Pioneer's BDC-2202 $300 Blu-ray drive heads for the States
By Paul Miller 
posted May 2nd 2007 1:26PM
posted May 2nd 2007 1:26PM
No more gazing jealously across the Pacific as those Chinese consumers gobble up cheap-as-free BDC-S02 Blu-ray drives from Pioneer. The new BDC-2202 will be available in the US next month, and can read Blu-ray at 5x, Blu-ray dual layer at 2x and reads and writes to DVDs and CDs as well. Unfortunately, the BDC-2202 leaves out Blu-ray burning, which might be a deal breaker for some, and a complete non-issue for others. If you're just in it for the playback side of things, the BDC-2202 seems the way to go -- until something cheaper comes out next month, of course.
I wonder if it comes packed with playback software... I would hope so or you're gonna be spending another $100 (or downloading illegally)
Kris, compare apples to apples, bud! The HD-DVD drive you mention still does not WRITE ANY format. Also, according to the Costco website, they are selling the HD-DVD drive for $169 NOT $72. So basically it is a $15 CD-ROM drive that just happens to also read HD-DVD. Here is an example of how you "could" compare the actual prices of the HD portion of each drive if we remove the associated costs of the non-HD parts, making a few cost/price assumptions:
$300 Blu-Ray Drive - $50 DVD/CD Recorder = $250 for the BD portion
$169 x360 HD-DVD - $15 DVD/CD reader = $154 for the HD-DVD portion
BD = 1.6x HD-DVD drive
Yes, the HD-DVD drive still appears to be a better deal than the BD drive (62% of the price), but it is not MAGNITUDES (25% of the price) better. Also, keep in mind that Costco does not charge retail, and the BD price quoted was retail - so the numbers above could actually be closer when the drive actually ships and is street discounted.
So, please don't act like a fanboy, simply stating that it seems expensive without making up some bogus numbers on an Xbox 360 drive would have been adequate.
Add in the cost for an external case as well..
Not that it would change it by that much..
Let me know when it writes. I already have a fine NEC writer for CDs and DVDs; don't need another.
Does anyone really want to write to Blu-Ray or HD-DVD??? The cost of the writable DISC media is sure to be outrageous for the near future no matter how cheap the drive is. Writable Blu-Ray Disc are $20 for the 25 GB.
At that cost...hard drives are a much cheaper option as you can get a half Terabyte for around $200. You would need to buy (20) 25 GB Blu-Ray writable disc to match a Terabyte...the disc alone at $20 a piece would cost $400 total....and that's not including the Blu-Ray Drive that would be another $300-$1000. And the Lord help you if somewhere along the way of burning a 25 Gig disc...the data gets corrupted and you just blew $20!
Just makes absolutely no sense right now.
Kris: I would like to see how you can get an Xbox 360 HD Drive for $72 at Costco.
Their website lists it at $189.
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11178160&whse=BC&topnav=&browse=&s=1
Care to share?
This Blu-ray-drive is quite cheap indeed. It includes software to play Blu-ray movies as Pioneer press release says "It comes bundled with media software that ensures compatibility with commercially released Blu-ray Disc movies."
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/pg/press/release/detail/0,,2076_310069589_439711429,00.html
Kris is correct that HD-DVD is cheaper than BD, but hey this BDC-202 is pretty cheap for BD! I've not seen another BD drive for less that about $400 anywhere, although admittedly these drives could write BD discs as well as read them. I would also guess that Kris is right about HD-DVD drives being "as little as" $72 at Costco, since different Costco's set their prices differently, so no, B.D.ize, you can't go by the Costco website alone. Also, check ebay on the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive prices. I saw $80 for an internal version recently. I paid a little over $100 for my external Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive a couple months ago with an included disc and hooked it to a PC. It looks beautiful with 1080p playback on a fast PC with a fast video card. Yes, you do have to spend roughly an extra $100 on playback software if you go with the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive. Make sure you have sufficient PC hardware before you buy it or you may be looking a some major hardware upgrades for you PC to get it working. I would guess that Pioneer will include playback software with the BDC-202 for $300, but I've heard this drive is for OEM and system builder at this point, so I still don't know where I can buy this and exactly what I will get with it. Anybody? That will make it more like $200 for HD-DVD playback on a PC and $300 for BD playback on a PC.
So, in summary, BD and HD-DVD readers for PCs are great. There are now (or within a month) pretty good prices (sub $300) for both formats, with HD-DVD being a little cheaper but BD offering a little more content from most stores. So, whatever your format choice is, let's go get them and finally start enjoying HD movies via HD discs!
Well, for a ton of people that are looking at making HDPCs to handle PVR and movie watching duties, a Player is all that is needed.
Writing would be nice, but I agree that disc cost makes it a somewhat foolish endeavor at this point.
And yes, once playback software is considered the Price is Very competitive.