The Countess The big downside is the write once

The Countess

The big downside is the write once. I think Blu-Ray is like DVD-Ram so it can probably be used for recording TV shows with timeslip. Is this really that interesting a topic that we need 26 pages on it? Im just waiting for one to dominate so I can pick products to buy, like DVD/ R and betamax/vhs. Other than that theres no point in even speculating No its not that interesting. But before I put my money on something I like to know what Im getting in the deal. ; No its not that interesting. I guess it depends. For me this has been really good. A lot of information has been posted here, for both sides. I have learned a lot in the whole process. Plus, I personally like talking and reading about tech. I am sure this thread will go on for a good while longer, while the first gen stuff is getting worked out. There is something to be said for sticking to your guns if you have a superior product. At least thats what Sony demonstrably believes judging by its recent policies on pricing. PlayStation 3 will be by far the most expensive gaming platform but Sony makes no apology because it believes, despite assertions to the contrary, that it can wipe the floor with Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. Likewise, Sony is convinced that its Blu-ray technology is set to win the high definition video stakes and there are signs that the HD DVD backers know it. When Sony lost the last video war a few decades back to an inferior technology it must have really hurt. This time round, however, history does not look set to repeat itself. The first Blu-ray players have come out on the market from Samsung, three months behind the first Toshiba HD DVD players and at double the price. However, whereas Samsung is almost certainly selling its players at a profit, technology analysts assert that Toshiba must be selling its units at about US200 below cost. The upshot of this is that the early Blu-ray players, though expensive, are correctly priced, whereas the early HD DVD The Countess are irrationally and unsustainably priced. Sony also has an ace up its sleeve with PS 3, which will include a Blu-ray player on board. It is no secret that Sony intends to ship millions of its PS3 players at a staggering loss of up to US400 per unit. However, Sony, unlike Toshiba, is also in the content business and can recoup those losses through the sale of games. For Sony, PS 3 is a flagship platform and the stakes are high. It has put everything into the integration of Blu-ray with PS 3 so it cannot afford to lose the high definition video war, which is why it probably wont. Toshiba, by contrast, appears to be dipping its toe in the water with HD DVD. It has squandered the opportunity it had by being first to market with the technology and there are indications that HD DVD players that only enable 30 GB of storage per disk are not demonstrably cheaper to manufacture than Blu-ray players which store 50 GB. In addition, Sony has a well planned strategy of getting Blu-ray into the hands of millions of early adopter consumers at a reasonable price through the sale of PS 3 units. Toshiba has no discernable equivalent strategy. It is in the face of these undeniable facts, that we hear noises coming from Toshibas president Atsutoshi Nichida calling for unification of the two competing formats. The rhetoric is most likely political speak because there is nothing in it for Sony to accept such a compromise. Sony has burned all its bridges and committed itself to the hilt to Blu-ray. Toshiba on the other hand has just revealed that it is only luke warm on the prospect of fighting a protracted and expensive battle with a committed and formidable competitor. Thus, we may even see at sometime in the future, when the economy of scales is in place, the release of Toshiba Blu-ray players. Plextor has launched its first Blu-ray drive the PX-B900A. The internal ATAPI re-writer drive is capable of writing and re-writing Blu-ray discs at 2x BD-R and BD-RE up to a maximum capacity of 25GB for single layer and 50GB for dual-layer. Rudy De Meirsman, Sales Marketing Manager of Plextor Europe, says: We are delighted to be launching our first Blu-ray device. Plextor has a long history in providing premium, high reliability optical drives and the new PX-B900A is no exception. This launch The Countess the start of a family of Plextor drives utilising Blu-ray technology. The PX-B900A not only uses the latest Blu-ray technology, but is also a dual-layer DVD drive that combines multiple formats DVD/-R/RW and RAM into one. It can accept both 12cm and 8cm discs in the horizontal position and has a large 8MB buffer to ensure there is no data interruption. Write speeds: 2x BD-R/BD-RE, 8x DVDR/-R/RW, 6x DVD-RW, 4x DVDR/-R DL, 5x DVD-RAM, 24x CD-R and 16x CD-RW.