Pioneer Electronics USA has announced the BDC-2202 Blu-ray optical disc drive for the PC. It will sell for just $299 beginning next month, making it far more affordable than the $1000+ price levels initially announced by both the Blu-ray and HD-DVD camps.
The Pioneer BDC-2202 will read BD-ROM, BD-R, and BD-RE discs at speeds of up to 5x while also reading BD-ROM (DL) and BD-R/RE (DL) discs at 2x speeds.
It comes bundled with media software that lets you watch commercially released Blu-ray Disc movies. It also allows users to create personal DVD movies and digital photo slideshows, securely backup personal data and media files to DVD or CD, and create and burn favorite music to CD.
But check your PC first to see if it meets the system requirements of a Blu-ray set-up. The Pioneer Blu-ray Disc combination drive allows users to playback new high definition Blu-ray Disc film titles as well as read and write digital content to DVD and CD only with “properly configured PCs.†Blu-ray requires an HDCP compliant monitor and the right video card.
[Site: PioneerElectronics.com]