RSSToshiba Delays HD DVD Recorder
By the Betanews Staff | Published July 13, 2006, 11:34 AM
Toshiba announced a minor setback in the launch of the first ever HD DVD recorder Thursday. Due to production delays, the RD-A1 will not go on sale Friday as planned, instead hitting retail outlets by July 27. Sony's Blu-ray has reportedly been having production problems as well related to its blue laser.
Toshiba's RD-A1 will include an HD DVD burner and 1 terabyte of disk space for storing high-definition broadcasts. Priced at around $3,470, the device will first go on sale in Japan, and Toshiba has given no timeframe for a United States launch. The company's first HD DVD player debuted in Japan in March before coming to the U.S. in April.
1. I am SURE that everybody WILL be able to use their CDROM and DVDs long enough before they become uncompatible. I am sure about that. Please tell me how long do you need to keep DVD? 10 years are enough for most people then bye bye CD/DVD...
2. If we choose HD DVD we are holding back because we stuck with less capacity! Cant you see that CD was HUGE, DVD too (4-8GB) and now we cant fit almost anything on a CD/DVD (see HD videos here > 10GB).
3. HD DVD is not cheaper! It is just smaller and less advanced!
4. See the support BD vs HDDVD and i`am sure you will see the best answer on what to choose!
Also see here:
http://www.blu-raydisc.c...14064/faqs/4/Index.html
http://www2.panasonic.co...Photo/LM-BR50DE_500.jpg
http://www.sonystyle.com...ts/650x650/BNR50AHE.jpg
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|Let them battle it out. One will win and the consumer will win in the end. Anyone remember the Beta Max format war in the 80's?
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|I do remember ther Betamax format wars. The winner was not decided over the technical aspects of the players, it was won over the availability of titles on any particular format.
I don't think it's going to be any different this time either. However this time, Sony is backing the winner, as the Blu-Ray camp has much more studios on their side, than the HD-DVD camp (thre are a few studios supporing both).
Last time I checked, there were 4 major studios not supporting HD-DVD, and only 1 not supporting Blu-Ray.
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|It seems to me that based on their purpose (High Def Movie viewing at home), they both are technically equivalent. They can both play the movies and they both support the same resolutions. While the current HDDVD drives to not output at 1080p, future ones will and the current media supports it.
I still think cost will have a significant impact. How are sales of the HDDVD drives doing vs BlueRay drives?
More so than available movies, it's going to come down to how many units each side can get out there. If studios on the BluRay side see a lot more HDDVD players being sold, don't think they won't produce for HDDVD too - after all, they don't want to lose out on any sales.
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|More studios != More titles people want to own
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|BetaMAX, MiniDisc, Sony Dynamic Digital Sound, MMCD, ATRAC, HiFD, Super Audio CD, Memory Stick, UMD...
Sony has quite the winning streak going there.
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|Again, you seem to have a selective memory.
1/ Many companies have failed formats in their history. Did you bother to mention Pioneer Laserdisc? Philips DCC?
2/ You fail to mention the Sony formats that did succeed, CD, Floppy Discs.
3/ You even mention formats that havn't actually failed, ATRAC, SACD, Memory Stick
Basically your posts make you look like a biased Sony hater.
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|Sony did not make the CD, Philips did. ATRAC, SACD are market failures. Memory Sticks ONLY work on Sony products, no one else uses them. Sony has had more failure than any other company. Basically your posts make you look like a biased Sony butt-kissing fanboy.
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|I sell the blu-ray burners for $990.00 and they are just way too expensive at the moment. By next summer both formats will have a 300-400 burner, which would be much easier on everyones wallet.
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|Those are bare drives for computers though, which is why they are cheaper than the one in this article which looks like a regular VCR or DVD player and sits on top of the TV (also has a huge hard drive for storing TV recordings. I agree though eventually they'll be affordable. When normal DVD-burners, CD-burners, even plain old 1x CD-ROM drives came out they cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Now they are practically disposable. :)
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|Let's hope the media becomes affordable at the same time. Dual-Layer DVD never did, in my opinion.
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|With all the DRM both formats are loaded with, I think the blank media prices might actually be reasonable; because I get the feeling dual-layer DVDs haven't gotten cheap because it is easier to fit a movie on them rather than single-layer.
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|They are rushing both formats too fast trying to beat each other and end up just having problems. Whichever format you want I think it would be wiser to wait for them to get the bugs worked out and the price down to something reasonable. Personally I'm not buying either one as I'm quite happy with the tried and true DVD format.
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|Hahahah Now those who tell Blu-Ray is expensive have been blasted! $3750 -> hahahahahaaaa
Go go go BLU-RAY!
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|This is for a HD DVD recorder that includes 1 terabyte of disk space. Blu-ray players alone are $1,000 - $1,500. Big difference between players and recorders.
