Fastmac today announced that it has begun shipping 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 50GB of storage on 1 disk, without sacrificing compatibility with standard DVD & CD recordable media. Fastmac’s Blu-Ray optical drive has been tested & certified compatible with Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 video production software. The drive is available now for 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 has been tested and certified compatible with Adobe’s forthcoming Premiere Pro CS3 video production software that includes Adobe Encore CS3 and is part of the Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium Collection. Adobe Encore CS3 integrates with Adobe Photoshop & Adobe Premiere to provide a rich set of creative tools for the production and output of full-featured, menu-driven DVD and Blu-Ray Discs. It is the only video production and editing software available for the Mac OS that supports built-in Blu-Ray Disc authoring for playback on stand-alone Blu-Ray DVD players & the Sony PlayStation 3.
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 one 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, 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 Adobe Premiere CS3 or 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 info: http://fastmac.com/slim_bluray.php
$800 bills?…. I’ll wait a year
why no regular 5.5 inch drive option? PC BD drives are around 400 bucks
MDN WOrd: Waiting
self explanitory
Where’s the HD DVD or a universal drive? You can’t even watch Blu-Ray movies on this drive because there is no software that will enable it for the Mac platform. Blu-Ray overhyped and overpriced! I hope HD DVD wins exact same picture and sound quality for half the price, can’t wait for all the Blu-Ray fanbois to respond. Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro support HD DVD.
I’m buying this today for my Pismo.
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Hurray!!!
There are plenty of people who TIME=MONEY that need this technology NOW.
No thanks to Apple this time.
What gives with the 15-inch MacBook Pro?
@DC
Blu-Ray offers a heap more storage capacity than HD-DVD – 50Gb as opposed to 30Gb.
In the long run, Blu-Ray production costs will come down to match, or closely match, those of HD-DVD.
And, in the meantime, the extra 20Gb will prove very useful for data backup.
Movies are not going to be sold on plastic forever. In the next 5 years we are going to see a substantial shift to downloads.
So data storage could well become the main usage of these disks.
I am with Blu-Ray.
RE: MBPro
MacBook Pros are too slim
Thanks Bulu
@SydneeStephen
I know that Blu-Ray holds more storage duh? Toshiba announced they will come out with a 17GB per layer triple layer disc this fall. Verbatim is developing 150GB HD DVD disc. So what’s your point again? For the consumer it boils down to cost, since both formats are the same in quality. HD DVD is cheaper to make as well. “In the long run”?? That maybe too late for Blu-Ray since HD DVD has determined to undercut the price of Blu-Ray no matter what.
oops! correction:SydneyStephen
@DC
Blu-Ray has an inherent advantage since it uses a tighter track layout. Both technologies use the same blue laser technology. Blu-Ray costs more because the thinner coating on the surface required new equipment, while HD-DVD could be built on existing equipment.
As the Blu-Ray manufacturers amortise their initial investment over their early production runs, the cost of manufacture will fall. Once the initial investment is fully amortised the cost of manufacture will be the same for both technologies. The HD-DVD disks will have to be sold at a significantly lower price if they are to compete…
Blu-Ray has the potential to store significantly more data in the same space – theoretically it has a capacity of 200Gb, compared with 60Gb for HD-DVD.
I think you got your Verbatim remark wrong by a factor of 10. This from their website:
“Similar to DVD media in structure, Verbatim HD DVD-R sports 15GB of single layer capacity and is manufactured at MKM’s high-tech DVD production facility in Singapore. 30GB dual layer HD DVD-R media will be produced by the end of 2006.”
Can you imagine somebody putting an $800 blu-ray drive in a G3 powered laptop?
Isn’t that a bit like putting navigational unit in a Model T?
Sorry I meant to say Ritek here is the wiki article: “Ongoing development
Although the HD DVD standard has been finalized, engineers continue working to advance the technology. At the Consumer Electronics Show in January 7, 2007, Toshiba announced that they have created HD DVDs with 17 GB layers, and demonstrated a triple-layer 51 GB disc.[7] Toshiba aims to secure approval of the new disc by the DVD Forum within this year. There is no guarantee that the triple-layer format will work in existing players as it was not part of the original mandatory specifications.
