Blue-Ray and HD DVD formats are next generation of optically burned disks.
So far, I have seen a few brands of Blue-Ray drives available for sale.
However, the competing HD DVD drives seem to be still a promise not yet to hit
the market.
Okay, what does this really mean to you. Blue-Ray drives can write
either to single or double sided disks, single sided being 25gigabytes and
double sided at 50gigabytes. Rather surprising and you surely are asking,
"Hey, Mystic... where can I get one of these new writer drives for my PC and what is it going to cost me?" The truth is... I have only found a couple of website that offer the single sided writer drive and the going price seems to be just under $1,000. The blank media is $20 for one 2 5gig blank disk, (not re-writable). You can tell we are at the bleeding edge of this technology, just like when DVDs or even 1.44mg floppies first became available. The sooner we have mass marketing of this
technology, the sooner the price will drop down to what we are currently paying
for DVD writer drives. Currently, I found the
Pioneer BDR-101A Blu-ray / 2x2x BD-R/RE / 8x4x8x DVD±R/RW / 2.4x+R DL / 2x-R DL / Blu-ray Disc Internal Writer at Tiger-Direct ready for shipment at $999.99.
You can also find the blank media available there.
Now, for the good news... Blue-Ray technology is backward
compatible with DVDs and CDs... so, we are only talking about one
drive for your PC that can read and/or write Blue-Ray, DVDs and CDs. The
HD DVD format is suppose to be coming soon, but as of this writing I have found
it available.
Any one who has seen a great HDTV knows that once you start watching TV in
HD, you don't want to go back to standard definition programming. Even the DVDs
that looked so crisp and clear when they were first introduced in 1996 seem to
fade in comparison. Along comes Blue-ray Disc and soon enough you'll be able to
get movies and other programs in HD from your local video retailer. Likewise,
you'll be able to record HD programming from your cable, satellite or TV antenna
to relive the "big game" as many times as you like. And, with a Blue-ray Disc
computer drive, you can store up to 50 gigabytes at a time when you back up your
data, photos, portable music files and home videos.
Specifications for
the Pioneer
BDR-101A PC drive
Cache Size
8 MB
BD-R Write
Speed
2X
BD-RE Write
Speed
2X
BD Read Speed
2X
DVD+R Write Speed
8X
DVD-R Write Speed
8X
Color
Beige
Interface Type
E-IDE
A Closer Look
Special Features
Blu-ray Disc delivers the capacity for the best possible high definition
audio and video quality.
HDTV provides six times more picture information than standard
definition TV so you don't miss a single detail. In order to do that, HDTV
requires more bits per second and more gigabytes per disc. So if you want
great HDTV, you'll also want a Blu-ray Disc player or recorder to watch
movies in HD and to record HDTV programming.
You'll find Blu-ray Disc hardware from Pioneer and nearly all other
consumer electronics companies.
In addition, the world's largest and best recognized computer companies
also support Blu-ray Disc, as well as the most popular video game
manufacturers.
Many major movie studios are planning to release their hottest new
titles on Blu-ray Disc as well.
Cache Size
