Honestly, I simply have to ask those of you who would be considered “early adopters”: Who honestly pays that much for something which will likely be obsolete in a matter of a year? As PC I can see, but a freakin’ single drive?

Looks like Panny’s not the only company showing off their Blu-ray offerings in Japan today. IODATA’s got two of their own: the internal BRD-UM2, and external USB BRD-AM2B, which will go for ¥110,250 and ¥121,800, respectively (that’s $942 US and $1,041 US, also respectively). Looks like these will also burn dual-layer BD-R and BD-RE media, as well as your usual DVD±RW and CD-RW, and will even beat Panasonic’s offering to market by a solid 9 days with a June 1st release date. So keep an eye out with your favorite gadget importer and keep that credit card clean. Source: Engadget

Tags: cd-rw, panasonic, iodata