29-11-99 |
CD Media Info |
Added CD Info/Pictures: |
The TDK CD-R80 & Philips CD-R80 are the first quality 80 minutes CD-R's. Until now they were only made by the low-budget CD-R factories.
MediaDisc is a new CD-R manufacturer from England. They claim that their CD-R's are made using Philips licensed hardware (so their CD-R's are not made by Philips). The MediaDisc CD-R74 High-Grade/Multi Speed is certified for 1x-8x speed and also seems to work fine at 12x speed! |
Mambo X Portable MP3 CD-Player |
A few weeks ago Tagram System Corporation introduced the Mambo X P300 Portable MP3 CD-Player. It can play both regular Audio CDs and MP3 file format CDs
Because the Mambo X is using a Durable Laser Reader (DLR) decoder, it is also able to read CD-ReWritable media! The DLR decoder also supports Sub-Directory Readable (SDR) technology which accepts MP3 music in sub-directory and long filenames.
For more details read the Mambo X Press Release.
Availability: November 1999
Suggested Retail Price: US$ 179 |
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CD-R, Audio & MP3 Software Releases |
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Misc News |
Yamaha 8424S CDR-W review @ CDR-Info |
Overall the Yamaha 8424s is the best Yamaha CDR-W ever tested.. It writes at 8x and rewrite them at 4x without any problems.. Even non-certified 8x media worked OK with it. Speed when reading data is 24x (max) and when used for DAE goes up to 16x! (max). However it has to compete with the latest 8432 drives which support CD-Text and are capable of reading 32x speed. |
Kenwood 72X True X CD-ROM review @ Hot Hardware |
Simply put, this is one great CD-ROM drive. The Kenwood 72X TrueX lives up to it claims of "the fastest CD-ROM Drive on earth". It is also one of the quietest. It is absolutely flawless. |
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23-11-99 |
Yamakawa AVPhile DVD/MP3 Player |
The Yamakawa AVPhile DVD/VCD/MP3 Player is made by Yamakawa Japan. At this moment there are two models, the AVPhile 713 and the AVPhile 715. The only difference between the two is that the 715 model also includes an Dolby Digital AC-3 output. |
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This player is also a nice looking DVD/MP3 Player, not as nice as the Shinco DVD-830 but still better looking than all the others.
It supports the DVD, SVCD, VCD1.1, VCD2.0, VCD3.0, Audio CD & MP3 standards.
This player is also is 100% Region-Free and it is currently being sold by Galaxy Shop for about US$ 305 / EUR 295 (713). |
Specifications:
- Dolby Digital AC-3 Output
- DTS Output
- Optical Coaxial S/PDIF (IEC958)
- Remote Control
- NTSC / PAL
- 110-230 volt
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DVD Hack now Illegal! |
The motion picture industry was rocked earlier this month when programmers discovered a way to remove anti-copying features from DVD versions of hundreds of copyrighted works. But the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which lobbies for the major U.S. studios' political and financial interests, appears to be having success in convincing Web sites to remove the utility. Called DeCSS, the program can crack the encryption code in the DVD Content Scrambling System, allowing people to make unauthorized copies of digital movies to play on their computers or television sets.
The MPAA has sent cease and desist letters to numerous Web sites, citing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which passed last October. The DMCA made it a crime to create, sell or distribute any technology that could be used to break copyright-protection devices. More @ Yahoo & CNet |
CD-R, Audio & MP3 Software Releases |
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For a complete overview see the CD-Writer, DVD-Writer & Audio/MP3 Software pages. |
18-11-99 |
Elite MP3 Player |
ADS Technologies, a California-based manufacturer of multi-media products, announced the Elite MP3, a portable MP3 music player with 192 MB memory (64 MB on-board, 128 MB storage cartridge), USB connectivity and file storage capabilities. The PC and Mac-compatible Elite MP3 features more than three hours of high-quality music playback & 32 hours of ADPCM-quality voice recording. It is the first MP3 audio device of its kind with USB data upload and download storage capabilities built into the device itself. Not much else is yet known as the word "MP3" is not even found on their website... |
eGo Portable MP3 Player |
The translucent eGo MP3 Player, made by i2Go, includes a specific slot for CompactFlash Type II and also acts as a digital voice recorder with a built in speaker and microphone. It can be expanded up to 680 MB memory using a Flashrom (32, 64 or 96 MB) or a IBM Microdrive (170 or 340 MB).
Inside of the player 3 processors are being used:
- x86 running real time operating system
- audio DSP engine
- power management microprocessor
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The player has a LCiD® display (liquid crystal intense display) which enables you to use it in the dark!
Each unit includes a USB cable, two "AA" batteries, car windshield bracket, cassette stereo adapter, cigarette lighter power adapter, belt clip and stereo earphones.
The eGo MP3 Player comes in 3 colors, translucent blue, clear or black and it is currently priced at US$ 189 (No Memory), US$ 269 (64 MB) or US$ 649 (340 MB). Check the website for more prices.
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MP3 Crackdown in the US |
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has been very busy lately. Thanks to its recent letter-writing campaign to "educate"' universities about the dangers of illegal MP3s. RIAA also started a vendetta against "pirates" by filing suit against 25 IRC users for swapping CD ISO's... More Here. |
17-11-99 |
Shinco 830 DVD/VCD/MP3 Player |
The Shinco DVD-830 DVD/VCD/MP3 Player is made by Shinco Electronics, a big household electronic appliance company from China. |
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This player is definitely the best looking DVD, VCD & MP3 Player we have ever seen and it is very cheap!
It is compatible with DVD, SVCD, VCD1.1, VCD2.0, VCD3.0, Audio CD, MP3 and even the non-official DVCD standard.
The nice thing about this player is that the DVD player is 100% Region-Free. Currently it is being sold by Lik-Sang for only US$ 319 / EUR 305 ! |
Specifications:
- 10 bit Video D/A Converter
- Dolby Digital AC-3 Output
- DTS
- Remote Control
- NTSC / PAL / SECAM
- 110-220 volt
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CDR Identifier Update |
Added the CDR Identifier 1.46 to the CD/DVD Utilities page.
Update:
- Added 2 new codes/manufacturers:
97m 28s 50f - 97m 28s 59f : Delphi Technology Inc.,
97m 29s 00f - 97m 29s 09f : Harmonic Hall Optical Disc, Ltd.
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CD-R Software Releases |
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For a complete overview see the CD-Writer, DVD-Writer & Audio/MP3 Software pages. |
16-11-99 |
The Week in Review |
CD/DVD NewsWire |
CD News: |
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DVD News: |
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MP3 News: |
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Misc News: |
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15-11-99 |
Back Again! |
We are back again after our well deserved vacation and it has been a blast! The last 6 weeks we have been traveling to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii & Florida and I must say that Australia has been the best vacation destination. Mainly because it's a nice country and the Aussies are very friendly people!
We also brought back a lot of unknown CD-R & CD-RW media. These will all be added in the coming weeks. |
Gear Pro DVD 2.0 |
GEAR Software introduced GEAR Pro DVD v2.0 for Windows 9X/NT. This new version of GEAR Pro software offers a reliable, powerful and comprehensive solution for production of DVD-ROM and DVD-RAM as well as CD-R... More in their Press Release - Thanks Hans Kerkhofs from Gear Software BV.
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