Rip-off priced Sony Blu-ray Disc burner can't play BD movies

[Bob Crabtree]

Sony says that its first Blu-ray Disc burner, the BWU-100A, should be available in Europe this month at an estimated VAT-inclusive price of €960 (£648) - a figure that strikes us as a complete rip-off when compared to the US price of US$750 (£380 ex-VAT/£447 inc).

What makes the price even harder to stomach is that this buys a 5.25in EIDE drive that isn't yet able to play commercial Blu-ray Disc movies, even if it's fitted into PC that does have an HDMI-equipped graphics card!

Available retail soon - but would you buy one?

More in this HEXUS.lifestyle.headline.

[3dcandy]

And the point for the average consumer is?
Just makes you wonder who would bother being an early user...

[awm]

No me. Jumped on PC DVD drives fairly early, but I wouldn't even use this if it were free (well maybe free, but not more than that).

[s_kinton]

Aint now way id part with my cash for that. Id rather go without and wait for it be updated first, so i could be sure of compatability.

Its also a classic example of Sonys overpricing for its brand name, which offers nothing over its competitiors imo

[Bluecube]

I think this will be aimed at enterprise level backup and archiving rather than consumers. Even then it's overpriced.

[johnyhy1]

looking back at the DVD drives..
no doubt there will be software/firmware trouble and the disks will be way overpriced aswell.

i do plan on going Blu-ray but not for a wile yet.

[Stoo]

Originally Posted by Bluecube

I think this will be aimed at enterprise level backup and archiving rather than consumers. Even then it's overpriced.

Indeed, hence why they've not bothered to bundle the playback software in the package, I mean it's not like the drive itself isn't capable of playback, a DVD drive would do the exact same thing if you didn't have playback software on your computer as well..

The price differential is extracting the urine somewhat though..

[chuckskull]

Ahahaha. 700 quid for something that doesn't play blu ray movies. For that price i could build myself a whole media centre, or whack a nice crossfire setup in my PC.

Yeah I'll be buying one of these as soon as scan has stock

[Stoo]

None of the optical drives on the market play any video - that's the job of the software...

and seeing as this really isn't aimed at the consumer, bundling it in would be pointless..

Once the price drops down to a more consumer-friendly price, expect the consumer-based bundles to be released..

It's not exactly rocket-science..

[mancubas]

Its early days for BR but "time is a great healer" and I am sure in a couple of months everything will settle down.



ManC

[GFiSH]

Thats madness, the US and Japan always gets stuff cheaper, but £200, thats almost a 50% increase!!

[Octavean]

I recall reading an article that stated some software shipped with preinstalled Blu-ray drives actually had the ability to capture screen shots. The article then concluded that it would be possible to create an application or modification (crack) that allowed an entire movie to be copied via this screen capture method and audio could then be spliced in later.

Perhaps, this is simply Sony’s way of dealing with some last second issues with the software that may be otherwise undesirable,…..from their point of view,….

As for the software that already shipped, they can always find some way to shore it up:

http://www.cyberlink.com/english/sup...leshooting.jsp

When trying to play Blu-ray Disc or HD DVD titles, PowerDVD displays an error message "Device Revocation..."

Issue:

PowerDVD displays “Device Revocation. The player was revoked by this title. Do you want to update from server?� error message when you are trying to play a Blu-ray Disc or HD DVD title.

Cause:

Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD have adopted AACS (Advanced Access Content System) to protect the digital content. AACS keys are required to play some Blu-ray Disc or HD DVD titles. AACS keys were integrated into your PowerDVD for copy protection purposes. Occasional renewal of the AACS key is required. This error message appears because the title you're playing requires a newer AACS key.

Solution:

Click “Yes� in the error message dialog to connect to the CyberLink Web site and download the updated version of PowerDVD for AACS keys renewal. For more information on AACS keys, visit www.aacsla.com/home.

With this mechanism they can force a patch to disallow screen capture. In other words, a forced upgrade.

BTW, there isnt much point in buying a drive like this or an HD DVD drive if your system cannot handle it. One shouldn’t asume that there system is capable because the system requirements are somewhat steep.

Cyberlink does have a free downloadable BD / HD Advisor (Beta) here:

http://www.cyberlink.com/english/sup.../diagnosis.jsp

You better have a 3.2GHz P4 or faster, Core Duo T2xxx series, Core 2 Duo E6xxx series, Athlon 64 FX series (FX-60 2.6 GHz and up), Athlon 64 X2 series (4200+ 2.2 GHz and up), or Turion 64 X2 (TL-60 2 GHz and up),….if not,…you better get up to speed,…

http://www.cyberlink.com/english/sup...equirement.jsp

I know the system specs are harsh but that’s what Cyberlink is citing and the Intervideo solution isn’t any less demanding,…

If you look at the systems currently shipping with such drives you will see that they do indeed meet these specifications.

[Funkstar]

Shock! my OEM Pioneer DVR-111 doesn't play DVD's out of the box.

Complain about the price of the drive in the UK, thats fine. But not having the bundled software to play disks that you can't even get over here isn't a big deal. As pointed out above.

[chuckskull]

OEM Pioneer DVR-111 costs £24 and can play DVD's using easily available software. Not quite the same with the blu-ray drive.

[Cannyone]

My best guess is that they haven't finished developement of their new stealth "root kits" that will be on all consumer BD movie disks, so they don't want to encourage the use of the newer versions of playback software.

[kimgitz]

I am getting tired with the short comings of HD..in my opinion it is not yet worth the hassle