Sharp shows off 35mm thin BDXL recorder at CEATEC, world doesn't stop to wonder why

Thinness in a portable device is an attribute worth coveting. Thinness of yet another layer in your home entertainment center hoagie, however, is a little bit less attractive -- at least it is when it comes with a big compromise. Such is the case with Sharp's thinnest Blu-ray recorder, just 35mm thick yet capable of writing to BD-R discs or the newer, pricier, 100GB BDXL discs. So far so good, but rather sadly to make that magic happen in a package so svelte the company has had to ditch the internal HDD that's common in these devices, the idea being you'll just write to BDXL's instead. Even with a stack of re-writeables at your disposal that's going to be a lot less convenient and a lot more expensive than having a good 'ol pile of platters spinning inside. Of course, with no price or release date given, it's possible that this reduction of internal hardware also comes with a reduction in cost, but as we all know it's pretty rare that a skinnier device costs less than its bigger boned brethren.