Lite-on’s $59 Blu-ray Drive

[mdntcallr]

Lite-on’s $59 Blu-ray Drive
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http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Lite-on/HD_Gear/Computer_Hardware/Industry_Trends/Lite-on%E2%80%99s_$59_Blu-ray_Drive/3069

Blu-ray just keeps getting cheaper

It’s official, we’re not buying that “Blu-ray is too expensive” excuse anymore. Sure, expensive Blu-ray players exist; they’re for people that know why they’re expensive and are willing to pay the premium. For the rest of consumer America, there’s the Lite-on internal Blu-ray drive.

It’s not the fanciest thing in the world, and a lot of the video quality will be dependent on your computer. The drive doesn’t automatically make everything high def, you need to have a rig that can handle the appropriate resolution, but it’s not a bad option.

The drive has an 8x read speed, a 250ms access time, and comes with Power DVD 8, and is available on electronics websites everywhere.

[jessica.]

You should quote the article since not a word of your post is original.

[Tallest Skil]

Licensing. Not drives.

[Eidorian]

I might be picking up one of those soon.

[mdntcallr]

Sorry at this point it is ridiculous that Apple doesn't support Blu-Ray. People, speak up and let Apple know, WE WANT BLU-RAY.

Time for consumers to have a choice instead of Apple deciding for us. Like many of us here, I love Mac's and Mac software, and even itunes and apple tv.

But many of us also buy BD discs and want to be able to access them on our mac's, both portable and desktop.

Please apple, start listening to consumers

[geoffreak]

Please apple, start listening to consumers

90%+ of consumers don't give a crap about Blu-ray.

[MTI]

Yes, I can't begin to estimate how many times I've seen potential buyers of Apple computers storm out the door because there were no Blu-Ray drives!

Rise up all you silly buyers of soon to be out-dated optical disks, rise up!

[upinflames900]

I would like to see blue ray on apple in the near term future. It is definitely being put into PCs so why not in macs? At least make it an option especially as prices continue to drop as posted by the OP.

[armoguy94]

90%+ of consumers don't give a crap about Blu-ray.

That is not true, at all. I'm sure, actually, that the vast majority of consumers with big high definition TVs would give plenty of craps about Blu-Ray.

[Nermal]

90%+ of consumers don't give a crap about Blu-ray.

And therefore millions of people do.

Having said that, the drives are available but it's the software that's lacking. We should be pestering Cyberlink, Intervideo etc to provide playback software.

[Cave Man]

Having said that, the drives are available but it's the software that's lacking. We should be pestering Cyberlink, Intervideo etc to provide playback software.

It's more than that. It requires code in the OS to play Blu-ray Discs that have encryption and HDCP. Plus, software on the disc can modify the OS if necessary (e.g., Blu-ray Plus). I suspect Apple has problems with this part of Blu-ray licensing. Without support at the OS level (which came with XP SP2 for Windows, btw), no one can provide playback software for Macs.

[Nermal]

Doesn't iTunes already have HDCP support? And there are AACS "hacks" for Windows that I'm assuming don't rely on internal support so I believe that the movies can be decrypted without an OS upgrade.

Either way, I stand by my suggestion. Let the software makers know that we want support; a big software company would likely have much greater success with getting Apple to do something than a few people on a forum.

[nuckinfutz]

I have a Blu-ray player hooked up to my HDTV so I don't really see a need for Blu-ray playback.

Blu-ray recording ...now that's something that I'm interested in. I'd love to consolidate my data onto fewer discs.

I'm cracking up about the folks storming out of a store because of no Blu-ray. Apple dropped "computer" from their name but they still make computers folks not processing units connected to Blu-ray drives.

Adding Blu-ray does entail a DRM hit and extra licensing. I don't believe Blu-ray is nor should be a defacto item on computers IMO.

[pastrychef]

That is not true, at all. I'm sure, actually, that the vast majority of consumers with big high definition TVs would give plenty of craps about Blu-Ray.

But they probably won't be buying Macs to connect to those big high definition TVs to play Blu-Ray discs. For that purpose, a stand-alone Blu-Ray player makes far more sense.

Personally, I have absolutely no interest in Blu-Ray. I hate how limiting the DRM makes.

[Eidorian]

But they probably won't be buying Macs to connect to those big high definition TVs to play Blu-Ray discs. For that purpose, a stand-alone Blu-Ray player makes far more sense.

Personally, I have absolutely no interest in Blu-Ray. I hate how limiting the DRM makes.How do you handle the current DRM issues then?

[Demosthenes X]

That is not true, at all. I'm sure, actually, that the vast majority of consumers with big high definition TVs would give plenty of craps about Blu-Ray.

Yeah, and I'm sure they're buying Blue-Ray players, and not Apple computers, for that purpose. :rolleyes: