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Pioneer to launch a $299 Blu ray Disc drive

4 May 2007 14:49 by Andre "DVDBack23" Yoskowitz | 14 comments

Pioneer has announced that will be releasing a Blu ray Disc drive for the PC with a suggested retail price of $299 USD. The player, the BDC-2202 will be available starting in June, and while it is not a standalone player, the new drive should help bring in consumers who were scared of Blu ray's otherwise very expensive price tag.

Here are some specs of the drive:
The BDC-2202 can read BD-ROM/BD-R/BD-RE at up to 5X and can read BD-ROM (DL) and BD-R/-RE (DL) at up to 2X speed. The drive can also read and write digital content to DVD and CD.

�With the BDC-2202, computer savvy consumers are now privy to what was previously only available to professional users. In addition to maintaining the same benefits of current optical disc drives, the included software means users can now enjoy their favorite Blu-ray Disc movies as well as their own personal disc creations,� said Andy Parsons, senior vice president at Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.

The next cheapest Blu ray player is the PlayStation 3 at double the price of the BDC-2202 and many consumers with home theater PCs should enjoy the cheaper alternative.

The competing format, HD DVD has a $199 add-on drive for the Xbox 360 and an entry level standalone player, the Toshiba HD-A2 for $399. Pioneer's new drive will close the gap in prices and could forseeably help Blu ray increase their small lead in movie sales.

Source:
Dailytech

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hughjars (Inactive) 4 May 2007 15:03
A BD ROM for $399 that can also burn SD DVD. Right now that's over four times the price of the HD DVD ROM in fact. The XBox 360 HD DVD ROM is $72.54 here - http://news.punchjump.com/article.php?id=4099 Not exactly great value IMO. [ + quote]
ChromeMud (Junior Member) 4 May 2007 15:38
Electrical retailers will have to issue rubber suits for shop staff if this continues. That DRM infection is spreading like craaaaazy!!! [ + quote]
borhan9 (AfterDawn Addict) 4 May 2007 16:09
This is interesting i would not mind getting my hands on one of these. But I will wait again for price dropping. Maybe $100 would be better. [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 4 May 2007 19:00
300 price point this year by Xmas 09 I want to see below 250 price point :X [ + quote]
Unfocused (Member) 4 May 2007 20:40
At least the price is coming down sooner than anybody expected. [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 4 May 2007 20:45
Originally posted by Unfocused: At least the price is coming down sooner than anybody expected. I dunno the way things work in tech prices will come down if they want to sale them to the masses I can even see a 199 price point for Hdef drives by the end of 09 with Dual players being under 300 by the end of 08,it all depends on where they put their effort. [ + quote]
pigfister (Inactive) 5 May 2007 1:25
what exactly is the point in this drive, you cannot watch any hdcp content unless you have a compliant screen using a HDMI hdcp compatible connection so no picture for most ppl or a purposly downgraded one on our screens that support 1900x1,200 native resolution which would look mighty fine but the MPAA say you are NOT ALLOWED to watch this content at these resolutions! and why purchase it if there is no ability to use it as a storage medium which is what hd is bragging about 50 gig storage but this is not a blu ray burner its a BLU RAY ROM FTL what a complete waste of money! [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 5 May 2007 1:29
NexGen76 (Member) 5 May 2007 3:50
Quote: Pioneer's new drive will close the gap in prices and could forseeably help Blu ray increase their small lead in movie sales At least there is some positive things coming out this war prices are dropping at a very fast rate.Very good price on this PC BD-Rom. [ + quote]
neo1000 (Junior Member) 5 May 2007 7:27
Totally agree with pigfister,besides even if i could watch movies in it i prefer to sit down in front of my home teather. [ + quote]
Halen5150 (Member) 5 May 2007 8:22
Originally posted by pigfister: what exactly is the point in this drive, you cannot watch any hdcp content unless you have a compliant screen using a HDMI hdcp compatible connection so no picture for most ppl or a purposly downgraded one on our screens that support 1900x1,200 native resolution which would look mighty fine but the MPAA say you are NOT ALLOWED to watch this content at these resolutions! and why purchase it if there is no ability to use it as a storage medium which is what hd is bragging about 50 gig storage but this is not a blu ray burner its a BLU RAY ROM FTL what a complete waste of money! lmao......uhhh..dude...ever heard of anydvdhd???!!!>>>!??!?!?!?! [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 5 May 2007 8:38
pigfister right new its all about the price drop,in later drives HDCP will be "dealt" with hopefully in some newer drives HDCP is emulated on board thus skipping the whole nightmare of it. HDCP wont be implemented for another 3-5 years anyway. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 5 May 2007 8:38
pigfister (Inactive) 5 May 2007 8:40
Originally posted by Halen5150 : lmao......uhhh..dude...ever heard of anydvdhd???!!!>>>!??!?!?!?! keys can be revoked and through the "phone home ability" in hd players an individual player traced via serial number/s or an entire line of players can be permanently shut down. Digital rights management Originally posted by wiki link above: However this controversial technology, together with Self-Protecting Digital Content (SPDC), can allow players judged "bad" to be effectively disabled,[13] preventing their use by their purchaser or subsequent owners.[14] See Advanced Access Content System (AACS). [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 5 May 2007 8:48
Quote: Originally posted by Halen5150 : lmao......uhhh..dude...ever heard of anydvdhd???!!!>>>!??!?!?!?! keys can be revoked and through the "phone home ability" in hd players an individual player traced via serial number/s or an entire line of players can be permanently shut down. Digital rights management [quote=wiki link above]However this controversial technology, together with Self-Protecting Digital Content (SPDC), can allow players judged "bad" to be effectively disabled,[13] preventing their use by their purchaser or subsequent owners.[14] See Advanced Access Content System (AACS). [/quote] ===================================================================== I can see the new wave of flash and frimware coders "fixing" that. they made the discs unreadable now they want to make the drives unplayable...oy vay.... [ + quote]
duckNrun (Inactive) 5 May 2007 13:35
Quote: keys can be revoked and through the "phone home ability" in hd players an individual player traced via serial number/s or an entire line of players can be permanently shut down. If my understanding is correct AnyDVD-HD workd the same way as the SD version, basically making the disc appear as a standard "I'm nothing to worry about" disc and therefore would not require the hacking of an HD media player or concern about revocation of keys. If the data being passed to the players is key free what is there to revoke or even check for? [ + quote]