14 DAY TRIAL // Buffalo just loves PCs. If you think this is just a statement and nothing more, search the web a little and you'll realize that they've caught a "launch-frenzy" virus. Everything from high end DDR2 sticks to wireless home theaters has been turned into a product that is more or less related to PCs. And what follows is no different.
The Guys from Buffalo claim that they have developed the world's first HD DVD drive made specifically for PCs. The HDV-ROM2.4FB can play all sorts of formats including HD DVD-ROM, HD DVD-R, DVD?R/RW, CD-ROM and CD-R/RW media since it was already mass released, first shipments will reach the stores later this month.
While Buffalo claims that its 5.25" HD DVD drive for desktops machines is the first ever drive designed to work with PCs, the statement is not entirely true. The drive is indeed the first desktop-only HD-DVD unit but it's by no means the first HD DVD drive that is compatible with PCs.
Earlier this year, Toshiba launched its Qosmio G30 Core Duo notebook which integrates a HD DVD laptop drive while Acer offered up the Aspire 9800 with its own version of a HD-DVD reader. And you might also want to add the HD-DVD drive that Microsoft has produced for the XBOX 360 since it can work with Windows XP and it can also read the content of a HD-DVD disk with the help of a special driver. Add up the fact that it is fully supported under Vista, and you'll see that the HD-DVD PC reader market is not so empty after all.
Buffalo's HDV-ROM2.4FB will have a price tag of $320 USD and comes with a bundled version of Cyberlink's PowerDVD HD DVD Edition software. For comparison, Microsoft's Xbox 360 HD DVD USB 2.0 drive costs only $199. And it works just as well.