AfterDawn: News

Addonics offers Blu-ray/HD DVD optical drive solution

Addonics Technologies has announced its new Zebra Blu-ray / HD DVD player (eSATA) that that allows your PC to play Blu-ray and HD DVD movies from the same tray. The drive also supports Burning DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW and CD-R/RW media. Users can turn their laptop or desktop computer into a high definition movie player and enjoy high definition video quality of 1080p format at 1920x1080 resolution and the dynamic 7.1-channel audio output that comes with the Blu-ray or HD DVD format.

The he Zebra Blu-ray / HD DVD player & DVD±R/RW burner comes with a choice of high speed eSATA connection or a combination eSATA and USB 2.0 interface. It is bundled with the Cyberlink High-Def Suite for use with Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, 2003, and Vista. The product also supports Linux (Kernel 2.6 and above) with free playback software downloadable from various Linux websites.



Maximum transfer rates in various modes of the Addonics Zebra are Blu-ray BD-ROM 215.79 Mbits/s (6x); HD DVD-ROM 109.65 Mbits/s (3x); DVD-ROM 22.16 Mbytes/s (16x) and CD-ROM 6,000 Kbytes/s (40x). The Addonics Zebra is compact at 10.16 x 6.61 x 2.36 inches and weighs just 3.72 lbs. The MSRP of the Zebra Blu-ray / HD DVD Player is $409 with eSATA interface, or $429 with combination eSATA and USB 2.0 interface.

Source:
Press Release

Written by: James Delahunty @ 15 Dec 2007 11:48

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• 9 comments

• NexGen76

  Sound good so far & the price is very good for multi-format player.After CES08 next month i will have a better picture to which way this format war going.If it look like a long time then i will invest into one of these Baby's because all Sony Bravia have PC input.

  15.12.2007 12:18 #1

• hughjars

  I think just about every HD TV has component, DVI or HDMI inputs
  (or some sort of combo of the 3).
  
  Any HD TV should be fairly easy to hook up to this.
  
  But $410 - $430?
  
  Seems very expensive for a high def ROM drive, even a combo one.
  
  I guess the software costs but I doubt too many will be queueing up to buy on of these at that price.
  
  I'd also wonder just how long the support for the software will last, especially bearing in mind the recent Blu-ray BD+ problems and the expected arrival of their 'profile 1.1' & 'profile 2.0' discs at some time (maybe) in the future.

  15.12.2007 12:26 #2

• BIGnewb

  Originally posted by hughjars: I'd also wonder just how long the support suport for the software will last, especially bearing in mind the recent Blu-ray BD+ problems and the expected arrival of their 'profile 1.1' & 'profile 2.0' discs at some time (maybe) in the future.i wonder how long the support will last for the software after bluray is the only format out of the 2 that's used.
  
  like honestly,you do nothing but bash bluray and ps3 on every thread.
  
  the hardware price is expensive but it costs less than buying a bluray and hd-dvd player,but i hate watching movies on my comp.

  15.12.2007 12:46 #3

• hughjars

  Originally posted by BIGnewb: i wonder how long the support will last for the software after bluray is the only format out of the 2 that's used. - LMAO.
  
  Hilarious.
  
  Originally posted by BIGnewb: like honestly,you do nothing but bash bluray and ps3 on every thread. - What "bashing"?
  
  It's a fair and extremely relevant question.
  
  Especially in the light of the facts that
  (1) the changes to Blu-ray like BD+ did cause problems for some Blu-ray owners & their kit & did require firmware updates and
  (2) the Blu-ray side keep saying 'profile 1.1' & 'profile 2.0' discs are on the way.
  
  Cos whether you like it or not BD+ is open-ended as far as changes to it go and 'profile 1.1' and 'profile 2.0' are not just about the hardware, they are changes to different types of Blu-ray movie disc softwares.
  
  Originally posted by BIGnewb: the hardware price is expensive but it costs less than buying a bluray and hd-dvd player - That would depend on the players, right now the Samsung & HD A30 together are little more than this price
  (although how long Samsung will support a dead model is open to question too).
  
  Originally posted by BIGnewb: but i hate watching movies on my comp. - I agree it's not the ideal but a high def ROM is a lot better than nothing, it can be extremely cheap (if you go on ebay a new bare HD DVD ROM drive can be had for - delivered - $87.98 or about £43 http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-OFFICIAL-XBOX-36...1QQcmdZViewItem ) and it's pretty easy to hook up your PC to your 'main' TV.

  15.12.2007 13:11 #4

• sk8flawzz

  Quote:Originally posted by hughjars: I'd also wonder just how long the support suport for the software will last, especially bearing in mind the recent Blu-ray BD+ problems and the expected arrival of their 'profile 1.1' & 'profile 2.0' discs at some time (maybe) in the future.i wonder how long the support will last for the software after bluray is the only format out of the 2 that's used.i think THAT is bashing...

  15.12.2007 17:56 #5

• laddyboy

  I don't see how questioning what happens to OEM Cyberlink software support is bashing. We all know new software is required everytime the BR "formula" is altered. I don't know what happens to the provided OEM software and I'm curious about that as well. Maybe members who have the LG combo drive with the Cyberlink OEM software can tell us if they get free updates or have to pay for the retail version to get future support or if LG supplies updated software. What happened with BD+. Were there free software updates for the OEM version of Cyberlink Ultra?

  17.12.2007 13:55 #6

• BIGnewb

  so we can agree on one thing.both formats have their problems.
  
  the only people that would buy this would be some who is wealthy and does not want to choose between the formats.i'd never buy this because you never know if both formats and the firmware can mess something up.i cant trust that.

  17.12.2007 21:00 #7

• laddyboy

  the hardware price is expensive but it costs less than buying a bluray and hd-dvd player,but i hate watching movies on my comp.
  
  This like the LG combo drive is directed at the HTPC connected to an HDTV.

  17.12.2007 21:39 #8

• borhan9

  Different in my book.

  24.12.2007 05:16 #9