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Hooray! Blu-ray for my AlBook! I can't wait to get one and it will... uh... did they say...

$800!!! WTF!!!

Where is the OEM build to order BlueRay option Apple?

The huge storage capacity of BD-DVD's is sorely wanted.

Now you know why there's no Blu-ray drive in Apple TV.

Plop one of these in the Mac mini, though and you have a sick addition to your HDTV.

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,

Don't expect to watch BlueRay DVD's on your Mac with this drive because there is no OEM hardware copy protection. (ACCS/HDCP etc)

Who cares......until a format is officially decided, I'm not jumping on the bandwagon.

$799.00!

I'll wait. Thank you very much.

CRAP!! Where is the HD DVD drive? Also you can't watch Blu Ray movies on it. HD DVD will win in the end because of price and the porn industry, who would of thunk it?!

Steve...sick addition?

"HD DVD will win in the end because of price and the porn industry"

Nice troll, the fact is the porn industry HD DVD sales pales in comparison to the major studios who back BlueRay and currently outselling them 3 to 1.

Need I say Playstation 3 with included BlueRay drive?

All computer makers support BlueRay.

Porn is huge, but cable companies have been tapping that market with their cable boxes, offering quicker service. Because most people are embarrased to be seen coming out of a porn store.

OtherWorldComputing (http://www.otherworldcomputing.com), has been selling internal Blu-ray for Mac for between $550-$650. I think its the Panasonic SW5582.

Regarding movie playback, from their website:

...enjoy the latest ultra-HD titles Hollywood has to offer with a picture and sound you never thought possible.

Maybe someone can help me. Everyone has been screaming for Apple to start including Hi Def displays on their laptops and the iMac. Those arguments lead me, and others, perhaps, to believe that the displays on Mac Laptops now are NOT high Def, even though their resolutions meet or exceed the 1280 pixels width.

Can we truly say that watching a Blue-Ray DVD with a Hi Def movie on a current MacBook or MacBook Pro is truly "High Def", or are we waiting on Apple to include a true High-Def display?

If, indeed, we are able to see the true High Def image on our current apple laptops (meaning MacBook and MBP), then why is everyone screaming at Apple to incorporate high def displays? Does Apple advertise their laptops, the iMac, or any of their displays as "high def"?

Help me out, someone.....

THanks...

Why would you add a drive that is half or over half of the cost of the computer?

After the price drops $600, we'll talk.

"Porn is huge, but cable companies have been tapping that market with their cable boxes, offering quicker service. Because most people are embarrased to be seen coming out of a porn store."

Yeah, because the porn people haven't discovered the internet yet. The only way to get porn DVDs is to be embarrassed by going to a porn store.

Hopefully those porn guys will discover the internet sooner or later - I bet they could sell a LOT of porn on the internet. I wonder what's taking them so long?

The average Joe consumer will care more about price and what it perceives as being the next generation HD Video format. Hence they will choose "HD DVD" not blu-ray and costs half as much. Remember that VHS won out betamax because of price not qulaity and the porn industry adopted it, history will repeat itself. HD DVD and blu-ray are pretty much identical in terms of picture quality and sound so again in the end the masses will follow price and value. People will buy HD DVD porn online without going to smut shops. Duh! People are not buying the PS3 for it's blu-ray player they are buying it for gaming primarily. People in general will go for price and value and whatever there local big box retailer is pushing, they just wnat to make sales and it makes sense in their eyes to push HD players that cost half the price of blu-rays.

oops "quality, want" spellcheck......

Also with history as a reference, the adult-movie/pornography industry may have a big influence in the HD DVD versus Blu-ray format war, at least when it comes to home rental and retail purchases or pressed movies as it generates multi-billion annual revenue worldwide, (with US$57 billion in annual revenue worldwide reported in May, 2006). [8] HD DVD is currently exclusively backed by several adult-movie/pornography studios/publishers, like Wicked Pictures, Pink Visual, Bang Bros, and ClubJenna Inc. (which on 22 June 2006 was acquired by Playboy Enterprises), and HD DVD is also non-exclusively backed by Vivid Entertainment, and Digital Playground Inc..

@ How about that HD?

If you look at the specs on the iMac, you will find that they meet or exceed the Hi-Def resolution. Although, Apple doen't advertise this, it is a key selling point for a 24 inch iMac. And I'm not sure if HD is stricktly based on resolution. If it is, then the iMac would qualify.

Anyone got an answer?

@ How about that HD?

I would guess its related to the videocard's capabilities to display each frame in full resolution...

Let's not forget the monopoly companies that are backing HD DVD Microsoft and Intel.

Even though Apple sits on the Blu-ray Board of Directors, its DVD Studio Pro software supports authoring HD DVD media.

RE: Mr. Peabody

OWC only sells standard 5.25" Blu Ray drives. This is the only laptop size (12.7mm) Blu Ray drive available. Price is still pretty high so I'd wait 6 months or so before making the plunge.

Better off to wait a while once it becomes more of a standard.

I would understand $199 to $299 Max but not $799. WTF

We've gone this far with what we got so it won't hurt waiting.

It's just like Plasma TV's when they came out. I remember A 42 inch started around 14,000. Now As low as $899

Why would anyone spend that ridiculous amount of money when you can get an entire PS3 with BlueRay for less? I don't get it.

to iMaki:

Can you burn data with your PS3 bluray drive? Can you back up your data with your PS3?

This is not just a BlueRay PLAYER... it is a BlueRay BURNER.

This ain't just about watching pretty movies.

RTFA!!

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..