Paul White introduces his old, grey Mac to new technology in the form of the LaCie DVD‑RAM drive. Just the thing for backing up those long audio files?
When the 3.5‑inch, 1.44Mb floppy was introduced, it seemed inconceivable that we would ever need anything larger for file backup. Then along came space‑hungry graphics, digital video, samplers and hard disk audio, and suddenly the floppy disk started to look rather pathetic. Today's fixed hard drives frequently exceed 10Gb, and removable 2Gb cartridge drives are commonplace, but for archiving, the inexpensive DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) is extremely attractive. Because it is the basis of both consumer and business data formats, the price of the hardware is under constant downwards pressure, and the storage capacity of 2.6Gb for a single‑sided DVD and 5.2Gb for a double‑sided disc makes it particularly well‑suited to backing up digital audio files. I say backing up, because the data transfer rate of DVD isn't really up to streaming multitrack audio directly to or from the media. The seek time can be up to 120mS for DVD‑RAM while the maximum sustained transfer rate is 1385Kb/sec. As with CD‑R, both write‑once and rewritable media are available, but the rewritable version can be treated much like a conventional hard drive in terms of adding and removing files. A life expectancy of around 30 years is claimed for properly handled media, and the LaCie DVD AM52 drive under review can accommodate both Type I and Type II DVD media cartridges.
LaCie DVD
The drive I tested is an external SCSI model that can be used with Macs or PCs fitted with a suitable ASPI‑compatible SCSI card (Adaptec is recommended). The minimum PC requirement is a Pentium 133 (running Windows 95 or 98), while Mac users can use 68030 machines onwards, providing they have a SCSI interface that is SCSI Manager 4.3‑compliant, and are running MacOS System 7.5 or later. The SCSI address can be selected on the drive's rear panel, and there's a slide switch for SCSI termination.
The drive can read all forms of conventional CD, CD‑ROM and DVD media, as well as reading and writing DVD‑RAM and PD (single‑sided 650Mb) media; there's also a model B version of this drive that can't read PD cartridges. Playback of DVD video requires MPEG2 decoding hardware or software, which is not supplied. Both SCSI ports are Centronics 50‑pin, and a 50‑ to 25‑pin cable suitable for most grey Macs is included. Owners of the newer 'boiled‑sweet' G3 and G4 Macs need a SCSI card to use the drive, though they may be better off looking for a USB or Firewire alternative.
A pair of rear‑panel phono sockets can provide a direct stereo audio output, and there's also a mini headphone jack on the front panel beneath the media drawer. A small thumbwheel control adjusts the headphone volume and the cooling fan is reasonably quiet. A panel LED indicates error status: a single‑flash cycle denotes overheating, a dual‑flash cycle indicates dirt on the media or the lens, while a triple‑flash cycle shows that the drive has used up almost all of the spare sectors allocated to defect management. Straightforward installation software comes on CD‑ROM — WriteDVD for PCs and DVD‑RAM TuneUp for Macs.
Using DVD
CDs and DVDs are loaded directly into the media drawer, while DVD‑RAM media is built into a cartridge. Like most media, DVD‑RAM needs to be formatted, after which it behaves very much like CD‑R for reading, and like a conventional removable drive for file writing. I had no problems installing or using the drive, though users new to DVD need to keep in mind that the two sides of a double‑sided DVD‑RAM cartridge behave as two completely separate volumes, each of which needs to be formatted separately. You also have to turn over the cartridge to access side two. The claimed data transfer rates were confirmed almost exactly when backing up audio files, so you can expect to back up or restore 60Mb of audio in under a minute.
From the little time I've spent using this DVD drive, I'm already a convert. It may not be as fast as a hard drive, but the sensible media costs (a write‑once DVD‑RAM cartridge is now under £20), combined with the large storage capacity makes it ideal for use with computer audio. Of course we'll be sneering at its slow data rate and miserly storage capacity well before we get to the year 2010, but in the meantime it'll do nicely.
Pros
- High storage capacity.
- Affordable media costs.
- As easy to use as CD‑ROM.
- Reads all standard CD and DVD media.
Cons
- Data rate more comparable to CD‑R than to hard disk.
Summary
A viable high‑capacity storage medium that, for once, looks as though it may have a reasonable life expectancy before it is superseded by the 'next big thing'.