www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9807/02/rewritable.idg -> www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9807/02/rewritable.idg/
The optical storage industry has divided itself into four hostile camps, producing four mutually incompatible disc formats for recordable DVD. The result--a disc using one format won't play on a drive supporting another. Our advice: Wait until the dust settles and one format emerges victorious before you invest. ALSO: 49 Be first on your block with DVD for your PC Toshiba, Hitachi , and Panasonic are all shipping drives supporting DVD-RAM, the first of the four formats to come to market. By the end of this year, you can expect to see drives supporting a second format: DVD+RW, which stands for DVD+Rewritable. DVD+RW drives should cost about the same as their DVD-RAM counterparts, but their vendors--including Hewlett-Packard, Mitsubishi, Philips, Ricoh, Sony, and Yamaha--claim they'll perform up to 50 percent faster. While DVD-RAM and DVD+RW are the likeliest candidates for mainstream success, two high-end rewritable DVD formats are waiting in the wings. By the middle of next year, Pioneer plans to ship a product for the company's new DVD-R/W format. The downside: You can expect to see a price tag of $3000 to $5000 for the player. As its name suggests, MMVF is designed specifically for video; According to analyst Bob Katzive of Disk/Trends, it's too early to tell. He says the format battle will resolve itself in one of two ways: Either optical storage vendors will join together and agree on one universal standard, or the formats will duke it out on the open market. Thus, our word to the wise: If you need an optical storage recorder now, buy a CD-RW drive. But if you can wait, sit tight for 12 months until the confusion over rewritable DVD clears. If you leap in now, the results could prove as useless as a warehouse full of Betamax tapes. Related stories: * 62 Classic films come home in video and DVD editions - June 05, 1998 * 63 Recordable and rewritable CD drives: Permanent, portable storage - May 20, 1998 Latest Headlines * 64 Pakistan begins troop withdrawal from Indian border * 65 White-collar workers in Jakarta join anti-Habibie chorus * 66 Veteran politicians hand over EU reform blueprint * 67 Klan rally in New York fizzles under counterprotests * 68 Falwell hosts summit with gay minister * 69 Critics assail plan to give women addicts money to use birth control * 70 Chemical that could power microbes is found at Jupiter moon * * 71 Texas downs No.
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