Ricoh: Blu-ray, HD DVD, CD and DVD optics

[Dr Mordrid]

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,126545,00.asp

Sounds like DVD +/- R ALL OVER AGAIN.

The Buzz: The war between Blu-ray and HD DVD over high-definition disc formats rages on, with no sign yet that either camp will throw in the towel. But thanks to some new optics developed by Ricoh, you might not have to choose between the two. The Ricoh design enables a single drive to read Blu-ray discs, HD DVDs, CDs, and DVDs--by using a special diffraction plate that lets the drive focus its laser at the different depth each disc uses. That's a welcome bit of technology in a format battle that seems to be growing more unsettled by the day. The first players on both sides have shipped, but Sony recently delayed its stand-alone Blu-ray player until late October. And if it can't get the player ready until then, how can the Blu-ray-equipped PlayStation 3 possibly... Ah, never mind.

[Jammrock]

Yes, but how expensive will the pick up be? If they can get the price down to say, $250 for an all-in-one read/write 5.25" drive in the next 2 years I'll be all over that. Until then I'll sit back and let the HD war battle itself out in the marketplace.

This also means that an HTPC could become be the ideal HD format player, since it would truly universal for all prerecorded and streaming media.

[Dr Mordrid]

I completely agree. I checked the price of HTPC cases recently and was pleasantly suprised that several nice ones were < $150. Margie really likes the Thermaltake Tenor VB2000 @ $80 USD but I'm partial to the Thermaltake Bach. Any street word on them?

Thermaltake Tenor VB2000


Thermaltake Bach

[Taz]

Why is every case Thermaltake make a rip off of a Coolermaster or Silverstone Tek model

[Dr Mordrid]

'cause they're cool?

I must admit the Silverstone LC18 looks very nice, but that $600 price tag's an issue;

[dZeus]

Why is every case Thermaltake make a rip off of a Coolermaster or Silverstone Tek model

look at the other stuff ThermalTake makes. imho their 'innovation' team is led by a team of design copiers.

[Dr Mordrid]

Haven't you heard that "Reverse Engineering Tech." is a Masters program now?

[dZeus]

Haven't you heard that "Reverse Engineering Tech." is a Masters program now?

ahhh so that's where all the chinese students attend at