LaCie Doubles the Burn Speed of Its High-Capacity Blu-ray Drive

February 2, 2009

* Burn Blu-ray discs up to 8x
* Store up to 50GB of videos, files and other data on one disc
* Multi-format BD (Blu-ray) and DVD/CD writer in one
* Durable d2 design with whisper-quiet operation

Today LaCie announced that it has doubled the speed at which its high-performance, large-capacity LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive burns discs to eight times (8x) standard data writing rates. The increased speed to burn files applies to both single and dual-layer discs. LaCie also has upgraded the authoring and backup software that ships standard with the product.

The LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive packs up to 50 GB of data, or four hours of high-definition video, on a single Blu-ray disc – making it an ideal tool for video professionals and anyone who wants to backup and store significant amounts of data on reliable removable media. It sports both FireWire and USB 2.0 interfaces for high-speed throughput between the drive and a PC or Mac.

“With the doubling of the speed to burn Blu-ray discs, video professionals will be able to spend more time creating content and less time on production,” said Christelle Dexet, Multimedia Product Manager for LaCie. “And for those who need to safely store large quantities of information for extended periods of time on secure removable media, the LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive is an ideal solution.”

The exceptionally quiet LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive comes bundled with the newly revised Easy Media Creator 10 and Toast 9 Titanium software. The easy-to-use software lets Mac and Windows users master video and audio files onto Blu-ray, DVD and CD discs. With the tools customers can also schedule backups for data files, edit videos, create audio mixes and much more.

Plus, users can work with three popular codexes-MPEG2, AVC and VC-1-when creating their Blu-ray content. And the LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive supports a dozen Blu-ray, DVD and CD formats, including BD-ROM, BD-ROM AACS, BD-R, BD-RE, DVD±R, CD-R and others.

Availability
The LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive is available now and starts at $449.99. LaCie products are available through the LaCie Online Store or LaCie resellers. For more information, visit www.lacie.com.

It’ll also write DVDs (at 8x)–no BD writing though. Crunch says it requires an external power brick, which kind of nullifies the “portable” aspect. Still, can’t beat that price. No word on official availability, but we would imagine it’s on the way soon. [Crunchgear]

The new Mini packs dual 120GB, 2.5-inch SSDs that allow the drive to run at a ridiculously quiet 2.3db. This setup also allows for either 240GB of data storage or a RAID1 mirroring configuration to protect your data should your new, fancy storage fail on you. The system is also DLNA-compliant to share media while supporting both USB and ethernet connectivity.

So now that we’ve sold you the Buffalo LinkStation Mini, we should probably mention…it’s Japan-exclusive for the time being and will cost $US1,200. No hard feelings though, right? Who want’s a crummy, monster external SSD anyway? [Buffalo via Engadget]

Taipei, Taiwan, May 26, 2008 – ASUS, leading provider of high-performance graphics solutions, today launched the world´s first VGA and multimedia docking station – the ASUS ROG (Republic of Gamer) XG Station. With extremely detailed and impeccable design, the XG Station has attained the honorific of being conferred with the red dot design award honourable mention 2008. The XG Station is also bundled with the EN8600GT/HTDP/256M graphics card, and equipped with an Express Card interface – seamlessly integrating notebook computing with powerful PC graphical power. It also incorporates 4 USB 2.0 ports and Dolby Technology – doubling as a USB hub that delivers true AV enjoyment.

Reddot Design Award Honourable Mention
With more than 7,000 submissions from 60 countries, the international reddot Design Award ranks among the largest and most renowned design competitions in the world. In the first time in the history of these prestigious awards, the jury of design experts have honoured 137 products that have stood out from the others through especially refined and detailed solutions. The ASUS ROG XG Station is certified to be one such honourable mention, and is recognised as a product that sets itself apart from the competition with its successful design solution for providing a unique user experience.

Engage Mobility with Powerful Graphics Processing
With the explosion of popularity of high-performance, powerful laptops in recent years, there is an ever-increasing desire for computing users to utilise the same laptop computer at home, in the office, and also on the road. However, in order to conserve space, weight, and functionality, many of these sophisticated laptops have made sacrifices in terms of graphics, audio or processing power. By providing the power of a dedicated 3D graphics engine, users simply have to connect the XG Station to any LCD monitor, connect to the notebook via an Express Card connector, and then they are ready to game in with enhanced graphics. This setup easily provides users with a complete mobile notebook computing solution while retaining the advantages of high powered 3D gaming and multimedia experiences.

Sensational A/V Enjoyment
The XG Station also features enhanced audio and video functions with incorporated Dolby Technology – which encompasses Dolby Headphone, Dolby Virtual speaker, Dolby Digital Live, and Dolby Pro LogicIIx. This allows dynamic true-to-life quality audio to be achieved during PC gameplay, music or video playback. The Dolby Headphone enables 5.1 surround sound through any pair of headphones, while the Dolby Virtual speaker lets users experience 5.1-channel surround sound from just two speakers. Dolby Digital Live enables users to enjoy audio from the PC or game consoles through their home theatre setups, and Dolby Pro LogicIIx transforms any stereo or 5.1 channel source into 6.1 or 7.1 channel surround sounds. Furthermore, with the XG Station, real-time overclocking can be easily controlled with the ergonomic knob design for simple GPU clock speed adjustments – providing the best audio and video experiences.

