HP announces "Extreme Storage"

Hewlett-Packard has announced new CD-RW Recordable-Rewritable drives, its first DVD+RW drive, and other "extreme storage" products providing up to 125GB of storage. The new collection of products includes faster 8x32x CD-RW drives, external models with USB or SCSI connectors, and the company's first recordable DVD model -- a model that eschews the currently popular DVD-RAM format in favor of a different type of media -- with different compatibility issues that, the company admits, makes the discs it writes incompatible with current drives unless they are modified. However, HP says, the next-generation model, due in about a year, will write discs that should be playable on most standard DVD drives. Prices on some other models are dropping dramatically, too. The 8200i model, for example, is dropping from US$349 to US$229. Details at http://www.hp.com/storage/event/septpress.html.

Two of the CD-RW products announced, the low-cost 8250i drive and a USB CD-writer optimized for MP3 recordings, are not available in Canada. HP cites the uncertainty related to Canada's recordable media levy and the legal issues surrounding payment of royalties as the reasons for the latter's absence from the Canadian marketplace. A Sept. 5 story details the latest on the recordable media levy hearings.

HP Information Storage Product Pricing and Availability

• HP SureStore Optical 125ex- CDN$11,788.75 for a single drive and CDN$16,352.61 for a dual drive; available Nov. 1
• HP SureStore HD Server 4000- HP SureStore HD Server 4000 with a thin server and three 9GB hard drives: CDN$7,377.19; available Nov. 1.
  HP SureStore HD Server 4000 with a thin server, three 9GB hard drives and an HP DAT 40i back-up tape drive: CDN$9,737.89; available Nov.1.
  HP SureStore HD Server 4000 with a thin server and six 9GB hard drives: CDN$9,959.21; available Nov. 1.
  HP SureStore HD Server 4000 with a thin server, six 18GB hard drives and a DAT 40 back-up tape drive: CDN$13,131.40; available Nov. 1
• The HP CD Writer Plus 9200e and 9100i is available Oct. 27; estimated street prices are CDN$441.16 for the HP CD Writer Plus 9100i series and CDN$662.47 for the HP CD-Writer 9200e series.
• The HP CD Writer 8200e & 9200i series is available Sept. 29 at CDN$514.93 for the HP CD Writer Plus 8200e and CDN588.70 for the HP CD-Writer 9200i.
• The HP SureStore and HP SureStore E tape-library families ranges from CDN$23,607.01 to CDN$31,721.92 for an entry-level configuration and comes with a two-year, on-site limited warranty. The HP SureStore E tape library model 20/700 is CDN$167,019.58 and comes with a one-year, on-site limited warranty. All products are available.
• The HP SureStore DLT 80 tape drive is expected to be available Sept. 1 for CDN$9,611.00 through HP authorized resellers, distributors & retailers.
• The HP SureStore DAT40 DDS-4 tape drive is expected to be available in the autumn through HP authorized resellers, distributors, retailers. Pricing will be announced when the product becomes available.
• HP Colorado 20GB

The HP Colorado 20GBi/e tape drive (internal and external versions) will be available Oct. 1. Estimated U.S. street prices begin at $259

For Further Reading:

• CD-Recorders  - Reviews of CD recorders and CDR authoring software.
• Recordable DVD and CDRW, etc. - A report on the latest developments.
• http://www.fadden.com/cdrfaq/