Philips' JackRabbit32 DVD/CD-RW External Drive

James Bell writes "Designtechnica.com has just posted a brief first look of Philips new JackRabbit32 external DVD/CD-RW drive. This appears to be the first information leaked on the net about this product from what I can tell. This drive has multiple video out ports for hook up to a television or other video sources. There is also Dolby Digital 5.1 support as well as USB 2.0 and Firewire support. The drive can also play audio or MP3 CD's as well. Since the decoder is onboard, it should be easy to get the Jackrabbit32 to run under Linux I would imagine."

Comments

How quaint.

[peterb]

A DVD/CD-RW? That's sooooooooooooooooo 2001!

I'm holding out for DVD-R/CD-RW's, like Apple's Superdrive, baby.

Hey, great, a commercial!

[User 956]

Nice to see the Slashdot Advertising policy in full effect.

Re:price

[Malicious]

Some people will spend $600+ on a videocard that will last 2 months, before there's a bigger, faster, better version... yet a DVD/CDRW Drive that will kick ass for 6-12 months, and still be highly functional for years to come, is too expensive at $300....

Go fig.

What about...

[cyt0plas]

Forget that, I want a CD/LP-RW)
How about an external 8-Track reader/8 inch floppy drive (with USB support)?

Video output?

[Osty]

If this thing doesn't do component video output and preferably progressive scan video, then it's not worth the price. I already have a stand-alone DVD player that does DD5.1, DTS, and all of the lesser Dolby types, progressive scan video, etc. And it has a cool blue LED. I already have several DVD-ROMs in my PCs, and I have a CD-R (bah, who needs CD-RW?). In other words, this thing is pretty useless, because the people that would be buying it likely already have all of the functionality it can provide and more.

You're not going to see Joe Sixpack picking this thing up at the store for $300, because he can get a decent DVD player for half of that, and he doesn't have a computer with USB2.0 anyway. You're not going to see the technically savvy pick this up either, because they already have the separate components this thing replaces. No, this is going to appeal to the "toy" market (which is not a bad thing, and in fact they could get away with charging much more than $300, but it's really not going to go anywhere mainstream).

Does this really cross over?

[ianscot]

The included remote will also prove useful here, and help it compete with stand alone DVD players.

This'll work on your computer and your TV, but it doesn't really join them up in any sense. You'd think they'd try to make it more of a bridge between one box and the other, the TV and the computer, rather than just a hybrid device at a price. Seems like the idea is using it separately as a stand-alone DVD player, with that remote and all. (They let you "configure the drive" with the remote hooked to a dumb monitor. Not sure what you'd be configuring.)

I dunno... Do you want to go upstairs and pull plugs behind the computer to watch a movie on the TV with this in the living room? I don't know anyone who plays DVDs on their PlayStation, and that's already hooked up. (Does anyone have their TV right next to the computer shrine? Outside of dorm rooms and those who already own video editing setups?)