 New fast external CD burner and multi-format flash card reader.
Following on from its announcement of a Firewire and USB 2.0-equipped external CD burner earlier this year, LaCie has announced an alternative model, called the Fusion USB 2.0 CD-ReWriter. The new drive is extra light and compact thanks to its aluminium construction. Its dimensions are 35x130x173 mm and it weighs just 570g. Connected to a USB 2.0-equipped host computer, the LaCie Fusion drive can burn a whole CDR in about 4 minutes. It will also work with more universal USB1.1 interfaces at a more modest pace. If you think such a drive will cost an arm and a leg, the £129 price tag is a pleasant surprise, though that it is excluding VAT. "The LaCie Fusion is incredibly good value for money: it's fast, reliable, easy to use and yet elegantly designed." said George Leptos, UK General Manager "It is unique on the market: because it is both compact and affordable, it is aimed at both laptop and desktop computer users."  A new LaCie product we overlooked last month is its USB Hexa Media Drive (right), a rather fancy name for a multi-format flash memory card. It’s compatible with SmartMedia, CompactFlash, IBM Microdrive, Sony Memory Stick, SD Memory Card and MultiMediaCard media, and will work with Macs and PCs.
The media drive is priced £39 excluding VAT. Media viewerAlso worth mentioning is LaCie’s new Media Viewer. The LaCie Media Viewer can display images contained in three types of media on Mac or PC via USB interface, or you can connect the Media Viewer to a TV. A remote control handset lets you move freely and present digital content without the need for a laptop or desktop computer. The LaCie Media Viewer supports CompactFlash, SmartMedia, and Microdrive memory cards, and is compatible with Mac OS 8.6, 9.0, 9.0.4, 9.1, and Mac OS X; and Windows 98/98 SE, 2000 and Me, and Windows XP. www.lacie.co.uk
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