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First 3 Generation-Compatible HD DVD Drive
fenimor writes "NEC has developed world's first half height size optical drive capable of playing back HD DVDs, DVDs, and CDs with a single optical head. Although the lasers required to read each type of disk vary, NEC said it had successfully created a miniature drive with a single lens that could read all three. The drive was designed for laptop computers and will be released commercially later next year."
It's reassuring to see that manufacturers are not trying to ditch CD formats in any way with the newer formats that come out. I always figured that if any medium uses a simular technique for reading/writing as another medium, then the two mediums should support each other. I was afraid that as time goes on, manufacturers would try to ditch CD mediums to try to get people to upgrade. Maybe that will still happen. Hopefully it won't.
...three adverts in a row.
Record?
That looks like a drive that is way too big to fit in a laptop.
.. smells like a desktop drive..
laptop ??
$ strings FTP.EXE | grep Copyright
@(#) Copyright (c) 1983 The Regents of the University of California.
Last 3 items are just press releases. Can we get some news?
I wonder if Blu-ray will be killed before the battle can even begin? I suspect that might be the case at least for HD movies since the bandwagon will start as HD DVD players are out for consumers, which will probably be a while before Blu-ray enters the market.
Maybe the cost for Blu-ray drives due to higher complexity, combined with the later availability will make it so we don't even see much of a trace of commercial Blu-ray drives at all.
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
I spent this past weekend with the SO's family. On Sunday we were at a family holiday party around Massapequa in NY and a completely untechnical conversation started on how my SO's dad got his old Super 8 films converted to DVD. Let me tell you it would make even the bluest-shirted 16-yr old Best Buy employee cringe. Mind you, most of the audience was 50 or older. But they were saying things like "You know, they have DVDs that play CDs now."
Grandma was asked if she had a DVD player and she said yes, she thought she did. When she was asked if she could watch movies on it, she said no, that's what the tape player is for. "I have the one that plays, what, it plays the records." And she made a spinning motion with her fingers.
Luckily I was able to find the football game but others weren't so lucky.
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
Half-height? Bah. I think that's more properly dubbed a "laptop drive."
Half-height drives, rather, are of course about half the height of a full-height drive. See here.
HTH.
Kid-proof tablet..
with a single optical head.
Now it would be even cooler if it would support blue ray too with a single optical head.
Lame.
RTFA!! This is a DESKTOP drive!
But it still won't read those new copy-protected CDs.
So when it turns out that most consumers couldn't care less about either of the new formats, having everything they need with regular DVD, that new player won't suddenly become useless.
The coolest voice ever.
so wait, if "half-height" single head is what was needed for laptops, what's in my laptop right now that is reading/writing dvd-r's/cd-r's ?
Or is this for the ultra small laptops like the thinkpad-x ?
...on how large the HDTV market is (which is directly linked to what premium they charge over DVDs). Blue-Ray has larger capacity and the quality edge. If the market is videophiles, price might not matter as much as having the best quality(tm) available.
How many in the US have a HDTV-capable (720p/1080i) TV set now? How many will stay with DVD? There's many open questions here, and I think it is far too early to claim a win for either side.
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Seems like this post also comes from the kan't-spel-to-gud-dept.
Juliennes fries. Sheesh.
(pulling string sound)
The article says "This drive, though called half-height, is for desktop machines."
(pulling string sound)
The article says "I'm not saying whether or not it is for laptops, or explain what half-height means. That would be too helpful."
(pulling string sound)
The article says "I am saying that HD, which it supports. is one of the blue laser optical-disc technologies."
(pulling string sound)
The article says "A B C D E F G. CD DVD HD DVD. LSI, ETM. PRML system. Ah, I'm too bored to finish the parody."
(pulling string sound)
The article says "This drive has three lasers: blue, red, and infrared. Don't tell any supervillains!"
(pulling string sound)
The article says "The HD DVD format has been only proposed, but the HD DVD-ROM and Rewritable formats have been approved."
(pulling string sound)
SNAP!
I just bought an F'n DVDR -+ Drive, my buddy just bought one that burns dual layer, (which by the way, 3 discs are 35 bucks) I'm sure they'll come out with one that will wash my car next year while it burns my favorite tunes, and does aromatherapy. Where did compact disc's go so friggin confusing? MAKE ME ONE DRIVE THAT DOES IT ALL FOR THE NEXT 3 YEARS!!!!!!!!!!! and quit making me feel obsolete every 5 minutes.
The point is, backward compatibility, moron!
Agreed. People are just in the process of buying their DVD collections and big screen TVs. You only spend $10,000 on entertainment upgrades every 10 years or so. HD-DVD and Blu-Ray will languish for at least half that and by then we'll probably have a universal media format that beats them both.
when the editor doesn't RTFA.
Most important question of all, can it be patched to RPC-1?
ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
Every once in a while, it seems someone posts saying how great DVDs are and how they're "everything we need." Maybe you enjoy your movies stuck at 8GB in size and in blurry resized 512 resolution, but I have a 1280 resolution monitor and would enjoy watching theater resolution movies compressed in the latest technologies (MPEG-4).
If you've seen the T2 Extreme DVD with the HD version of the film, you know what you're missing. Short answer--TONS OF VISUAL DETAIL.
I am getting used to the modular type of PC, nowadays. I have moved all my devices to external USB 2.0 and Firewire cases. I find it easier to move them between machines throughout the house, and also when I am away performing some help for friends and family. I think what needs to be considered, is the cost. Is it going to be inline with the Normal Upgraded hardware cost? Usually we end up spending a couple of hundred, for the newest move to a standard, is this going to cost additionaly for the Combo feature, or will it simply reflect the new standard, with backwards compatibility, thrown in as a feature?
My cat's picked up a Hammer. HEY! Put down that Hammer. Put Down that Hamm...THUNK!
NEC has developed world's first half height size optical drive capable of playing back HD DVDs, DVDs, and CDs with a single optical head
I'm not buying it until it can also burn pictures on the label side of the disc.
NEC's new development realizes a small, slim HD DVD drive, which can read and write 3-generations of optical discs, HD DVDs, DVDs and CDs, with a single optical head.
I think its great that we may get a writer at release without having to wait 6 months to a year for that technology.
Tis better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt --Abraham Lincoln