YAMAHA CRW-70 "SPYDER" 12X SLIMLINE HIGH-SPEED CD-RW RECORDER RECEIVES RAVE REVIEW FROM CDRLABS

BUENA PARK, CA (September 25, 2001)—The CRW-70 does extremely well in CDRlab's review of the Slimline CD-RW recorder. The "Spyder" is the industry's first 12X high-speed, slim profile, compact CD-RW recorder featuring the new USB 2.0 interface. CDRlabs commends CRW-70 which is designed with a sleek, high-tech look that is barely 7 in. long and 5.5 in. wide with a profile (height) of about 1 inch. It can record a CD-R disc at 12X, rewrite a CD-RW disc at 8X, read any CD at up to 24X and rip audio CDs at a maximum speed of 24X.

"Overall, I give the drive a perfect 10 for the installation section."

To compare Spyder's performance to any other "compact-style" competitor drives, it's important to know that the majority of competitor drives currently feature speeds of up to 4X for both CD-R and CD-RW recording, while few new models feature 8X recording. Yamaha's new Spyder is, in effect, 50 percent to 200 percent faster than any slimline CD-RW recorder out there!

The CRW-70 also features Yamaha's exclusive SafeBurn™ Buffer Management system to prevent buffer underruns, making it one of the world's most reliable CD-R/RW recorders. Also included is Yamaha's PurePhase Laser System™, which reduces glare during CD-R recording up to 25 percent below conventional levels, improving CD recording time and reducing errors.

Encased in a stylish, high quality, titanium-colored durable case, the CRW-70 has a top-opening design, resembling most of the portable CD players in the market today. This convenient design allows quick and full access to the disc, and is much safer than slot feed or pop out tray designs.

"To design our new Spyder, we focused heavily on the trend that lifestyle-oriented products are gaining increasing popularity, just like they did in the home audio business a few years ago," states Allen H. Gharapetian, general manager, Yamaha Multimedia Products Division. "Our CRW-70 not only performs above and beyond any slimline CD-RW recorder in the market, it also looks great when placed next to any new desktop or notebook product."

Another exclusive feature that Yamaha has built into the Spyder is an MP3 Playback mode, designed for today's extensive MP3-driven music uses. The CRW-70 comes with built-in hardware decoding for MP3 playback, allowing the user to play hundreds of hours of music from a single data CD. The software suite included in the product package features both encoding and decoding of MP3 and other condensed music formats.

The CRW-70 can also be used as a stand-alone CD player. Yamaha includes all necessary control buttons on the unit itself, allowing it to function as a CD player without the need to be connected to a PC. In addition, the CRW-70 is able to play back up to 300 MP3 titles from a CD, effectively functioning as a practical MP3 jukebox.

Yamaha's Spyder connects to desktop and notebook computers via the new USB 2.0 interface. USB 2.0 is fully compatible with the industry standard USB 1.1 interface, but it can handle data transfer rates at up to 480 Mbps, 40 times faster than USB 1.1 interface. While CRW-70 is designed to take advantage of the increase in bandwidth and deliver 12X recording, it can reliably record at 4X using a standard USB 1.1 port.

"USB 1.1 interface ports have been standard equipment in most IBM compatible PCs and Macintosh computers, including desktops and notebooks models, for about five years," states Gharapetian. "USB 2.0 delivers data transfer speeds comparable to FireWire, but the fact that it is compatible with USB 1.1 interface makes the potential market for this product exponentially larger."

For product and sales information, contact Yamaha Electronics Corporation, Multimedia Products Division, 6660 Orangethorpe Avenue, Buena Park, CA 90620; www.yamaha.com; telephone (714) 522-9011.