Fastmac today announced the first & only Blu-ray optical drive upgrade for Apple’s PowerBook, iBook & MacBook Pro computers. The new slimline, slot loading drive uses one of the fastest & most compatible Blu-ray mechanisms to provide up to 50 Gb of storage on 1 disk, without sacrificing compatibility with standard DVD & CD recordable media. Fastmac’s Blu-Ray optical drive upgrade is scheduled to ship within 10 days and is available for pre-order for a special introductory price of $799.95. Each drive carries a 1 year warranty and a 30 day money back guarantee .
Fastmac’s new Blu-ray slot loading drive gives photographers, videographers & musicians the ability to save anything, anywhere- in the field, on location, in the studio, at work or at home. System administrators and database administrators can archive and retrieve large amounts of data on 1 convenient disk. And consumers can now watch today’s latest HD content in true high definition with surround sound anytime & anywhere they happen to be. Blu-ray is the next generation of storage technology & entertainment and it’s available today, only from Fastmac
“This new optical drive gives me the freedom to save anything, anywhere I happen to be with my new MacBook Pro,” said Edward Savio, President of Fastmac Performance Upgrades, Inc., in the press release “With this much storage capability, I was able to sort and backup my work on a per project basis.”
Blu-ray, also known as Blu-ray Disk (BD), is the name of a next generation optical disk format developed by a consortium of electronics and computer manufacturers including Apple, Dell, HP, JVC, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony & TDK. The format was designed to enable the recording and playback of High Definition (HD) content and to allow storage of large amounts (up to 200 Gb) of data. While current optical drive technologies rely on a red laser to read and write data, the new format uses a blue-violet laser (hence the name, Blu-ray). The blue-violet laser has a 38% shorter wavelength (405nm) than a red laser (650nm), allowing the drive’s optical pickup unit to focus more precisely than ever before. Data can then be packed more densely on standard sized disks. Despite using a new type of laser, Blu-ray drives are compatible with standard DVD and CD media through the use of a combined red, blue & violet optical reader and writer.
In addition to broad support from the electronics, music, computer & video game industry, 7 out of 8 of the major Hollywood film studios support Blu-ray media and 5 out of those 7 (Disney, Fox, Lionsgate, MGM & Sony) have decided to release their movies exclusively in the Blu-ray format. With its forward and backward integration with new and old media, Blu-ray is destined to become the successor to today’s DVD format.
Fastmac’s slimline Blu-ray slot loading optical drive supports reading, writing and re-writing to single and dual layer Blu-ray media at 1x speeds. The drive is also compatible with standard DVD and CD media and can write to DVD-R and DVD+R media at 8x speed in single layer and 2x speed in dual/ double layer mode. It can rewrite to DVD-R and DVD+R media at 4x speeds. The drive also supports DVD-RAM reading and writing at up to 5x speeds and standard CD-R and CD-RW burning at 8x speeds.
Fastmac’s slimline Blu-ray slot loading optical drive upgrade requires Mac OS X 10.2.8 or higher and is compatible with the following Apple computers:
• iBook G4
• iMac G5
• iMac Intel
• MacBook Pro (17-inch)
• Mac mini
• PowerBook G3 Pismo
• PowerBook G4 Titanium (667 Mhz or higher)
• PowerBook G4 Aluminum
Blu-ray burning requires 3rd-party software such as Roxio’s Toast 8 Titanium, which enables Blu-ray disk support in the Mac OS Finder. Native support for Blu-ray burning within iLife & iTunes is expected in the future via Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, but cannot be guaranteed at this time.
