LinkBack URL
About LinkBacksRight here.Originally Posted by Matt D
Which brings up another point - £629 for the burner!!!
What do you think of that, guys?
Right here.
Which brings up another point - £629 for the burner!!!
What do you think of that, guys?
Good grief guys, have you that limited a memory span?
This sort of thing gets cheap - fast, it always has done since the first cd drives!
As for the crap about scratches and fading dyes, that's why you have cases and don't store them in open sunlight.. sheesh!
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")
Matt - nice find!
Just to save too much clicking about...
Play.com is quoting prices for two types of blank media and for Pioneer's Blu-ray Disc writer. Nothing, there, though about HD DVD, as far as I can see
The Blu-ray Disc blanks (including delivery) are pitched at:
Sony Blu-Ray -RW 25GB Media Disc - £17.99 (I said £20 for BD-RE, the correct description)
Sony Blu-Ray -R 25GB Media Disc - £14.99 (I said £17 for BD-R 25GB )
So, a £2 premium for the sort of High Street store I had in mind sounds about right.
Oh, and as for the price of Pioneer's "BDR-101A Blu-ray Disc/DVD Internal Writer", that's quoted as £629.99 Delivered.
Clearly, that's massively more than the cost of today's all-singing/dancing SD DVD burners but it's actually £20 cheaper than the price in the UK of the first Pioneer DVD burner aimed at the public (the A03), which arrived in early summer 2001. At that time, blank write-once DVD-R discs were nine quid each.
Still, in my view, the price of the Blu-ray model is totally unjustifiable other than on the basis that some people may be willing to pay it.
Mind you, I probably thought the same was true of the A03 - though, back then, there was a very large pent up demand for these products, especially from pro videographers.
What's obviously of great interest is how long it will take for product to reach mass-market prices (ditto HD DVD burners).
For the record, the Pioneer A03's successor, the A04, was selling for £320 or less by the summer of 2002.
By the summer of 2003, the A05 was selling for £199 or less.
Hopefully, Blu-ray and HD DVD hardware prices are going to fall a LOT faster, though.
But we'll have to wait and see.
Last edited by Bob Crabtree; 19-06-2006 at 06:59 PM.
There is no need to be f***ing rude Stoo. You made you point, i have my own opinion too.
I'm not having a go Stoo, but the Dye will degrade even when not in direct sun light.
Secondly, in my 15 years or more of computing i have never had a HDD die on me. Yet i have had scores of CD's and DVD's get scratched, even though i take extremely good care of them. In fact i am a bit anal like that and probably take better care of them than the average person.
And what does this have to my memory? No one said that they would not come down in price. Just that they were FAR too expensive right NOW. And lets face it, these thing cost pennys to make. They will come down once R&D costs have been recovered.
Could you imagine Nero throwing up an "Writing Failed (buffer underrun)" error on a £20+ disk? As Jonny rightly pointed out, there are far more chance of that happening than 2 HDD's failing at exactly the same time. I always by good grade DVD's and CD's, yet perhaps one in every 100 (maybe one in 30 with really cheap crap) is a coaster. It's bound to be more with a brand new technology. And will i be able to RMA those duff ones?
Sure, when the price comes down to something a bit less insane, i will buy them. But how can you possibly argue that, at this exact point in time, a HDD array is less cost effective AND less safe?
I agree totally with Bob, they are a rip off. Just because the first DVD's were too expensive, does not mean these are not a rip off. They both were. The manufactures are being very greedy again IMO. Also, i don't think they take off will be anything like a quick as the first DVD's, they were a much bigger leap forward and more desirable to more people due to the only alternative to VHS for video use and people were gagging for something better, but maybe i'm wrong on that.
Last edited by autopilot; 19-06-2006 at 10:33 PM.
I actually 100% fail to see your logic.
But there we go.
personally i don't dissagree that HD-DVD and BlueRay blanks are vastly over priced for what they are, i just think the headline and thread subject are a little off.
I don't think the price is shocking at all. It's about what i would have thought they would come in at. In fact if anything, the BluRay prices are lower than i would have expected.
Nothing to see here really..
New technology will come silly prices.
Dom, I'm not asking you to buy one right now.. but on the record this isn't the most expensive new technology. Stoo made a good point, recall the days of CD-RW.. a burner do actually cost an arm and a leg, and they're as big as VCRs.
You have your point on the HDD bit. And its not about failing and all. Say you're going up on a aircraft, or just the fact that you travel alot. Or you have to backup a copy of your drive to a local branch office that weighs 20-30GB. Surely this is where BD and HD-Dvds shines.. its pretty silly asking me to lumber a HDD around risking some major jack-a** knocking my luggage to the floor and wrecking my HDD. I can drop my DVD on the floor (provided ppl don't step on it), and still have a relatively good chance that it'll still work. Its just durable media, but note durable, not necc long lasting. Try dropping ur P120 and tell me if it still works.
Also, if it means that I can save transferring my whole backup of 250GB into 5 thin and crispy disc that I can carry anywhere I want, and works as a short term backup then it gets my vote really.
Having said that, 20 quid media and 600 quid writer, again.. is ONLY temporary. I'm sure ppl moan about DVD writers when they were out. But I bet those ppl are using them RIGHT this very minute.. I shyt you not. They're keeping quiet and will probably deny anything they've said before about DVDs-crash-n-burn bits.
Before ppl think of profit for the end-users.. u do need to be considerate about technology. RnD don't come cheap, hire a PhD to do research for you will have a 50k-70k hole in your wallet. If you want a total rip off then pharmaceuticals are far worse... You pay £100 for something that cost as much as dust.
Me want Ultrabook
I believe you when you say that but I also believe that your experience represents the very extreme (and lucky) end of the normal distribution curve for HDD failures.
Could be you'll stay there and never have one in the rest of your days.
But my experience and, I believe the experience of most long-time computer users (including those hereabouts), is that HDD failure is just part and parcel of running computers and, although it's not an every day occurence it is something that happens much more often than we like.
The only shocking thing here is the price of the drive - I could build a decent rig for the price of a blu ray drive.
Yeah, i have been lucky. I have however had to HDD's arrive DOA, but got them RMA'd the next day.
Sorry if i flew off the handle a bit, but FFS will people read posts properly.
All i said was that i don't understand why people would buy this tech right now and that HDD's were currently a better option for backup AT THE MOMENT.
Hence...
etc.
Followed by...
Got my goat a little and completely missed my point.
BTW, as for "Try dropping ur P120 and tell me if it still works.", well yes indeed. But at current BR/HD-DVD prices i could afford a few drives so my data would be safely mirrored on another drive (as it is). That was my point, and only point really.
Can i just reiterate one thing "I KNOW THEY WILL GET CHEAPER AND I NOW NEW TECHNOLOGY IS EXPENSIVE", before anyone tells me that again.
I have a cold and i am feeling very grumpy today.
Thank you.
Last edited by autopilot; 20-06-2006 at 11:22 AM.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote