DVD storage - Product Announcement

Emedia Professional, Jan, 2000

Hitachi Announces DVD-ROM That Reads DVD-RAM and 4.7GB DVD-RAM Drive

Hitachi America, Ltd. has announced that it is shipping its GD-5000 DVD-ROM drive to OEMs and multimedia PC upgrade kit suppliers. With its fifth-generation DVD-ROM drive, Hitachi has added the ability to read DVD-RAM allowing the GD-5000 to read any currently available 120cm optical disc, including all types of CDs and DVD-R. The GD-5000 reads DVD-ROM at 8X and CD-ROM at 40X Max. The ATAPI drive supports burst transfer rates of 33.3MB/sec in Ultra DMA Mode 2. When reading DVD-RAM media, the data transfer rate is 1.38MB/sec. Hitachi sells the GD-5000 drive in volume quantities to computer manufacturers and system integrators for installation in new systems and through distributors for resale as upgrade kits.

Hitachi has also announced that its Digital Media Group has completed development of its 4.7GB DVD-RAM drive for PC applications. The GF-2000 accommodates single- and double-sided DVD-RAM media and complies with the DVD Forum specifications for 4.7GB rewritable DVD format standard. The drive provides read and write compatibility with 2.6GB discs and can play DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-Video, and CD formats. Samples of the GF-2000 are expected to ship this month.

(Hitachi America, Ltd., 2000 Sierra Point Parkway, Brisbane, CA 94005-1835; 650/589-8300; Fax 650/244-7647; http://www.hitachi.com)