For those Mac users who just can't wait to start filling up those $20+ Blu-ray
writeables, the anticipation is just about over. Later this month, Japanese storage specialist
Logitec will begin shipping what's touted as the "world's first Mac-compatible" Blu-ray disc burner. While Blu-ray
burners for Windows-based machines have been popping up fairly frequently of late, OS X has been left out in the cold, (but considering the current price of Blu-ray media, we're assuming it hasn't been a total calamity). Nevertheless, the LBD-A2FU2/WM is an external 2x burner that will support DVD-RAM, DVD±R/RW, dual-layer DVD±R, CD-R / RW, and obviously BD-R / BD-RE discs. This FireWire / USB 2.0 combination drive supports PCs and Macs, and it's presumed that Roxio's Toast 7 Titanium software played a role in OS X getting its functionality groove on -- Roxio supposedly began offering Blu-ray drive makers a Mac-friendly version of the software, and sure enough, that's what you'll get with the Logitec. So for all you Mac fans who've felt a bit left behind, you can still get up to speed in just a couple weeks, but know it might cost you more than your MacBook (¥132,000 or $1,148), so you may want to think twice before cruising to Japan to pick one up.
posted Aug 2nd 2006 9:44PM
Manbearpig approves. He must die because he is the first.
If Toast 7 is all it takes then just get yourself a normal blu-ray burner and get the software.
If this drive does RAM and CD-R/RW (and all the rest) it MUST be a Panasonic SW-5582, which is the only drive that has a dual wave laser that can do CD/DVD/RAM plus blu-ray.
You can get that drive here:
http://www.slidirect.com/product43-105.html
Enclosure here:
http://www.slidirect.com/product27-42.html
Software here:
http://www.roxio.com/enu/store/mac.html
and all without going to Japan.
It's funny how Mac fans await news of technology being ported / adpated for their platforms. Us PC users get it on day 1.
Actually, most technology comes out on Macs first, not PCs. SCSI was on Macs first, USB, Firewire, etc, etc, etc. You need to learn your history.
Great one :)
Go Blu-Ray we need you :)
Strange...
Box is not accurate.
Im Japan, Logitech is branded as Logicool.
2x? It seems like writing 25 or 50 gigs at 2x would take... a while.
wAIT,
doesn't mac users first need dvd-r support?
Macs have had DVD+R support since back when iDVD and the "Super Drive" where the only way that a consumer machine could encode and burn a DVD. Macs were way ahead of the curve before DRM went crazy.
Now, microsoft is the only gateway to Blu-Ray on computers until the Linux community destroys the DRM. I can wait. Bittorrent will suffice until then.
To that guy who wondered about Macs that need DVD-R support, It's called the SuperDrive. It's been a staple in Macs for years.
Also, 2x means 2 times the original speed of the original Blu-Ray disc burner, if I recall correctly. It's kind of like a 52x CD-R burner and a 16x DVD one.