Laptop is Bringing Blue-ray Drive
Watching a Blu-ray movie in all its high-definition glory on your laptop may finally become an affordable prospect this year. Just don’t wander too far from a power outlet.
With HD-DVD dead and buried, computer makers are moving to Blu-ray. Dell is now offering 15.4-inch laptop with a Blu-ray drive for less than $900–impressive since some standalone Blu-ray players still cost nearly as much. HP, Acer and Asus are also offering laptops with Blu-ray drives.
Optiarc (the joint optical drive company formed by Sony and NEC) has introduced a “low-price” Blu-ray writer for laptops, the BC-5500A. The drive also supports burning of CDs and dual layer DVDs. The source now confirms that the drive will retail for $335.
The added capacity that Blu-ray (25GB per layer) and HD DVD (15GB per layer) discs provide over standard DVDs (4.7GB per layer) isn’t reason enough for those with expansive data archiving needs to pony up for a pricey drive. But if you are a digital content creator or a media producer working with high-definition video, such an investment starts to make sense. Or perhaps you just want a big desktop replacement laptop with a razor-sharp 1080p resolution–and want to use your laptop to export HD video to your HDTV–and you’re prepared to spend a fair amount to get it.
Source: CNET and ZDNET
Filed under Hardware