The First Blu-ray Burner, Pioneer's BDR-101A 181
mikemuch writes "ExtremeTech has a review of Pioneer's BDR-101A-- the first Blu-ray burner available. The drive can do anything with CDs, is kind of slow with DVDs, and doesn't support double-density Blu-ray media, but hey, it's a start, and can burn 25GB in 42 minutes. Check out its burn speed benchmark performance at the link above."
Why burn just 1? (Score:5, Interesting)
...when you can set up your own distribution center: Engadget has a peek at Primera's mass Blu-ray duplication system [engadget.com]
Primera has started shipping the world's first Blu-ray disc duplication system, the Bravo XR-Blu Disc Publisher, able to burn up to 50 discs in one session. The core of the unit is actually Pioneer's recently announced BDR-101A Blu-ray burner, but it's backed up by some sweet built-in robotics to keep the discs moving (we hope -- we've heard this things are a little buggy) and full-color direct-to-disc inkjet printing to ensure a professional-looking job. This being the first unit of its kind, however, it should come as no surprise that it only uses single-layer discs, able to store a measly 25 GB, but Primera says an upgrade will be available "shortly" to allow for dual-layer burning. And if you thought regular, single-disc Blu-ray burners were expensive, you better look away now, 'cause this beast will set you back a whopping $5295.
Sounds like we'll be seeing surprisingly cheap Blu-ray movies on Ebay any day now.
Video (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Why bother? (Score:3, Interesting)
Piffle (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Can't read CD media? (Score:3, Interesting)
Licensing fees.
growisofs (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:From the last flamefest... (Score:4, Interesting)
Blah. Sony may be screwing up this format launch so far, but I really hope they pick up the ball on this. Since it'll be at least another 5-10 years before another optical format emerges, I'd hate to see HD DVD be the one we're stuck with for that duration...
Concurrency (Score:4, Interesting)
Is it just me, or were there a LOT more DVD players and DVD media in enduser hands, before the announcement of DVD burners?
It's almost like they (yes, the perjorative and mysterious 'they') want to have it both ways.. sell the stamped media, the blank media, and the hardware all at once - yet you *know*, from recent demonstrations, that they are geared up to protect any potential infringement of copyrights.
Or is this just how things work, these days?
Re:Incredible! (Score:5, Interesting)
- $1995 price tag
- Could only record 650MB CD's, and at 2x speed
- Blank CD's started at $20 to $25 each.
- Could not handle rewritables, as there were none.
- No buffer underrun protection (i.e., $20+ coasters)
- The Pinnacle Micro drive I had came with super-beta software,
so you were guaranteed to get one of those pricey
coasters for every dozen disks.
The Blue Ray drive doesn't sound bad at all, in comparison. Expect media price to plummet as soon as there's competition, and expect the drives prices to drop 400% within 3 years.
With $1000 as its pricetag.. (Score:2, Interesting)
DVD(HD) on DVD5,DVD9,DVD20,DVD45 no HD-DRM (Score:5, Interesting)
Here are the steps to follow:
1. Upscale your DVD collection, writing using standard DVD's, in the DVD format, except enhanced for resolution, and perhaps formats (Perhaps Theora, DivX, MP4, in addition to MPEG2).
Call this DVD-HD.
2. Find a player that plays these DVD-HD discs. Buy this player.
3. When/If you find a commercial disc encoded with "DVD-HD", buy it as well.
4. Remember, don't buy the other HD-DRM discs (Unless it has be worked-around)
5. You can buy a DVD20 or DVD45 writer for data backups.
6. If a "DVD-HD" player is sold that plays "DVD20-HD" or DVD45-HD", buy this player.
7. Or just use VLC on a PC.
8. When/If you find a commercial DVD20 or DVD45 disc encoded with "DVD-HD", buy it as well.
0. If you bought into HD-DRM-DVD, then you expect the next step to be expiring media, then rentals only . Have fun.
Re:Incredible! (Score:2, Interesting)
It appears young people today have no idea of how much IT costs have plummeted in the last few years. To me the Bluray player/recorder or even the (shock, horror) PS3 is cheap for what it can do, especially if you compare it against older technology and like it or not DVD is older technology. Like the CD the DVD is going to be around a while and even then Blueray and I think HD DVD players will still support it so you won't loose your old movie libraries. Now VHS libraries - well that is a different matter.
Re:Wow (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:With $1000 as its pricetag.. (Score:4, Interesting)
Tom
Re:Wow (Score:3, Interesting)
While I do agree that it makes sense to have some "near line" backup solution, it is by no means a replacement for tapes and CD/DVD/Blu-Ray. Remember this is first gen, heck it is first. DVD burners cost $2,000 when they were released. Having said that, it would be very nice to backup all my pictures to one of these babies as opposed to the current 3 DVD's it takes now.
Now having said that, I also agree that for me it isn't worth the cost.... yet. When the duel layer blu ray players hit, and they drop to around $500 or less then I will buy one.
Why Blue Ray should win over HD-DVD (Score:3, Interesting)
The Last Samurai: 28GB,
Mel Brooks's Blazing Saddles: 26GB,
The Phantom of the Opera: 25GB,
Jarhead: 25GB.
The Bourne Identity: 23GB
Serenity: 20GB,
The Fugitive: 18GB,
Doom 17GB.
None of these movies could fit in a single layer HD-DVD, and some came very close to filling up the double sided one. Current capacity (double layer), Blue Ray: 50GB, HD-DVD: 30GB. but that's just the beginning. The highest achieved for the 2 formats: Blue Ray: 100GB, HD-DVD: 45GB. The theoretical max: Blue Ray 200GB, HD-DVD: 60GB. I'm really surprised that M$ and Inter support HD-DVD, obviously the Blue Ray has a lot more to offer capacity wise.