More information about Fastmac is available via http://fastmac.com/slim_bluray.php
Related articles:
Porn could be XXX factor in Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD format war – April 06, 2007
Blu-ray aims to replace DVDs within three years – March 15, 2007
MCE Technologies brings Blu-ray Disc to Apple Mac – January 25, 2007
Warner’s ‘Total HD’ disc format has both Blu-ray and HD DVD on same disc – January 17, 2007
LG announces first dual-format hi-def DVD player; plays both Blu-ray and HD DVD content – January 05, 2007
TDK pumps Blu-ray capacity up to 200GB per disc – September 02, 2006
Roxio Toast 7 for Apple Mac adds Blu-ray support – July 25, 2006
Apple and Microsoft showdown over Blu-ray vs. HD DVD? – July 14, 2006
Ricoh creates ‘universal’ optical disk lens; reads and writes Blu-ray, HD DVD, DVD, and CD – July 10, 2006
Broadcom announces decoder chip that plays both Blu-ray and HD DVD – January 03, 2006
Why is everyone so shocked at the price? Have you guys even priced Blu-Ray players?
This is not only a Blu-Ray player, but a Blu-Ray burner, and a superdrive as well.
It’s a decent deal. You have to pay to play.
I do though, hope to see Blu-Ray standard by June, as I plan to purchase a Mac Mini at that time, and if it makes sense, a Mac Book Pro we well.
For my home system, I got the PS3, which works wonderfully for Blu-Ray.
Permanent storage for digital media iMaki. Us video (and to a lesser extent audio) pros need this. This is much better than dragging around numerous drives in the field or housing walls of archived dv tapes in your home office . Couple of disks can store much more data in a much smaller space. Only question is why it’s available for the iBook but not the MacBook? Only the MacBook Pro? IMHO well worth it even at this price right now. Will outfit all of my capable Macs asap.
DC:
People are not buying the PS3 for it’s blu-ray player they are buying it for gaming primarily.
Actually, I bought my PS3 primarily for the Blu-Ray. If not for that, I would have opted for a Wii.
@MacWrath
So you want to wait forEVER while this little burner writes your 50GB of data at a whopping 1x speed? Go right ahead, my friend. Guaranteedm you’ll only do that a couple of times before you feel like going nuts.
As for me, I’ll put that $800 towards a standalone block of drives hooked up with FireWire and store in-progress video production footage there. When each job is done, I’m burning a normal DVD for the client, and erasing all original footage off my drives except for a disc image of the client’s DVD, along with any scratch files/FCP timeline I have used in making the product.
All my original video footage is long-term stored right on the very tapes I shot on to.
…still waiting on that firmware update for the Grammar Center of my poor brain…
HD-DVD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
drmacnut: Correct on all counts. I operate the same way. Only difference being that I prefer to store COMPLETED WORK/MEDIA on DVD not hard disk with the original tapes being the final goto. God forbid you HAVE to go back to your original footage. But if you do it will be a whole easier going to a DVD for your scratch files than to tapes. And I live by the adage that it ain’t backed up unless it’s backed up twice.
Dedicating a machine to burn overnight is no big deal. And if you’re already doing this (minus the backup to DVD in your case) then I am guessing that you’ve got TB’s of drive space already in place and $800 bucks isn’t going to (or shouldn’t) change your capacity dramatically. Tapes as originals/backup are fine if you have the space and don’t mind having to recapture if the need arises. Granted it probably won’t. But why bother when DVD s take up much less space and are already captured. Didn’t mean to ruffle your feathers there guy…
I’ll be surprised if FastMac sells 100 of these things. At $800, they certainly aren’t ready for the mainstream….
Yeah, I’m going to base my technology decisions on what a company called “BangBros” does. You do realize that you’re saying “the people with the most money determine what is a good format”, right? That’s similar to saying “top 40 must be the best music because it’s popular.”
Who stated HD-DVD will win if the Porn industry backs it…. Ah BS….. You can go online without going to a video store to get your porn fix and it won’t cost you a thing in most cases. That excuse does not hold water… Plus for the hell of it I rented DirecTV HD porn one night and boy do they need to work on makeup…. Chick was hot but had pimples all over her (|)…… LOL …… Regardless the price is way too hight considering you can get a Pioneer BD drive for $300 bucks, and a external one for a tad more…
Ditto on the PS3, a ton of people are buying it for Blu-Ray play back, it is Sony’s Trojan Horse for the format and it is working…
Looks like Denon will be on board as well soon..