Rewriteable CD storage technology gets another boost with a comparatively low-priced entry from Smart and Friendly.
The Chatworth, California-based company announced its CD-RW 226 Plus, a double-speed rewriteable CD (or CD-RW) drive with 6X read capabilities and a SCSI-2 host adapter, used for connecting peripheral devices to a PC. Smart and Friendly's drive joins products from Yamaha, Hewlett-Packard, and others.
CD-RW resembles the traditional CD-ROM with the important exception that the user can not only write on it but rewrite on it up to 1,000 times. CD-RW is touted by some as an optical storage product that could be an alternative to long-anticipated rewriteable DVD technology.
The Smart and Friendly drive comes with numerous bundled software titles. These include Adaptec's CD Creator CD recording software; Smart and Friendly's CDR Disc Jockey for compiling audio tracks; Macromedia's Backstage Designer for creating Web pages; and MediaPath's MediaAgent, a network access and management solution.
The internal version of the drive will sell for about $400 and the external drive for about $500. The product will ship this month.