First drives appear for DVD+RW

DVD+RW becoming the preferred recordable DVD format for PCs

The likelihood of DVD+RW becoming the preferred recordable DVD format for PCs is increasing, with two major suppliers releasing products in quick succession.

Hewlett Packard (HP) has said that its first drive to support DVD+RW will be released next month, while electronics giant Philips unveiled its first DVD+RW drive at the IFA electronics show in Berlin this week.

HP's dvd100i will be the first widely available DVD+RW drive for PCs and will allow users to store up to 4.7Gb on a rewritable disk that looks like a CD.

The drive will have a 2.4-speed DVD rewrite speed and will also be able to write CD-R and CD-RW media. Its price is expected to be about £500 when it ships in September. The Philips DVDRW208 has similar capabilities, although DVD write speed is slightly faster at 2.5x. It is expected to cost about £630 and will be available in October.

DVD+RW is competing with several other writable DVD standards for mass market acceptance, including DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVDRam. While DVD+RW has lagged behind its competitors, it has the advantage of greater compatibility.

DVD+RW discs can be read in DVDRom drives and DVD video players, while the drives can read most of the other formats. Conversely, DVDRam requires cartridge-based media, while DVD-RW is less compatible with other formats, according to DVD+RW proponents.

John Spofford, general manager of the HP Personal Storage Solutions division, said: "With this [dvd100I] drive users can store large amounts of information and share it with almost anyone who owns a DVD video player or DVDRom drive."