..about DVD-RAM
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DVD-RAM (Random-Access Media) is an interesting kind of DVD disc. This format was envisioned primarily for computer data storage. DVD-RAM originally provided 2.6 GB on one side of a disc, or 5.2 for a two-sided disc (*see below). These discs are re-recordable, and act very mich like hard disk drives (read-write), although their data rates are a tad slower than hard drives.
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| * The second generation of DVD-RAM drives (called RAM II for short) now offer 4.7 GB capacity per side, with the added benefit of being dual-sided! A whopping total of 9.4 GB of storage on each DVD-RAM II disc! |
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PANASONIC offers OEM (Original equipment Manufacturer) DVD-RAM Drives to the PC industry - Apple shipped many G4's that came equipped with DVD-RAM drives, befor ethey switched to the Pioneer DVR-103 Superdrive in Jan, 2001 |
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...or they may have a DVD-RAM drive from HITACHI - one of the other OEM sources for Apple. |
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Adding to the confusion are the two different physical configurations available in the G4...there's a "TRAY" configured drive, shipping in the newer models... |
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and the more familiar "SLOT" drive, featured on earlier G3 machines as well as G4's... |
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There are also many EXTERNAL DVD-RAM drives becoming available, including ones that use the IEEE 1394 interface, better known as "FIREWIRE". QPS offers a line of FIREWIRE DVD-RAM External drives (pictured, left), plus a SCSI internal drive. LaCie also makes them. |
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