Small Is Beautiful

Apart from the regular CD-Rs that we are so used to seeing around us, there exists another breed of CD-Rs called mini CD-Rs, which has many innovative uses. Typically these mini discs are only 8cm in diameter as compared to 12cm of the regular discs.

Although their smaller size makes them more compact, and easy to carry around, it also means that they can’t hold as much data as the normal CDs. The maximum data they can hold is around

185 MB. Most CD-ROM and CD-Writer drives today support these smaller CDs, although older ones don’t. To check if your particular drive supports these mini discs open its tray and look for a smaller concentric groove. This is where the smaller CDs have to be placed. 

These mini CDs have also led to the development of a new range of products. One of these is a portable MP3 from Philips called the eXpanium. The smaller size of the discs meant that the player could also be designed in a much more compact form. And because it supported mini CDRs, you could burn your favorite MP3 from your PC and listen to them while on the road. And to top it all off, you don’t have to worry about the number of songs your MP3 player will be able to hold, as all the songs are stored externally on mini

CDRs. 

One more product we’ll look at is the Sony CDMavica digital camera. Most digicams in the market use internal memory to store images and video. This is a serious limitation, as you could take only a limited amount of pictures after which you’ll have to download them to your PC first and then take more snaps. Things are different with the Sony CDMavica. This camera makes use of a 8 cm CD-RW to store pictures and videos, and gives you around 156 MB of storage room per CD-RW. And if that is not enough space, you can always carry additional CD-RWs for a shoot. And finally the biggest advantage of this camera is that once you’re done taking pictures, you can directly place the disc into the CD drive on your system and transfer the images. 

Business-card sized CD-Rs



This is another type of mini CD-R, which has developed out of the original 8cm mini discs. These discs are basically the shape and size of a regular business card, that all of us have seen. However what’s different about them is that one of its sides can be used to store data. This storage space can be used to store your pictures, resume, presentations, your company’s profile or any thing else that you want. All the other person has to do now is pop it into any CD-ROM that supports 8cm discs, and he can access all the information stored in it. You also have the choice of using a sleeve cover so you can cover one side on the disc with your regular business card. 

Sachin Makhija