DVD-ROM drives currently are priced between $75 to $200. Price differences often relate to the speed (how fast it accesses the data) of the drive. DVD can have different capacities ranging from 4.7 to 17 Gigabytes vs 650 Megabytes (or 0.650 Gigabytes) for CD-ROMs learn more here: http://peripherals.about.com/compute/peripherals/library/weekly/aa062099.htm a good site to learn about DVD: http://peripherals.about.com/compute/peripherals/cs/dvdinfo/index.htm A faq sheet on DVD: http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html specific to DVD-ROM http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html#2 oranikae(a)dot.state.al.us asks, "Will this DVD Drive not be able to read CTPP data on DVD?" Your DVD-ROM drive should be able to read CTPP data on DVD *************************************************************** Mark J. Sarmiento (202.366.4828) Office of Intermodal & Statewide Programs Federal Highway Administration http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hep10 mark.sarmiento(a)fhwa.dot.gov **************************************************************** A lot of e-mail discussing DVD-reader has come my way. Someone suggests the DVD reader costs $7,000 now,having come down from the initial price of about $15,000. This makes me wonder whether the computer I purchased last year with DVD reader (4.8X DVD ROM Drive) is different from what you guys are talking about. It is a Gateway GP7-500 with DVD Drive, CD Read/Write, Zip Drive, and 31/2 Floppy Drive). This was purchased for a little over $3,00.00. Will this DVD Drive not be able to read CTPP data on DVD? -----Original Message----- From: Elaine Murakami [mailto:Elaine.Murakami@igate.fhwa.dot.gov] Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2000 1:57 PM To: CTpp-news(a)chrispy.net Subject: [CTPP] data on DVD 1. Yes, I agree that everyone should be putting a computer with a DVD-reader into their computer budgets for 2002/2003. By then, the costs will be much lower than today's prices. 2. While some CTPP may be released on DVD, the greatest likelihood is that initial data release will be on CDs. The general concept is that initial data release will be on CD, but when there is complete data for the nation, it may fit on 1 or 2 DVDs and would be "re-released."