The 8/4/32A is an IDE device. Is that good? Probably not.

PLEXTOR goes IDE

I don't know if this is good news or not, but PLEXTOR is finally selling hardware that does not require a SCSI controller. The PLEXTOR 8/4/32A is a CDROM writer [8x], rewriter [4x] and reader [32x], that just requires your regular IDE controller, probably integrated on the motherboard.

I am suspicious about this PLEXTOR move, but money talks and have no doubt that IDE devices sell much more than their SCSI counterparts. This PLEXWRITER's 4x rewrite speed [600 KB/s] is impressive, but considering the price of the CDRW media relative to CDR, I simply don't find any advantage on the rewriting capability - it is cheaper to burn some 10 CDRs...

SCSI hardware is more expensive, but having the controller logic on the device itself, allows much more sophisticated device management. I don't own a 8/4/32A, but I bet that you'll have a hard time burning CDs while doing Internet *and* playing games at the same time, for example... and that is something that you can do with PLEXTOR's first 8x SCSI burner :)

Meanwhile, if you own PLEXTOR hardware, why don't you update its firmware?

PLEXTOR UltraPlex 40max - firmware 1.01 [344 KB]

PLEXTOR PlexWriter 8/20 - firmware 1.06 [407 KB]

These files are executables that couldn't be easier to use. Just run them, wait some 2-3 seconds, watch your PLEXTOR's lights flashing... and that is it! You can even have CDROMs inside and there is no problem on having loads of programs running on the background.

Of course that these files are for Microsoft Windows OS *only*. If there is something quite wonderful on running Windows, is the ease of upgrading hardware, software drivers, etc... The Windows OS is really productive: you do what you want to do, without having to learn tech stuff about the operating system... for me that is a big plus!

If you run the PlexManager software, you'll also be interested on this very much unpublicized FREE update to PlexManager 2000!

The beautiful Intellimouse Explorer is not the first optical input device to land on the desktop, but mouses don't get much sexier, and people don't fancy trackballs, which is something very strange...

MS revolutions the mouse?

Its bye bye to dozens of mechanical parts on the good old mouse... Microsoft is now delivering wordwide optical tracking, in just 3 pieces...

The Intellimouse Explorer uses a digital camera to track your mouse's moves. This camera samples any surface 1200 times per second and has no problems facing dirt.

But while all the marketing bla bla will make you believe that optical tracking techniques are something quite new to everyday input devices, the truth is that Logitech is selling optical trackballs for years!, despite some stupidity regarding their line of products... Read about the discontinued Marble+, day 08 August 1999.

Back to CL LiveWare 2. Do you dare to download LW3? After all it might NOT install...

Warning: CL Liveware 3.0 stinks?

Creative Labs latest Liveware 3.0 software can give you headaches! It is a shame how deep the Creative Labs hardware support is falling. First it was the legal problems with 3DFX goodies, such as the Voodoo2 boards - that resulted on CL Voodoo2 owners having no right to updated drivers for eons... - and now a shadow drops over CL's most relevant audio software, as the latest incarnation of Liveware [LW3] requires you to *manually* uninstall ALL your previous LW2 goodies, including the LAVA! player, and then it might just NOT install at all...

In fact, after erasing all traces of my previous LW2 installs, I simply could not install LW3, that unpacks but doesn't run! Argh!