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|Nonsense.
Blu-Ray recorder here for less than $999
http://www.engadget.com/...-available-for-just-999/
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|That's a PC drive. There's a big difference between a standalone unit and a drive for your computer.
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|Blu-ray players alone are $1,000
I guess you just couldn't bear to round up to that last dollar, eh?
lmao....
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|Yeah, there's a HUGE difference between $999 and $1000. I guess there really are consumers dumb enough to fall for that marketing tactic. Then again you being a raving Sony religious zealot may have had something to do with it too.
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|A 1 TB Disk is well worth $3750.00 - it will be the end of external storage (ie USB hard drives) as we know it.
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|The normal HD-DVD burners will be about 499.99
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|OK, now spot the difference between these statements (clue is in bold):
"Blu-ray players alone are $1,000 - $1,500"
"Blu-Ray recorder here for less than $999"
Who's the idiot now...
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|See reply to the other clueless numbnut.
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|"Who's the idiot now..."
The one who gets all worked up and rants about Blu-Ray like it's the second coming. Oh and you're still quoting that $999 figure like it's so different from $1000. Why not pick one or the other? I know you're in love with Sony but your endless shilling of Blu-Ray really gets tired after the first few thousand posts.
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|Merely correcting those that have trouble identifying the difference between readers and recorders.
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|Yeah and there is also a big difference between a simple IDE burner for PCs like the one you linked to, and a standalone set top HD recorder with 1 TB hard disk. Doesn't make much sense to compare the prices does it? When Sony gets their production problems worked out and releases their own set top Blu-Ray recorder then we can compare prices. I think it's safe to say it sure won't be less than $1000...oops I mean $999.
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|Most people won't be using a computer Blu-Ray burner to record TV programs. They will probably be looking for a set top Blu-Ray recorder to plug directly into their TV.
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|Agreed, but it seeing as the drive is a large part of the componet cost of any settop recorder, it gives an indication of prices for settop BD recorders.
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|Exactly. You can't compare prices of a set top player with a PC drive. PC drives are always cheaper than the set tops.
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|Incorrect. Look up a set top DVD recorder and then look at an computer DVD-burner and compare the prices. The set top version costs MUCH more than a computer drive. The set top boxes are much more complicated, have many features and components including hard drives. You simply cannot compare the cost of the two based on a single component. Apples and oranges.
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|Very classy, calling people clueless numbnuts. Is that how you usually back up your opinions?
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|He's a fanboy. Just sit back and enjoy. It's fun.
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|Yet the opposite rules applly when the XBox fanboys talk about PS3 and Blu-Ray and the high cost of BDROM drive...
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|Yeah HD DVD needs extra storage... Blu-Ray does not need extra because is 3x laregr :) In this maner it is cheaper :)
HD DVD: 15-30GB
Blu-Ray: 25-50-100-200GB :))))))) \25, 50GB already available\
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|Somehow I doubt the TB of storage is "needed" by HD-DVD.
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|I think the problem "XBox fanboys" have is that with the PS3 you are forced to also buy a Blu-Ray player (albeit integrated) whether you ever plan on using Blu-Ray or not. There is no cheaper, Blu-Ray free version. In some ways, Sony is trying to force the format on the market in this way.
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|rofl
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|The other side of the coin however, is that because both basic and premium PS3's have a Blu-Ray and HDD, means all the games can be coded to fully take advantage of these components.
XBox not having no HDD in the core, and the HD-DVD as a add-on, means that games are unlikely to ever appear on HD-DVD, and games will never fully utilise the HDD to it's potential in the Premium, as the games also have to be coded for the no HDD models.
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|...because a Blu-Ray free version won't be able to play the big name games that require lots of space.
No Gran Turismo for one example. I'm sure people can think of lots more examples.
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|The hard drive is for recording shows from the TV, doing editing, TIVO like features, etc. It IS NOT because HD-DVD needs more space. You may have been joking though. When Blu-Ray recorders come out they will have hard drives too, just like normal DVD recorders and DVR's have had them for ages. It has nothing to do with how much the disc itself will hold.
HD-DVD discs will come in larger formats in the future also as more layers are added; you can't put down huge Blu-Ray formats that don't even exist yet (100, 200) and make it seem like HD-DVD will never pass 30.
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|PS3 games will come on normal DVDs. The Blu-ray drive is for movies and is completely unnecessary for gaming, hence some people's objections to being forced to buy one.
XBox games will never be on HD-DVD either. These options are for movies ONLY. Well option in the case of the xbox, as the PS3 doesn't give you a choice.
