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Sony intros $200 Blu-ray drive for PCs

Sony intros $200 Blu-ray drive for PCs.
CES 2008
By Henning Molbaek
 FIRST ONLINE Jan 7, 2008
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Sony will start shipping a $200 Blu-ray drive for PCs this month.

The BDU-X10S drive features a Serial ATA (SATA) interface and standard 5.25-inch form-factor for easy installation inside contemporary desktop PCs running the Microsoft® Windows Vista™ or Windows XP operating system.

It is worth mentioning that the press release indicates that you need "an HD computer display connected to the PC with an HDMI™ connection" for HD playback. So be sure to check your graphics card before buying.

Press Release:
LAS VEGAS (CES Booth #14200), Jan. 6, 2008 – Sony Electronics today announced an internal BD-ROM drive that can upgrade an existing desktop computer into a high-definition Blu-ray Disc™ player, as well as a DVD and a CD player.

The new BDU-X10S BD-ROM drive comes with CyberLink´s PowerDVD BD Edition software for playback of commercial movie titles, recorded Blu-ray Disc home videos, DVD-ROMs and CD-ROMs.

"The BD-ROM drive´s sub-$200 price tag offers consumers a very viable option to discover and enjoy the nearly 500 high-definition Blu-ray Disc movies released to date," said Bob DeMoulin, marketing manager for branded storage products in Sony Electronics´ IT Products Division.

"PC-based DVD-ROM drives helped accelerate mass DVD adoption, primarily because they were the least costly way to experience the technology," said Wolfgang Schlichting, research director, removable storage at IDC. "Similarly, we expect sub-$200 PC-based BD-ROM drives to be a driver for cost-conscious consumers to experience Blu-ray Disc high-definition video technology."

The BDU-X10S drive features a Serial ATA (SATA) interface and standard 5.25-inch form-factor for easy installation inside contemporary desktop PCs running the Microsoft® Windows Vista™ or Windows XP operating system.

The included CyberLink PowerDVD BD Edition software also supports playback of recorded Blu-ray Discs in MPEG-2 or H.264 format, standard DVD-Video discs or recorded DVDs encoded with MPEG-2 or AVCHD formats.

For high-definition viewing, an HD computer display connected to the PC with an HDMI™ cable is required.

News Comments ::


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Monday, January 7, 2008
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Member since:
October 2007
Geeze.. So... $200 for the drive alone to put in a $1000+ PC THEN need a videocard w/ HDMI out? What a joke.
Monday, January 7, 2008
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Member since:
January 2008
I'm tired of forums!

[Post edited by Mr_Anderson on Jan 7, 2008]
Monday, March 31, 2008
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Member since:
June 2006
Noticed that Best Buy's 3/30 Sunday adv featured a Gateway PC with a HD-DVD/Blu-ray drive (and more) for just $1149 after discounts. Significant drop in price, considering that any PC with a Blu-ray drive in last year models was usually priced about $2000+ (if remembering correctly). Perhaps by Christmas they will be under $1000... of course Apple iMacs will cost more whenever they get a BD drive.

-JIMI (the Voodoo Child)
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
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Member since:
September 2007
i have several more then powerful pcs around the house. being in IT.

..... i think bluray playback in a pc is a joke. i mean you either spend too much updating you system -for those that need it- to then buy a big monitor or plug to your tv. then worry about software etc. and the remote control thing is also there.

I mean i would buy one, just to play my movies in the computer room. but no where near what i want as an experience for main movie watching. i much rather buy a cheap blu player.

but hey thats just me.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
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Member since:
November 2007
Yeah well I don't think most people watch movies on their PC anyways. The $200 drive will appeal to those who want to back up their discs onto hard-drive or blank media....count me as one of those people.

I have a program that will make perfect Blu Ray copies onto either Blu Ray discs or multiple DL DVD discs.

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