Large Information Display and Easy Controls
With the adoption of a large LED screen, the XG Station is designed with ease of use in mind. This easy-to-read screen provides clear displays of critical system status statistics that include:
• System master volume
• GPU clock speed
• Current GPU temperature
• Dolby® Headphone feature status
• Current actual Frames Per Second (FPS)
• GPU fan speed indicator
The XG Station also utilizes a dedicated control panel to let users control the settings through a GUI based interface; and can also easily switch modes between the notebook screen and the external LCD monitor.

Fast and Upgradeable Graphics Power
The XG Station is the world´s first docking station to provide a standard PCI Express slot for additional graphics computing power for notebook computers to deliver VISTA Premium graphical performances. It also conveniently accommodates future graphic upgrade possibilities for technologies such as HDCP. Lab experiments made on a notebook based on Intel 945GM and 965GM graphics connected to the XG station with an ASUS EN8600GT graphics card showed an astounding 12 and 6.7 times faster graphics acceleration respectively.

Specifications

Model: XG STATION
Graphics Engine: GeForce 8600GT
Video Memory: 256MB DDR3
Engine Clock: 540MHz
Memory Clock: 1.4GHz (700MHz DDR3)
Memory Interface: 128-bit
Max. Resolution: Up to 3840 x 2400
Bus Standard: PCI Express X1
VGA Output: YES, via DVI to VGA Adapter
TV Output: YES
DVI Output: DVI-I
Dual DVI Output: YES
Audio out: Headphone out *1, Microphone out *1
Adaptor/Cable Bundled: DVI to VGA adapter
HDTV-out cable
Power cable
Express Card cable
Software Bundled: ASUS Utilities & Driver

THE CABLE SHOW ‘08, New Orleans — May 19, 2008 — At NCTA’s Cable Show, Seagate Technology (NYSE:STX) announced it will introduce its Seagate® Showcase™ storage solution, a new series of products that extends the storage capacity of your Digital Video Recorder (DVR), so you never have to say goodbye to your favourite movies and television shows. Seagate also announced that the Showcase family of products will be designed to be compatible with Motorola’s market leading e-SATA capable high-definition (HD) digital video recorder (DVR) set-top portfolio.

The new Showcase™ products will provide television and movie fans with the ability to store even more shows, movies and sporting events. With initial capacities up to 1TB, consumers will be able to keep up to 200 hours of additional HD movies or 1,000 hours of additional standard definition television. You’ll never have to choose between your kids’ favourite shows or the big game. Plug-and-play capability, via standard USB 2.0 or eSATA connection, makes setup easy while the stylish design fits seamlessly into entertainment centres and complements the look of existing A/V equipment.

“Today’s consumers are constantly demanding more storage for high-definition video and high-fidelity audio – and they want it as part of their home entertainment system,” said Patrick King, senior vice president of Seagate’s Consumer Solutions Division. “We believe that the Seagate Showcase product line will take its place alongside the receiver, speaker system and television as a must-have component for the entertainment centre. We are pleased to be working with Motorola to enable an enjoyable consumer experience.”

“As consumer video consumption continues to increase at exponential rates, Motorola strives to provide flexible and cost-effective solutions” commented Larry Robinson, vice president, Set Top Product Management at Motorola. “By demonstrating interoperability with the Seagate Showcase storage solution we are offering consumers additional compelling storage options for their entertainment content.”

The new Showcase family will feature Seagate’s recently announced Pipeline HD™ Series of hard drives purpose-built for DVRs. Seagate Pipeline HD™ Series hard drives are the gold standard in high definition performance and capacity with bedroom-quiet acoustics, low power operation and the ability to support up to 12 simultaneous HD streams. The drives are Windows Vista Certified, making them an ideal solution for Home Media Centers.

Seagate is working with Motorola, the leader in digital set-tops with over 73 million shipped, to deliver external storage solutions for DVRs. By connecting a Seagate Showcase product with its included eSATA cable, the capacity of these DVRs can instantly be increased – eliminating the need to delete your favourite movies or shows. The 1TB Seagate Showcase drive can be seen exclusively in the Motorola booth # 1405 during The Cable Show ‘08 at the Morial Convention Centre in New Orleans.

Availability

Seagate Showcase™ products are scheduled to be available for purchase on the Seagate website beginning in the third calendar quarter of 2008.

Furthermore, the leaked graph above claims that an AMILO notebook with the GraphicBooster can get up to 8,000 points in 3DMark06. We have heard promises of external hard drives for laptops before, but so far nothing has been made available to the public. With any luck, there will be some truth in all of this (and the card with work with more than just the Fujitsu AMILO laptop). [Notebook Review]