RW (re-write) and 32x CD (read) speeds.
Availability and Pricing
The HP DVD-writer dvd100i drive is expected to be available in the United States in September at Best Buy, Circuit City, Comp USA and other retail outlets at an estimated U.S. street price of $599(3). HP also plans to include DVD+RW/CD-RW combination drives in selected configure-to-order and HP Pavilion home PCs later this year.
HP DVD+RW discs also are expected to be available in September at an estimated street price of $15.99(3).
