Plextor intros Blu-ray drives with HD DVD

Plextor today surprised the computer drive industry with a pair of dual-format HD optical drives. The B920SA and B300SA are both intended as native Blu-ray disc drives but also provide 3X HD DVD reading; while the format war has ended, the new drives give owners of the now-obsolete HD DVD format a chance to watch their movies on a computer, according to the company. The B920SA also loses none of the functionality of a Blu-ray only drive and can burn 25GB discs at up to 4X speed in addition to writing DVDs and CDs.

The B300SA drops the ability to write Blu-ray discs in favor of 6X reading but can still record CDs and DVDs like its premium counterpart. Both it and the higher-end B920SA connect through Serial ATA and will ship in late March at prices of $450 and $600 respectively and come bundled with movie playback, burning, and editing software for Windows systems.

Filed under: upgrades/storage
Other story tags: blu-ray, HD DVD, Plextor