BluRay DVD burner for PC?

[Suhit Gupta]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news_10120.html' target='_blank'>http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news_10120.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Would you believe me if I tell you that there is a Pioneer DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, DVD-+DL and BR (BluRay) burner and that it's called BRD-101A? Well, you'd better, and here's the proof! A Korean site (that gets its news from a Chinese site) provides us pictures that this internal PC BluRay DVD burner really exists. Noteworthy is that this burner does not support CD's and DVD-RAM's."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/blurayburner.jpg" /><br /><br />Wow, so we finally have our first Blu-ray burner. It is interesting that the Blu-ray folks was able to get an OEM drive out before the HD-DVD guys. This is an odd/impressive drive - impressive in that it can do dual-layer DVD±R/RWs, and, of course, the next gen optical format; odd in that it can't do CDs. I guess there wasn't space for a third laser.

[Felix Torres]

It is interesting that the Blu-ray folks was able to get an OEM drive out before the HD-DVD guys.

Yes and no...

Do remember the BluRay drives and recorders have been around for over a year; they just weren't available as unbundled as retail bare drives for PCs...
...and that the read-only format coming in the PS3 etc is a very different creature called BD-ROM...

Most (all?) existing BluRay drives/recorders will be unable to read BD-ROM when it finally arrives in late 06...

HD-DVD is a single spec that is entering commercial content production right now for XMAS '05 delivery along with the compatible players (which at $999 per player I'll merrily pass on for now).

And, unlike Blu-Ray, HD-DVD is *not* targetting the PC burner market.
(Toshiba's announced laptop will have a reader, not burner, I believe).
In fact, if the studios and CE companies had their way, their would be no BD- or HD-DVD burner drives for the PC at all.

Good thing they *won't* get their way. :-)

[Philip Colmer]

I wonder how long it will be before we get some reviews, e.g. performance, etc ... and how long before we know how much the media is going to cost :roll:

For me, the shame of it all is that it has taken us a long time to get media like printable DVDs or the LightScribe discs and I can't help but think that we won't get the "fancy" media straight away.

Can't have everything, I suppose :-).

--Philip