Price Guides February 2004: Magnetic and Optical Storage
by Kristopher Kubicki on February 25, 2004 4:19 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
We just got into tracking optical drives with our tracking engine, so do not be offended if we did not include your particular drive of preference. Recordable DVD drives have undergone immense changes since February of 2003. We effectively quadrupled our speed in a relatively short period of time. Let us not forget that 12X DVD+R drives are very close to an announcement with 16X DVD+R very close behind.
We have two choices for drives this week. Our first drive option is the Plextor 708A. This drive stunned us all as one of the first drives with 8X DVD+R capabilities. Reliable performance and a good price also contributed to our affinity for the drive. However, we should not neglect another favorite of ours, the NuTech DDW-081. The DDW-081 was not originally capable of DVD-R write, but after several months of research and programming, NuTech finally got it right and released a public firmware upgrade. You can check out the firmware here. Kudos to both Plextor and NuTech.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
6 Comments
View All Comments
KristopherKubicki - Sunday, February 29, 2004 - link
MadAd i will look into adding this.Kristopher
MadAd - Thursday, February 26, 2004 - link
I think a column indicating price per gigabyte would be helpful addition to the magnetic storage chart, giving your table an 'at a glance' sweet spot record of the price data already listed.artifex - Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - link
It'd be really nice to have the +-R(W) status of each item on the DVDR list, without having to click on the individual names.Also, you might point out that drives are one of the few areas where it may pay to shop locally, as stores like Fry's and Best Buy and others frequently carry rebates for Maxtor, Western Digital, and now Hitachi (Deathstars, anyone?).
Last year I was typically getting my 160GB 8MB Maxtor IDE drives for around $80-90 after rebate, and this year so far I've bought a 180GB Deathstar for what should be around $70, assuming the rebate ever comes...
LoneWolf15 - Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - link
Just a note to folks looking into the DVD drive market...I recently bought the NEC 2500A listed, from NewEgg. If you're a newbie, you might find its lack of documentation and bundled software a problem, but for everyone else, an 8x -R /8x +R DVD burner is a steal at that price. I have yet to burn a coaster, or a disc that I couldn't read in a decent DVD player or drive. And, it's whisper quiet. I'm a happy camper.KristopherKubicki - Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - link
oops... fixed :-pPrinceGaz - Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - link
On page 1 "...Matrox recently disclosed its unbridged SATA drives at IDF"Unless Matrox really have expanded from the graphics-card market, I think that should be Maxtor :)