Original URL: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/06/08/philips_benq_lite-on_blu-ray/
Computex 2006 Philips this week launched its first Blu-ray Disc drive, and was quickly followed by Lite-on and BenQ. Both the Philips and the Lite-on models are due to ship in the UK in August, the two companies said separately.
Philips' TripleWriter SPD7000 internal PC drive supports both single- and dual-layer media - 25GB and 50GB, respectively - in both write-once (BD-R) and write-and-erase forms (BD-RE). The drive connects to the host PC through an internal Serial ATA port.
Lite-on's alternative is the LH-2B1S, and it should be capable of working with BD-R and BD-RE media in single- and dual-layer forms too. Like the SPD7000, the Lite-on drive will also burn DVD±R/RW discs and CD-RW media.
BenQ's BW1000 drive was also described by the company as a "triple writer" - it too will handle all the Blu-ray versions, along with DVD±R/RW and CD-RW media.
Philips said it expects its drive to retail for around £550 in August, the same month the Lite-on product is due to ship. Lite-on did not reveal how much it will charge for the drive, and BenQ kept mum on both pricing and availability. ®
Full Computex coverage at Reg Hardware (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/06/07/rh_computex_2006_coverage/)
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http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/09/15/lite-on_hd_dvd_drive/
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http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/08/24/lite-on_updates_blu-ray_drive_plan/
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http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/07/25/roxio_readies_blu-ray_toast_tool/
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http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/07/19/sony_samsung_blu-ray_kit/
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http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/07/10/blu-ray_laser_diode_dearth/
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http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/06/29/plextor_blu-ray_drive/
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http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/06/23/philips_chip_biz_spinoff_timetable/
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http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/06/22/mistubishi_30gb_hd-dvd-r_discs/
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http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/06/21/samung_ponders_dual-format_hd_player/
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LG touts 4x Blu-ray Disc recorder (26 May 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/05/26/lg_touts_4x_bd-r_drive/
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http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/05/26/hd_dvd_to_get_region_coding/
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Sony pitches Blu-ray Vaio desktop for HD content creation (17 May 2006)
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Panasonic to ship Blu-ray writer in June (21 April 2006)
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