We've seen the
first wave of Blu-ray burners receive their
appropriate testing, and while most were deemed satisfactory, all demanded a mighty (and most likely unworthy) pricetag for such sluggish write speeds. Plextor's
PX-B900A sports the same ultraslow 2x write speeds for both single and dual-layer BD-R / BD-RE discs, but offered decent burning speeds for the "other formats." PC World was most impressed with this particular drive's ease of installation -- something
other drives haven't exactly provided -- and the fleshed-out bundle of software that comes packed in. Reviewers were thoroughly pleased with the inclusion of Blu-ray
movie playback software, as well as the video editing / authoring and packet writing programs. While they were none too pleased with the
$999 price, they did feel that the cost was
somewhat more justified thanks to the smattering of great software that came along with it, and crowned it "a solid value" if you just can't wait another day to pick up an internal
Blu-ray burner.
posted November 28th 2006 5:12AM
I like this one the most.
Here are the other BD drives:
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=2615
You know.. I love my HD DVD player, but I'm starting to wonder if HD DVD will still be #1 (yes dave you can't deny it has better pq and sq than BD) after 2015. I've seen more BD players and burners than HD DVD's. Oh well if BD does win at least I've been enjoying HD movies way before other people. I wonder why people dont mind Sony owning and controlling all media.
Meh. I can wait. I can wait. I can wait.
As an early-adopter of every past format's burners (CD-R, DVD-R, Dual-layer DVD) I need to keep repeating this to myself...
Seriously though, I have no desire to get a Blu-ray burner yet. I can easily wait for the price to drop.
Ed: I'll disagree with your statement that PQ and SQ are better on HD DVD. The Panny is the best HD player out there. Period. And Blu-ray content has gotten up to speed now.
Also, the reason you are going to be seeing so much more Blu-ray hardware is simply because so many more big manufacturers support the format.
Samsung and LG officially dropping (rumored) plans to support HD DVD or rather Hybrid Blu-ray/HD DVD hardware two weeks ago pretty much ended all hopes from the HD DVD side that they could possibly catch up on hardware manufacturers' support.
Thanks!
What Joel L. is writing is true. 100% true!
"I wonder why people dont mind Sony owning and controlling all media."
That's the same as saying that Toshiba owns DVD and HD DVD (since they're the primary backer). In this case, BD wasn't even a Sony lone-wolf effort. They'd been working with Philips and Pioneer for years on blue-laser tech. I'd be more worried about Microsoft (a monopoly proven in several courts) than Sony at this point.
"you can't deny it has better pq and sq than BD"
Really? A/V experts disagree with you:
http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/hd-dvd-bluray/1927/shootout-3-blu-ray-disc-players-page9.html
"The comparisons I made of the same movies on Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD showed the competing formats to be capable of delivering equal quality in all respects, including picture sharpness, stability, and depth. Granted, the main disc that I used for that test, Mission: Impossible III, is an exemplary transfer of a recent movie. But it puts to bed the notion that the controversial decision by Sony Pictures and other studios to use MPEG-2 instead of newer video compression formats like VC-1 and MPEG-4 AVC was a fatal one."