Plextor Announces the PLEXWRITER 8/20 an 8X SCSI CD-Recordable Drive.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 2, 1998--Plextor Corp., a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance CD-related equipment and software, today announced introduction of its first high performance 8X recorder,the PLEXWRITER 8/20.

At the leading edge of professional recording, Plextor sets the standard with an 8X recorder that reads CD-ROM and CD-R media at up to 20X max speeds with 170ms average access times. In production environments and other time sensitive applications, recording up to 74 minutes worth of data in less than 10 minutes saves both time and money. The PLEXWRITER 8/20 eases the pain of routine archive and backup and enables faster creation of CD-ROM and CD Audio discs.

Equally important, the PLEXWRITER 8/20 is loaded with features to enhance reliable high speed CD writing: -0-

--   A huge 4MB buffer helps prevent buffer underrun even at 8X record
     speeds.
--   Fast SCSI burst rates of 10MB/second for both record and read
     functions translate into efficient utilization of the SCSI bus
     and more time for managing other recording functions.
--   New suspension for the spindle motor dampens vibrations that
     could otherwise adversely impact successful 8X writes.
--   Media recognition circuitry adjusts each type of media, providing
     the optimum laser power and length of burn.
--   Built in cooling ensures that the drive operates within specified
     temperature tolerances for 8X media.

-0-

Together, all these features ensure that reliable CD-R writing is virtually guaranteed with the PLEXWRITER 8/20.

Of particular importance to audiophiles, the PLEXWRITER family of CD writable drives has demonstrated among the lowest BleR rates of any CD-R drives. This means audio written to the CD-R disc is as close to being error free as possible for CD-R. That not only means more pristine audio for production usage but also better playback from even lower quality CD-ROM drives.

For typical desktop environments, the high performance CD-ROM capabilities even position the PLEXWRITER 8/20 as a suitable upgrade for last year's most popular CD-ROM drives. According to Paul Lowrey, Plextor's director of marketing, "When you factor in the latest in drive letter access packet writing software with the drag and drop simplicity it brings to CD-R, these drives not only function as great CD-ROM drives, they can even act as a super floppy for archive, backup and file sharing with the 200 million CD-ROM drive users."

Felix Nemirovsky, VP of Engineering, adds "Most exciting of all, the PLEXWRITER 8/20 supports Plextor's CD Res-Q hard drive disaster recovery software. Our customers can now burn an image of their hard drive including OS, program files and data -- directly to a secure bootable CD-R disc with the PLEXWRITER 8/20.

"If their hard drive fails or their configuration is scrambled by a new software install, they can boot from the backup CD-R disc, then restore not only the data, but also the original configuration for every program running at the time of backup. That's effectively no down time for any customer running a Microsoft OS backed up with CD Res-Q. What's more, hard drive disaster recovery backed up to secure CD media is added insurance against a possible crippling loss due to Y2K."

Pricing and Availability

Units will be commercially available in early December. The PLEXWRITER's introductory list price is $599 for the bare internal drive (PX-R820i/SW) and $689 for the external version (PX-R820e/SW) in retail packaging. All retail packages contain CD mastering, packet writing and CD Res-Q software. Kits are also available with bus-mastering PCI SCSI host adapters. For system integrators and VARs, Plextor also makes bulk packaged drives available without software.

Plextor Background Information

Plextor Corp. is a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance CD related equipment for professional use in business and networked environments.

Since opening its headquarters in Silicon Valley in 1990, Plextor has introduced fourteen generations of CD-ROM drives, three CD-R drives, and a complete line of networking products. Plextor's product line is supported by their customized software utilities and device drivers.

The company is privately owned by its parent corporation, Shinano Kenshi of Japan, a developer and manufacturer of advanced technology hardware and precision electronic equipment. Shinano Kenshi is best known for its expertise in motor manufacturing.