CD-RW drive packs more data - Reviews - Hardware - Storage

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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CD-RW drive packs more data

April 16, 2003
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/reviews/hardware/storage/soa/CD-RW-drive-packs-more-data/0,139023427,120273767,00.htm

CD-RW drive packs more data

Plextor has announced a new CD-rewritable drive that can squeeze 40 percent more data into standard blank discs.

The PlexWriter Premium can pack 980MB of data into a 700MB (80-minute) disc and 1.2GB into an 880MB (99-minute) disc, according to the CD gear maker. It does so using the GigaRec option in the bundled PlexTools Professional software, working with the drive's hardware.

Compression is achieved by burning smaller-than-normal pits into the surface of a blank disc--up to 40 percent smaller, thus allowing it to pack in 40 percent more data, according to enthusiast sites.

Fremont, California-based Plextor did not give details on the process, and could not be reached for comment.

Such "compressed" discs may not be playable on CD drives, however. Because of the special nature of the pits, a standard drive's laser may not be able to read them properly.

The CD-RW drives are expected ship in worldwide in May at an undisclosed price. The Premium line will ship as a standard internal IDE drive and as an external USB 2.0 (Universal Serial Bus 2.0) unit. They will feature 52x read and write-once speeds, and a 32x speed for rewritable media.

For some time now, enthusiasts have been able to make use of between 10 percent and 20 percent more data than the rated capacity of a disc by "overburning," or writing data onto portions of a discs normally left untouched. However, such discs often cannot be read by drives.