Ultra SCSI Interface Delivers High Performance with Fast Data Transfer Speeds

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 13, 2000--Plextor® Corp., a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance CD-related equipment and software, today announced the immediate availability of the external PlexWriter 12/10/32S CD-ReWritable drive with an Ultra SCSI (SCSI-3) interface. The Ultra SCSI interface delivers very fast SCSI-bus Burst Transfer Rates for higher end-user performance with lower CPU utilization.

The external PlexWriter 12/10/32S features 12X write, 10X rewrite, and 32X max playback speeds, making it the fastest SCSI CD-RW device available on the market today. The 10X-rewrite speed leaps over conventional 2X and 4X CD-RW speeds, enabling end users to rewrite an entire 650MB CD in just over seven minutes (CD-RW).

A stylish silver-and-blue enclosure sets the external PlexWriter 12/10/32S apart from competitive product offerings. The high-speed drive provides both professionals and power-users with the ideal solution for such advanced applications as recording audio CDs, archiving small and large data files, or creating multimedia productions.

The PlexWriter 12/10/32S also features BURN-Proof(TM) technology, which ensures fault-tolerant CD burning. BURN-Proof prevents errors from occurring when data flow to the drive is interrupted during the recording process due to slow source-drive performance, PC configurations, or running other applications. By allowing users to surf the Web, download files, and utilize other applications while a CD records in the background, this error-reducing technology makes CD-recording more practical than ever before.

"Based on the fact that our unit volumes for external drives have doubled since the first quarter of this year, we anticipate strong demand for the new Plextor external SCSI drive with BURN-Proof technology," said Howard Wing, vice president of sales and marketing for Plextor. "Professional users will appreciate the advantages of having 12X write and 10X rewrite speeds at their fingertips and will experience a big boost in productivity. More casual laptop users can also take advantage of the PlexWriter 12/10/32S through PCMCIA to SCSI adapters, giving them the option of using 12X CD-R or 10X CD-RW technology anywhere, anytime."

PlexWriter 12/10/32S Drive

The external PlexWriter 12/10/32S drive with UltraSCSI (SCSI-3) Interface includes a data buffer capacity of 4MB. Average random access time is a very fast 150ms and burst transfer rates are 20MB/second (synchronous). At its top recording speed, the PlexWriter 12/10/32S can write an entire 650MB CD in just over six minutes (CD-R). The drive supports a wide variety of writing modes, including Track-at-Once, Disc-at-Once, Session-at-Once, Multisession, and variable/fixed packet writing.

Based on an award-winning drive platform, the versatile 3-in-1 device lets users write, rewrite, and read compact discs at a variety of speeds. It records CD-R discs at 12X (1.8MB/s), 8X (1.2MB/s), 4X (600KB/s), or 1X (150KB/s) speeds. The Plextor drive plays back both CD-R and CD-ROM discs at speeds ranging from 14Xmin (2.1MB/s) to 32X max (4.8MB/s). CD-RW media can be recorded at 10X (1.5MB/s), 8X (1.2MB/s), 4X (600KB/s), or 2X (300KB/s), and read back at 24X max. The PlexWriter 12/10/32S is also capable of 32x (4.8MB/s) digital audio extraction.

Complete Suite of Software Included

The external PlexWriter 12/10/32S is Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000 Plug & Play compatible. The retail package includes several valuable software applications for an enhanced "out-of-the-box" customer experience. Plextor Manager 2000(TM) is a comprehensive suite of 32-bit software utilities that allows users to control audio management, playback, recording, and drive settings:

Music Video Producer 2000 (MVP2000(TM)) handles playback of music and video files. This CD-DA and digital A/V player can be used to create a digital jukebox and customized playlists for MP3, WMA, WAV files and CD audio tracks. Once the user has created individual playlists, recording an audio CD from the playlist is as simple as a mouse click. The resulting audio or CD TEXT discs can be played on home, car, portable, or PC CD players. A link to the Internet CDDB database from MVP 2000 supplies album, song, and artist information during playback for most commercially available CDs.

DiscDupe 2000(TM) allows users to backup CDs directly to the PlexWriter 12/10/32S with "bit-by-bit" accuracy using the Disc-at-Once recording method. Audio Capture 2000(TM) allows users to capture audio tracks from the CD to the hard disk as WAV files or to encode tracks as Windows Media Audio (WMA) files. A track selection window shows at a glance all necessary information about the source disc. Single or multiple tracks can be extracted at once. Audio Capture 2000 supports sampling rates of 44 kHz, 22 kHz, and 11 kHz, 8-bit or 16-bit resolution, and stereo or monaural sound for WAV and 64kbit or 128kbit rates for WMA files. With CDDB support in Audio Capture 2000, WMA files are encoded with song, artist, and album information as part of the file.

AudioFS displays audio CDs to operating systems and applications as WAV files. It eliminates the need to store large files on a hard disk, allowing applications to access the tracks from the audio CD directly through AudioFS. AudioFS allows easy drag and drop of audio tracks to a hard disk for a simple and quick audio extraction to WAV format. It also allows fast and easy encoding of WAV files to a number of compression formats, such as MP3, WMA, and Real Audio, with third party software.

CD-ResQ(TM), a comprehensive backup software package, is also included with the PlexWriter 12/10/32S. This data-disaster recovery software stores an entire hard disk as an image file on secure CD-R media. The software can backup virtually any size hard drive and can create bootable CDs to allow for "one-step" restore.

Pricing and Availability

The external PlexWriter 12/10/32S with Ultra SCSI interface is currently shipping to OEMs, resellers, and distributors with a manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP) of $479. All retail packages include unlimited toll-free technical support and one-year full warranty.

About Plextor

Plextor Corp. is a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance CD-related equipment for professional use in business and networked environments. Since opening its headquarters in Silicon Valley in 1990, Plextor has introduced twelve generations of CD-ROM drives, two CD-Recordable drives, and six CD-ReWritable drives. Plextor's product line is supported by customized software applications such as CD-ResQ and Plextor Manager 2000.

The company is privately owned by its parent corporation, Shinano Kenshi of Japan, a developer and manufacturer of advanced technology hardware and precision electronic equipment. Shinano Kenshi is best known for its expertise in motor manufacturing.

Note to Editors: PlexWriter is a trademark of Plextor Corp. BURN-Proof is a trademark of Sanyo Electric Co., LTD. All other trademarks, trade names, registered trademarks, or registered trade names are the property of their respective holders.