who's next? 8X explodes onto DUPLICATION scene

Just as CD duplication, production, and publishing systems gave 4X CD recording its first solid foothold in any CD-R market, this same lucrative segment is latching onto 8X recording with a vengeance. Just do even a quick survey of the standalone or integrated system scene and the extent of 8X's product-line penetration will become abundantly clear: everybody's got one.

Just a few short months after Plextor's 8/20 drive hit the streets, the 8X revolution in duplication began. While Sanyo's 8X preceded Plextor's by several months under the nameplates of such vendors as Smart and Friendly and INSC, few expected to see Sanyo's reach extend beyond the desktop, and to date the only multidrive system on the market to use the Sanyo drive is Smart and Friendly's own Rocket Replicator. The Plextor drive, production-oriented by design [See Hugh Bennett's review, March 1999 issue, pp. 64-66--Ed.], opened the floodgates, and quickly began replacing such commonplace sights as the Matsushita CR-7502 on the front panels of most duplicators.

With Hoei Sangyo's integration of 8X systems quickly came MicroBoards Technology's upgrading of its tower systems, as reported in the March issue of EMedia. Joining Minnesota-based MicroBoards in taking the 8X plunge is prominent Hoei reseller and Twin Cities neighbor Telex Communications, Inc., which is adding 8X capability to its Hoei-based CDP-2001 standalone line and EDAT Digital Master Duplication Workstation, which is built around the CDP-2001 box. The 2001 systems are 5 and 7-bay towers incorporating four and six recorders, respectively, that can be daisychained using a Versatile Media Interface (VMI) card. The card is also equipped to support DVD-R duplication when the drives become cost-effective for use with the system. Also available as an add-on option is a Hoei Sangyo FlexHD hard drive for constructing new disc images while already-built images are burning.

Also adding 8X capability to their integrated systems are Cedar Technologies, Inc. and Rimage Corporation. The Cedar Desktop CD Publisher combines Cedar's own autoloading mechanism with a Primera Signature CD Printer, controller software, and the new CD-R drives. The Cedar system is largely, but not exclusively, distributed by MicroBoards. Smart Storage, Inc. is developing custom-designed image management and recording software for use with the latest version of the CD Publisher system. Rimage is integrating 8X drives into its two CD production systems, the (up to) four-recorder Producer Autostar and the (up to) two-recorder Producer Protege. Both systems include a high-speed Pentium PC with automation and control software, an autoloading mechanism, and Rimage's Perfect Image Thermal CD Printer. The scalable Producer system can also add up to three additional autoloading towers (the Perfect Image Constellation), all incorporating 8X Plextor recorders.

(Telex Communications, Inc., 9600 Aldrich Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55420; 612/887-7403, 612/884-4051; Fax 612/884-0043; http://www.telex.com. MicroBoards Technology, Inc., 1480 Park Road, Suite B, P.O. Box 856, Chanhassen, MN 55317; 612/470-1848; Fax 612/470-1805; http://www.microboards.com. Cedar Technologies, Inc., 5250 West 74th Street, Suite 8C, Edina, MN 55439; 612/830-1993; Fax 612/830-1039; http://www.cedartechnologies.com. Smart Storage Inc., 100 Burtt Road, Andover, MA 01810; 978/623-3300; Fax 978/623-3310; http://www.smartstorage.com. Rimage Corporation, 7725 Washington Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55439; 612/944-8144; Fax 612/944-7808. Plextor Corporation, 4255 Burton Drive, Santa Clara, CA 95054; 408/980-1838; Fax 408/98641010; http://www.plextor.com.)

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