AfterDawn: News

HP announces its first HD-DVD drive for the PC

In a release geared more towards providing consumers with a fancy computer peripheral rather than a home entertainment showpiece, HP has come out with their external HD-DVD drive. Repackaged under the HP name, the hd100 is a Lite-On manufactured drive capable of reading HD-DVD, DVDR/RW (single and dual layer), CDR/RW and CD-ROM discs. It manages all this from a standard USB 2.0 connection to the PC.

Availability for these drives are scheduled to appear in the UK as early as mid-December and have a retail overhead of some £399. This price not only gets you the drive, but also the Cyberlink playback software needed to view HD-DVD content on your notebook or PC.



HD-DVD pioneers, Toshiba have already been steaming ahead in the next generation digital media war against the competitive Blu-Ray format by unveiling its second generation HD-DVD players, the the HD-XF2 and HD-XA2. Toshiba and its partners in HD-DVD (including the likes of HP, Microsoft, NEC and Intel) have a long road ahead of them if they plan to battle it out with rivals Sony, Apple, Phillips, and Samsung against the Blu-Ray products. HD-DVD, however may have received a welcomed boost in its product by recent support from The American Independent Media Manufacturers Association (AIMMA) which consists of 37 influential media manufacturing companies all standing behind the HD-DVD format.

Source:
PC Pro

Written by: Dave Horvath @ 27 Nov 2006 6:56

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• 12 comments

• ZippyDSM

  has anyone been able to play a HD-DVD on XP yet?

  27.11.2006 07:30 #1

• Pop_Smith

  Originally posted by ZIppyDSM:has anyone been able to play a HD-DVD on XP yet?I thought only Vi$ta could play HD-DVDs, although I am probably mistaken.

  27.11.2006 08:08 #2

• ZippyDSM

  Pop_Smith
  you are not,I was asking if someone got them running but I guess a year or 2 of codec and decryption work would be needed.

  27.11.2006 08:48 #3

• borhan9

  This is a very good device coming out, but ill wait till it becomes standard so i can pick it up for less that $50 at my wholesaler. Too much for right now. :)

  27.11.2006 10:46 #4

• hughjars

  If you're buying a new PC in the USA you can have a HD-DVD drive for $99.
  
  HP is offering an HD-DVD drive add-on for $99: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=756087

  27.11.2006 16:05 #5

• ZippyDSM

  hughjars
  wont do you much good unless you have Vister 0_o
  

  
  
  FIGHT THE M.A.F.I.A.A.
  Sony has declared war on importers the consumer will be next with CD's,Videos/Games not far behind that....boycott SONY!
  http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/8062.cfm

  27.11.2006 16:10 #6

• Dunker

  I don't see anywhere in the site referenced by that link (HP's site) where it says you can get an HD-DVD drive for $100.

  27.11.2006 18:53 #7

• DR34MER

  "The drives should be available in the UK mid-December with recommended retail pricing of £399...."
  
  That's a lot more than $100 USD.
  
  399.00 GBP = 773.055 USD
  United Kingdom Pounds United States Dollars
  
  1 GBP = 1.93748 USD 1 USD = 0.516134 GBP
  
  from xe.com

  27.11.2006 19:16 #8

• arcanix

  Xbox 360 HD-DVD addon is 200$, and works on pc too.

  28.11.2006 04:29 #9

• ZippyDSM

  arcanix
  but without codecs and such pretty pointless to play HD DVD moives

  28.11.2006 04:36 #10

• Bigperm88

  The 360s HD-DVD player has been reported to work under vista. I can see MS or other companies offering XP support becasue of DRM. Vista is or supposed to be the DRM flagship, and HD-DVD and bluray are designed around DRM.
  
  And i agree with arcanix, if you have a 360; the HD-DVD addon is your cheapest bet.And presently (In north America)you get King Kong HD-DVD free with the drive.The play back is amazing.

  4.12.2006 12:17 #11

• ZippyDSM

  Bigperm88
  it works under newer macs XP and vista ,vista being the only one to support movies as of yet.
  
  MS still built a hodge podge of a machine but compared to the PS3 $600 its not that bad *L*

  4.12.2006 12:22 #12