For recordable media Ritek has announced that they are working on HD DVD discs with 10 layers, which would have a capacity of 150 GB.[8] I know everything you are saying about the technology behing the production.”
“theoretically it has a capacity of 200Gb” WTF? Sometimes theory does not turn into reality!You are banking on speculation that Blu-Ray will be cheaper in the long run? Perhaps but that means HD DVD will be cheaper than Blu-Ray as well. Bottom line is COST for the consumer!! People will buy anything that is of same quality for the cheaper price! History proves that!!! In fact the public will buy lesser quality because of price.(Beta vs. VHS) How much more so in this since they are the same quality. Now shut the hell up!!!!!!!!
Sony has turned into Mercedes-Benz living off there name! Overcharging the people because of there name instead of there quality and reliability.
Sorry for the insult, I don’t care who wins I just want HD media at the lowest cost.
@DC
Take a chill pill matey…
The theoretical capacity of the two technologies simply reflects the way data is recorded on each. Blu-Ray has a theoretical capacity of 200Gb, HD-DVD 60Gb. This gives a good indication of the relative capacities of either technology at any time. Both can be developed beyond the initial capacity, but Blu-Ray will always have an inherent advantage because it packs data more densely on the disk.
Both camps can add extra layers however this will be of little use if no-one has readers capable of reading them…
It is not mere “speculation” that Blu-Ray prices will come down – but simple market economics. A large investment is being written off against a small volume, so each disk has to carry a significant proportion of the initial capital cost to repay the manufacturer for their investment. As volumues rise, the amount each disk has to carry reduces. And over time the money earned from sales of the disks eventually allows the manufacturer to “pay off” that investment altogether. Then the price of the disk no longer has to include an amount to pay of the investment…
The key issue here is not quality, but capacity. If the two disks cost the same to make but Blu-Ray stores more than twice as much data, then you can expect Blu-Ray sales to be much, much, higher. If HD-DVD sales fall, then the manufacturer has the problem of amortising the cost of any new production capacity over a smaller sales volume – so the price goes up.
Blu-Ray is more expensive now. But, given the capacity advantage, it is likely to succeed despite the higher price for reasons I already stated. As Blu-Ray sales go up, costs come down. As HD-DVD sales go down, costs go up.
It is not just the disk manufacturers who have the problem. a Blu-Ray drive costs the same, more or less, to build as an HD-DVD drive. Again, early production of Blu-Ray carries a higher amortisation amount so the drives are more expensive. But the difference will fall rapidly – and then the manufacturers of HD-DVD drives will find themselves unable to charge the same price for their drives as the Blu-Ray manufacturers can charge.
As long as enough Blu-Ray drives are sold, and enough content is available on Blu-Ray, then this technology will win out in the end. And I believe this will indeed be the case.
If you don’t need the extra capacity, or want to buy or rent movies on disk from those companies committed to Blu-Ray, then buy HD-DVD. But if you wait 6-12 months, I think you will find the price difference falls significantly.
@DC
“Sony has turned into Mercedes Benz, overcharging…”
This, from engadget…
“Herein lies the issues associated with the higher cost of Blu-ray discs. This thinner surface layer is what makes the discs cost more; because Blu-ray discs do not share the same surface layer thickness of DVDs, costly production facilities must be modified or replaced in order to produce the discs. A special hard coating must also be applied to Blu-ray discs, so their surface is sufficiently resilient enough to protect the data a mere 0.1mm beneath – this also drives the cost up. The added benefit of keeping the data layer closer to the surface, however, is more room for extra layers.”
Matey, this stuff is all over the web. I suggest that before you announce your ignorance to the world at large, you do a little googling to make sure you have your facts right.
Advertising to the “more money than sense” crowd.
Well, I’ve got the iMac, Toast, and looking to get Leopard…..but that is as close to this drive I’ll get.
I don’t care either way, as far as I’m concerned it just means that if I buy a movie on either format I won’t be able to make a backup because of the DRM. At least at the moment I can back up my movie collection but with HD_DVD or Blu-ray I can’t so as I said I don’t care either way.
My Mac Mini is less expensive than the blue ray drive? I’d wait.
I’ll wait until it’s almost as cheap as a blue moon. Y’all buy early now, y’hear?