Not to be left out of the huge consumer appetite for multi-media, Palo Alto, Calif.-based computer and printer maker Hewlett-Packard Monday announced it will start shipping its first combination DVD+RW/CD-RW drive.
The HP DVD-writer dvd100i drive, which should retail for $599, is expected to be on U.S. store shelves in September and in some custom-made HP Pavilion home PCs later this year.
The new drives include 2.4x DVD (re-write), 8x DVD (read) speeds; and12x CD-R (write), 10x CD-RW (re-write) and 32x CD (read) speeds.
HP says with the new drive, users can 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, create and play digital music CDs and store large amounts of data safely and securely on both CD and DVD media.
“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, says HP Personal Storage Solutions vice president and general manager John Spofford. “And unlike videotape, the quality will last up to 100 years.”
The dvd100i drive is bundled with HP MyDVD Video by Sonic Solutions, for DVD recording and editing; HP Recordnow by Veritas to make music and data CDs and DVDs; HP DLA 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 to store data.
HP DVD+RW discs also are expected to be available in September at an estimated street price of $15.99.