PC Advisor has reported that PLDS (Philips
Lite-On Digital Solutions) plans to introduce a read-only Blu-ray drive in time for the holidays. According to the article, the DH-4O1S
is able to read both single and dual layer Blu-ray media at 4x and is backwards compatible with most CD and DVD
formats.
PLDS (Philips Lite-On Digital Solutions) says the world’s first BD-ROM (Blu-ray DVD-ROM) drive will be a
versatile read-only device capable of reading every major optical disc type. As well as Blu-ray discs, the PLDS DH-401S will be able to
access and read content from any DVD+/-R and DVD+/-RW drive and any type of CD-R/RW media.
Jelmer Veldman, marketing manager for
PLDS Europe, explained that because it is a read-only device, the Philips-Lite-On partnership was able to keep retail costs down. They
hope the probably price tag of £125 will entice consumers to swap their existing PC CD-ROM drives for the DH-401S Blu-ray drive.
While I applaud PLDS for introducing a read-only Blu-ray drive, the £125 ($258US) price tag is still a bit high for
consumers, especially when they can get a Blu-ray combo drive for nearly the same price. If you'd like to read more, the entire article
can be found here.
