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 Introduction
Editors' Choice
Changing of the Guard
Recordable DVD
Competing Standards
Bundled Software
Label it Like a Pro
Performance Tests
Summary of Features
Reviews
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CD-R and CD-RW Drives AND THE WINNER IS... There may be big money to be made in handicapping this particular race. The brave talk by the players about room for multiple standards may just be whistling in the dark. Just as VHS eventually won out over Beta (at least in the consumer market), buyers are likely to settle on a single technology eventually. But how are you going to pick the winner from this field? It's important to sift through the competing claims. The DVD+RW camp states it has the advantage, because existing DVD player designs would only require simple modifications to be able to read DVD+RW disks. But according to DVD-RAM proponents, the modifications required to play a DVD-RAM disk on a DVD player should not be significantly more expensive to implement than those for DVD+RW compatibility, even though those modifications are more complex.
Another claim is that the DVD-RAM specification cannot hold a full-length movie on one side. DVD-RAM companies counter that argument by demonstrating blue-laser recording technologies that have already achieved recording densities that could put 15GB on a single-sided DVD-RAM disk. Though blue-laser technology is years away from practical deployment in consumer products, Matsushita has demonstrated 4.7GB-per-side capacities using existing red-laser technology and predicts that such drives will be available by 2000. A look at similar conflicts in the past indicates there are two factors that are even more important for gaining market share than superior technology: price and availability. There are many market-leading products that may not be technically better than competing designs, but they are priced low enough to be affordable, and they've come to market far enough ahead of the competition that the rest of the pack has never caught up. It is generally accepted that the DVD-RAM camp will be the first to put products on the shelves. We were promised production units of DVD-RAM drives for testing as part of this story, and while none of the companies managed to make good on those promises, there are strong signs that the products may be available by the time you read this. In contrast, DVD+RW drives won't be ready until later in 1998. If the delay is too long, DVD-RAM may establish a beachhead: an installed base large enough that the other formats may not be able to catch up. And then there's price. Matsushita (Panasonic) has already announced it intends to price its DVD-RAM drives at $799 list, with double-sided 5.2GB media set to sell for $39.95 each, and 2.6GB disks for $24.95 (which works out to less than a penny per megabyte). The drive will cost a lot more than a CD-R, CD-RW, or high-capacity tape drive, but it won't be too much more expensive than DVD-ROM drives are currently. Prices haven't been announced for drives using the other formats, but it appears that the DVD-RAM companies are ready to be aggressive on pricing to capture market share early. So if you're a bird-in-the-hand buyer who is willing to take some risk in order to avoid delayed gratification, DVD-RAM appears to be the only game in town for the moment. If you're the more cautious type who prefers to wait for the dust to settle and let other, more pioneering purchasers decide who the winners will be, you may need to wait at least a year for all the players to make it to market. In the meantime, buy a recordable CD drive and pocket the change.
From the March 10, 1998 issue of PC Magazine |
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Copyright (c) 1998 Ziff-Davis Inc. |
