The DVD+RW Situation

[vitualis]

Original article here: http://theregus.com/content/54/24590.html

DVD+RW drives in shock 'no upgrade' situation
By John Lettice
Posted: 04/10/2002 at 06:20 EST

Owners of DVD+RW drives who thought they'd be able to upgrade them to use cheaper write-once DVD+R media via a firmware upgrade are out of luck, and the DVD+RW Alliance would appear to have egg on its face. Manufacturers themselves don't seem to have specifically promised this upgrade, but it appears they did kind of hope it would be achievable, and their sales levels must inevitably have benefited from the widespread misconception that you'd be able to upgrade for free.

Well, you can't. Hardware changes are required, and anything you heard to the contrary was, er, wrong. One of the places you might have heard it was in the press releases section of the DVD+RW Alliance web site, where on May 17th last year it was claimed that "the addition of write-once (DVD+R) capabilities to rewritable DVD+RW products slated to be introduced this summer [i.e., last summer]" was achievable.

The release does not specify how this capability was to be achieved, but over at HP, home of the DVD100i, it says:

"Question: Is DVD+R media compatible with the HP DVD100i for recording purposes?

"Answer: No, HP has released the HP DVD100i with write-support for DVD+RW media only. Write-support for DVD+R media is neither planned nor technically feasible for the HP DVD100i model."

Weird or what? Apparently taking a slightly optimistic view of the typical consumer's memory capacity, the DVD+RW Alliance announced on March 14th 2002 that several members, Hewlett-Packard, Mitsubishi, Philips, Ricoh and Sony, were to ship combination DVD+RW/+R products." The Register would be the last to suggest that they might have been trying to tiptoe quietly away from what kind of looked like a previous commitment.

Users, however, are up in arms, and it seems likely the manufacturers will start to crumble before you can say Federal Trading Commission. Discussion threads at DVDPlusRW.org indicate that HP is to concede some form of upgrade/swapout/trade-in deal this week, possibly today. The nature of this deal, if it's actually going to happen, is not as yet clear, but if HP goes for it the other manufacturers will surely have to follow suit, no matter how costly it turns out to be. ®

Regards.

[liquid217]

ouch, good thing i didn't buy the hp DVD100i

[shardison]

Sounds good to me. If HP makes good then I'll be getting a 200i soon. Not that my 100i isn't working great. I just really don't care about +R. I suppose I will once I can burn to one.

[shardison]

From HP:
HP DVD Writer Drive - DVD100i Trade-in Program

In response to customer inquiries, HP is initiating a program for current owners of the HP DVD Writer dvd100i. Beginning May 1, 2002, and continuing through June 30, 2002, current owners of the HP DVD Writer dvd100i who purchased their drive prior to May 1, 2002, and are interested in receiving the new DVD+R feature, can return their original drive, provide valid proof of purchase, and pay $99 to receive a DVD Writer drive with DVD+R capability added.

This package will include:

A software upgrade including ArcSoft ShowBiz video editing software, new versions of MyDVD from Sonic, HP DLA by Veritas, HP RecordNow by Veritas, and Power DVD by Cyberlink.
A DVD Writer with a full one year limited warranty.
One blank DVD+R disc.
This program will be initiated only in the United States and Canada at this time. Other regions are currently under consideration. Other restrictions may apply.

For more detailed information on how to participate, please return to this Web site at http://www.hp.com/support/dvd100i-trade-in. Additional details will be published just prior to May 1, 2002. Technical support will not have any additional information beyond what you will see posted on this Web site. Thank you.

[RAAGAAman]

Shardison wrote: interested in receiving the new DVD+R feature, can return their original drive, provide valid proof of purchase, and pay $99 to receive a DVD Writer drive with DVD+R capability added.

I don't own a HP100i but I would be P#ssed if I had to pay for an upgrade that I should have gotten for free. I can tell you the S/W is not costing HP anything but they don't want to take it on the chin for the drive.

RG

[mikeworld]

Just bought the DVD100i and been using it a couple of days but I need it for more than just a 4.7g backup solution!

Glad to see the upgrade comming! I hate to pay the extra $99 since I just bought it! Seems like they could throw in some free media (say 5 DVD+R and 5 DVD+RW disk) or something to keep the customers loyal!!!

I am another statistic hoping the unit could produce disks to play in my Samsung DVD301 player! NOT!

I'll be in the upgrade line on May 1!

Found more info on zdnet...
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-883124.html

[MOVIEGEEK]

At least HP has the cahones to offer the upgrade,Sony and Philips are'nt sure they will.

[mikeworld]

I see HP is offering the dvd200i for sale on their site.

http://products.hp-at-home.com/products/detail.php?high_level_category_id=1&category_i...prodnum=Q2101A

Does anyone know if they are starting the dvd100i trade up program early (Prior to May1)?

And...

Are they replacing the dvd100i with the dvd200i?

Thanks!