Freecom in Cebit 2001

Recorders

Freecom had an impressive booth in Cebit 2001 among with new interesting models...

- Freecom Traveller II CDR-W/DVD combo

The new drive supports 8x writing, 4x re-writing, 24x reading (CD) and 8x reading (DVD). Freecom follows the Multi Connect System so you can easily connect to USB, FireWire/ i. LINK, CardBus, PCMCIA and Parallel Port (and soon USB-2) and comes in 2 colours (dark blue and grey). The attached CDR software comes from Roxio (Ez CD Creator for PC, Toast for MAX) and for DVD playback the famous "PowerDVD". The new, pluggable power module provides up to 6 hours of power for all second generation Traveller drives when used on the go. The integrated power management system regulates the power supply and recharging processes. The external mains adaptor, the PCMCIA or CardBus connection cables also supply power to the unit.

- Freecom Portable II CDR-W

Freecom presented in Cebit their new line of portable recorders. The specification of the drive differs from the interface, which is used. For example with USB connection you have a 4/4/24 CDR-W, with PCMCIA you can have an 8/4/32 and with FireWire/USB 2.0 a 12/10/32 enabled with BURN-Proof anti-coaster technology. The Portable series includes CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD and CD-RW/DVD combination drive. Power is supplied via the mains adaptor, which is delivered as standard. All drives in the series include the appropriate connecting cables - all CD-RW drives come with the Roxio EASY CD Creator and Direct CD for PC recording software and Roxio Toast software for Macintosh in the USB and FireWire package as standard. Mixman music software from Steinberg has been included for all recorders.

- Freecom Beatman

Another portable MP3 player?..Not exactly:

"...Freecom introduces the Freecom Beatman Mini CD/MP3 player, the first of its kind. It is small size, hardly bigger than the Mini CD medium itself, and it is low weight make it the perfect music device to carry with you. The Freecom Beatman meets all standards you can expect from a portable CD/MP3 player. The high-quality technology and the 40-seconds anti-shock mechanism ensure continuous trouble free playing. You won't miss a beat!

Create your own mini CD-R
1. Download music files from the internet or convert your CDs into compressed audio format.
2. Burn up to 210 minutes of music on one Mini CD-R- with your CD writer.
3. Play your music on your beatman and exchange your songs with friends..."

The idea behind the new Mp3 player is very nice. The 8cm media costs around 1.5-1.8$ which is much lower than what flash memory cards cost. Also the BeatMan player price is around 135$ and we must admit that it looks wonderful!

The 8cm Freecom sample media comes from Ritek and can be written in all CDR-W drives (did have you had noticed the smaller inner circle in your CDR-W drive tray?). The maximum overburn time is around 21.15min and 8cm RW media will be also out (not sure if the Freecom BeatMan will support it):

ATIP: 97m 31s 07f
Disc Manufacturer: Ritek Co.
Assumed Dye type: Phthalocyanine (Type 7)
Media type: CD-Recordable
Recording Speeds: min. unknown - max. unknown
nominal Capacity: 186.47MB (21m 15s 00f / LBA: 95475)