Back to the original topic, there is no denying that the Blu-Ray drive HAS driven up the cost of the PS3 by a great deal. You can't just take the cost of the bare components into consideration. There is years of research and development to consider also. What I was saying is that if you take the already expensive Blu-Ray or HD-DVD drive, throw in a consumer set top style casing, electronics and programming, hard drive and all it took to make that obviously it's going to be much more expensive than a bare PC drive.
Understand?
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|What can I say, they're fun to play with. It's one of my more enjoyable vices... ;)
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|How do you figure? HDD storage is less than 50c per GB, so how can they justify $3750 for a mere 1TB? The drives required for that would cost no more than $500 at the most economical price point. Say $250 (an over-estimate) for the interfacing equipment and you've got a $3000 blue-ray drive. What the?
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|Haha, comparing simple PC burner with stand alone recorder...
It's so simple, look at today's dvd burners - $30-$40, but compare it to standalone dvd recorders (which used with TVs) the prices are much higher.
No need a big brain to understand.
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|What makes you think Blu-Ray players wont come out with hard drives too?
100, 200 BRs are possible and aproved and prototipes tested, HD DVD does not have bigger than 30GB posibilities currently!
Why you people stay with less storage space format? I remember BilGates sayed "640k should be enoug for everything" and now you say 15-30GB is OK for you... Same story. Blu-Ray have potential to live longer. Think about this!
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|It is widely accepted that the games manufacturers dont need all this storage space for games. Sure they will have chance to put allot of music tracks to compliment the game, but most games do not currently take advantage of DVD's to even think about the storage of the Hi Def disks.
You will pay a premium for this, and it is not needed. Sony are taking a huge gamble using ps3 to force blu-ray onto the market and I suspect this will bite them in the arse.
I really want sony to fail on this, and if they do they will be in serious financial trouble.
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|Your posts are full of inconsistancies and errors.
All PS3 games will be on Blu-Ray.
Storage
Blu-ray Disc: PlayStation 3 BD-ROM, BD-Video, BD-R, BD-RE. 2x (9.0 MB/s)
DVD: PlayStation 2 DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW. 8x (11.0 MB/s max)
Note the lack of "PlayStation3" on the DVD section. It was also mentioned in a Sony press release.
As for not necessary, there are already multi-DVD games for PC. I hope XBox360 owners like swapping discs, as multi DVD games will be heading their way soon..
Understand?
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|Sure theyt do, There is already PC games on multi-DVD's. I would hate to be the XB0x360 changing DVD's mid-game a year from now.
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|Uh....
????
Current forms of external storage (USB linked drives, flash media, etc) are *all* *much* faster than Blu-Ray or HD-DVD will *ever* be.
This will in know way be the end of external storage as we know it.
Please put down the crack pipe.
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|"As for not necessary, there are already multi-DVD games for PC. I hope XBox360 owners like swapping discs, as multi DVD games will be heading their way soon.."
Just curious... which game is that? The one I know of is usually Collector's Edition (like WoW), other than that? The bigwig like ES4:Oblivion came in one DVD right?
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|"What makes you think Blu-Ray players wont come out with hard drives too?"
I just said they would, what are you talking about?
"HD DVD does not have bigger than 30GB posibilities currently!"
Toshiba has announced a 45GB 3 layer disc and a 90GB double sided disc.
"I remember BilGates sayed "640k should be enoug for everything"
It is in dispute that he ever said that at all, but even if he did it was 1981 for crying out loud. At that time 640K was a huge amount of memory, it WAS enough for anyone. Note he did not say it would be enough forever. That quote is the most misued of all time.
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|Name one game that requires "multiple DVDs". If Sony does put games on Blu-Ray it will be a BS marketing tactic to try and justify the drive. I doubt any games they come out with will come even close to needing that much space, and stuffing it with videos (the same thing used by Sega to try and justify the Sega CD) doesn't count. Also I noticed you conveniently didn't reply to the second part of my post at all. Let's just pretend that whole "comparing a PC drive to a set top model" thing didn't happen. Wouldn't want the great Mark Gillespie to look foolish now would we? Oops, too late.
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|That quote is the most misued of all time.
Don't forget the close second:
Al Gore - "I invented the Internet."
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|Whatever, if you look at the thread history, is was someone saying you could not get Blu-Ray players for less than $1000 - $1500.
I simply pointed to a recorder less than his claim, nothing about set-top or PC. I did not even claim to be comparing like for like. I simply linked to a Blu-Ray recorder for less than $1000.
Seem there are so many rabid anti-Sony fanaticals here, it does not matter what you post, they will distort things, and make Sony look like the bad guys.
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|You're comparing apples to oranges. A set top recorder and computer drive are two different things and you knew it. Is Sony paying to shill for them or have you always been a mindless fanboy zombie?
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|The largest PC game I'm aware of to date is Oblivion and it comes on a single DVD. Stop spewing bull****.
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