Oh, how things have changed since Plextor originally announced its combo HD DVD / Blu-ray drives would ship in February. Probably due to the end of the format war, the PX-B920SA and PX-300SA slipped a bit but should hit store shelves by the end of this month. The cost of hanging on to HD DVD compatibility? The all-HD media playing, 4x BD-R / 2x BD-RE / 16x DVD±R burning PX-B920SA will cost $599, while the PX-B300SA (hold the BD-R/BD-RE, please, we're on a diet) is $499.

Although we have hope that the format war is shuddering to a close, it's probably still wise to hedge your bets just a little -- and Plextor's got you covered with two new SATA Blu-ray / HD DVD combo drives. The new PX-B920SA writes to BD-R at 4x speeds, DVDs at 16x, and CD-Rs at 40x, and reads HD DVD, while the lower-end PX-B300SA drops the BD-R capabilities and just writes to DVD and CD. Plextor says both drives will be available at the end of the month, but sadly we don't have any pricing information.

[Via NordicHardware]

Read - PX-B920SA
Read - PX-B300SA

We've seen the first wave of Blu-ray burners receive their appropriate testing, and while most were deemed satisfactory, all demanded a mighty (and most likely unworthy) pricetag for such sluggish write speeds. Plextor's PX-B900A sports the same ultraslow 2x write speeds for both single and dual-layer BD-R / BD-RE discs, but offered decent burning speeds for the "other formats." PC World was most impressed with this particular drive's ease of installation -- something other drives haven't exactly provided -- and the fleshed-out bundle of software that comes packed in. Reviewers were thoroughly pleased with the inclusion of Blu-ray movie playback software, as well as the video editing / authoring and packet writing programs. While they were none too pleased with the $999 price, they did feel that the cost was somewhat more justified thanks to the smattering of great software that came along with it, and crowned it "a solid value" if you just can't wait another day to pick up an internal Blu-ray burner.

As much as we like to talk about the ongoing format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD and our readers comment on it, the simple fact is that very few of us actually own either format yet. This is definitely related to the high prices and growing pains early adopters are subject to but the fact is neither one is available in significant quantities yet. As more manufacturers prepare to jump in to the battle this holiday season they may not be able to because of their shared reliance on blue lasers. Only a few companies worldwide produce them and none have been able to get very good yields. Even Sony, who produces blue lasers for themselves and others, has predicted a shortage as they seek to roll out the Playstation 3 and BDP-S1 and according to this article, have suspended shipments to others. For manufacturers who have to rely on someone else for a supply, this could mean a delay until 2007 before many players and drives are launched.

Plextor has officially announced their first Blu-ray drive, the PX-B900A, including 2x reading and recording speeds for BD-R and -RE discs, 8MB buffer, and compatibility with the assorted DVD and CD formats. The price is set at $999.99, which may seem a bit high compared to Sony's recently announced $750 Blu-ray PC drive, until you consider that unlike the BWU-100A Plextor plans to bundle this with Intervideo's WinDVD BD Blu-ray movie playback software. Other software included is Ulead's VideoStudio10 Plus for Blu-ray authoring, BD DiscRecorder for direct camcorder-to-Blu-ray recording and others for DVD playback and standard file management capabilities. No word on if HDCP support will be required to get Blu-ray playback at all, but we should know for sure in October when it is released.

[Via Engadget]