We have already reported on Maxell's freshly announced CD-R and DVD-R(W) media a couple of times but today we can find some more information on PCWorld.com about their upcoming 4X DVD-R media.
The 4X DVD-R media is expected to be released in February 2003 but Maxell is already expecting some compatibility problems. For example, it's likely that DVD-ROM drives and DVD players manufactured before this fall won't be able to read 4X DVD-Rs:
 Worse yet, writing to these discs may damage some older DVD-RW/-R drives, drive manufacturers have acknowledged. If you own an older drive, you should check with your drive manufacturer about a firmware upgrade (usually a free Internet download) to fix the problem. Pioneer Electronics, for example, warned customers about the possibility in October and urged firmware upgrades. |
"You're not supposed to use 4X media in a 2X drive without getting a firmware upgrade to the drive," Gadomski, Maxell's representative, says.
Maxell has been busy lately. They're already shipping new double-sided DVD-R discs (9.4GB) and coming February 2003 they also plan to release 3-inch, 2X Mini DVD-R (1.4GB) discs. In March 2003 Maxell expects to ship their 48X CD-R media.
Source: PCWorld.com
