Pioneer Unveils $299 Combo Drive

In a welcome move from the industry, Pioneer has unveiled their BDC-S02 combo drive - a low cost alternative for those looking to playback Blu-ray discs on their PC without the added cost of purchasing a burner. The combo drive will play Blu-ray movies, as well as read any stored information off of BD-ROM, BD-R, and BD-RE discs (both single and dual layer). Additionally, the drive with read and burn DVD and CD media, providing full support to be a direct replacement to a DVD burner without losing capability. Currently, the only Blu-ray PC drives on the market are burners, which provide support for Blu-ray playback, but retail in the $500+ range. The BDC-S02 is the first Blu-ray drive on the market to break that range. Pioneer said the drive was immediately available for purchase in China and will be available soon in other markets around the world.