Single layer blu-ray burner, SATA interface, cheapest so far, just that the media alone costs almost as much as a blu-ray movie.

Specs:

Platform: PC
Type of Drive: BD-RE Drive
Internal/External: Internal
Interface: SATA
CD-ROM Read Speed: 32 X
CD-R Write Speed: 32 X
CD-RW Rewrite Speed: 24 X
DVD-ROM Read Speed: 12 X
DVD+R Write Speed: 12 X
DVD+R (DL) Write Speed: 4 X
DVD-R Write Speed: 12 X
DVD+RW Write Speed: 8 X
DVD-RW Write Speed: 6 X
Load Type: Tray
System Requirements: Pentium 4 2.0GHz or faster CPU and 512MB or higher RAM are required
For High Definition BD Playback & Authoring: ( Only Windows XP SP2 ) Pentium D 3.4GHz or faster CPU and 1GB or higher RAM are required
HDCP capable graphics card with 256MB RAM, PCI Express x16, 1920x1200 resolution, 32bit color GPU : nVidia GeForce 6600GT / 7600GT / 7800GTX512 / 7900GX2 / 7900GTX / 7950GX2 and ATI X1600 / X1800 / X1900 series are recommended
60GB HDD available capacity

HDCP capable Monitor or TV for High Definition digital output

Link

Excellent news

I will wait for the drives to reach 100$/6X mark and get one , I would only pay 100$ for an ODD and 2$ per disc, I always did

Lite-On LH2B1S on sale for $299 at CompUSA

http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...e_Writer_Drive

This is a good deal, I guess. I remember paying $300 for my first CD burner many years ago.

The problem I see with these new formats is that the media is absurdly expensive. Blu-Ray blanks seem to retail for about $25 apiece from what I've seen! I can't imagine what use people have for this--maybe archiving extremely important and large sets of data???

It should be fun once this technology comes down in price.

Yes the Blu-ray media was around $25 when first hit the market but now you can get it for as low as $10.

The Verbatim 25GB 2x BD-R is $10.99 at the egg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817130011
This can be burned up to 4x on LG blu-ray drives = 25mins burning full BD disc.

Did not take long for CompUSA to sell out of on-line product.

Geez. Less than an hour after they advertise it they sell out AND it's not available for pickup at the nearest store.

What a bunch of teases those people at CompUSA are. Worse than that girl that I dated about a year ago.

Zev, can you merge this thread to this one since I posted this deal 2 days ago

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=221432

I would jump on the deal but the media are so expensive, $20 per disc, yikes

Oops, sorry about that gtc. Anyway, threads merged.

The disc is $10+ a piece at newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817130011

$10.99 BD-R is pretty good for the times we live in.

PC Connection has rewritable Maxell-branded, Verbatim-manufactured BD-RE at $11.95 a piece: http://www.pcconnection.com/ProductD...484&oext=1038A

every brand is MIJ, so I guess all of them come out from one manufacture in Japan

No.
Panasonic, Sony, Verbatim, TDK all have their own production lines or at least their own media codes.

So any words so far which brand uses TY, which brand uses Maxell, which brand uses sony, and which uses Verb, TDK and Panasonic???
Interesting to see Verb and TDK are both MIJ. Well, Memorex is MIJ since they dont make jack, they are the rebadge king

I dont know if this burner qualifies for 5 free blu-ray movies

That would be insane and I would jump on that deal , but I don't have a HDCP compliant PC

EDIT : the link no longer works and I don't thnk CompUSA is stupid enough to give away 5 BR movies with such low priced burner , the 5 movies alone are about 125$

How do you check if your computer is HDCP compliant, because i haven't seen them adding anything different to computers to make them HDCP "compliant". Do you mean that your video card is non HDCP compatible?

But on the main subject, that looks like a pretty good deal...although just like all new techology the prices are crazy at the moment because they haven't been out for very long. I'm going to wait a little while, probably until they come out with 6x or faster drives. Think about it, you buy a 2x now for $300...and in a year or so it will be obsolete and 4x blue ray drives will probably be around $100-$150 on sale.

Give Download CyberLink BD / HD Advisor a try

http://www.cyberlink.com/english/sup.../diagnosis.jsp

Description of the software for most people that dont know what it is:

Note: This is a self-diagnostic tool designed to help you identify the capabilities of your system for playing high-definition movies. The CyberLink BD / HD Advisor (Beta) is made for your reference only and is prepared in good faith on the basis of data or information reasonably available. CyberLink does not guarantee its accuracy. We recommend that you contact your hardware specialist to verify our results and assist you with upgrading your system.

I just used that advisor tool, and as i expected i need to get an hd/blu-ray drive and video card, everything else is fine it says. This computer isn't bad for a non custom built, i have a gaming computer i built but it's over a year old and obsolete now.

One question though, it says i should upgrade my processor even though it's an X2 3800+, while i know this processor isn't the cream of the crap it should be able to play HD movies fine.

they recommended at least an intel c2 duo E6600. Mine is an OCed E6400 @ 3.7ghz, so I guess it is sufficient. My 7800GT should be sufficient since it still supports purevideo and HDCP compliance.

Theres not that much performance difference between my processor and what they recommend, infact amd has been proven to run faster and more stable even at lower processor speeds. For example, i remember reading in PCworld awhile back that alot of their 2 gig processors were outperforming hp's 2.4+ gig processors. Obviously i know my video card is obsolete, but i'm sure my processor will do just fine.

I also know i would need an HDCP monitor also, does this mean it needs a DVI or HDMI port? Do you need these things just to play the movie or to burn also?