Plextor Intros Dual Blu-ray/HD DVD Drives

The PX-920SA and PX-B300SA both package Blu-ray and HD DVD read capability into a single optical drive, and the higher-end model also writes BD-R discs.

HD DVD technology may be dead and buried, but that hasn’t stopped Plextor from keeping it alive in its latest line of internal optical drives. The company’s two latest Blu-ray drives, announced on Monday, both offer HD DVD reading capability, allowing users with HD DVD libraries to keep using the discs for playback even after the rest of the name sinks beneath the waves.

The premium PX-B920SA Blu-ray burner offers a snappy Serial ATA (SATA) interface and 4x write speed on single-layer Blu-ray discs, allowing it to lay data down at 18 MB/s. That rate is halved for writing dual-layer discs, where it only functions at 2x write speed, or 9 MB/s. As it a DVD burner, it can rip along at 16x for single-layer discs and 4x for dual-layer discs, and hits 40x when writing on basic CD-Rs.

The less expensive PX-B300SA [link may not yet be active] shares the dual Blu-ray/HD DVD read capability of its older brother, but strips it of Blu-ray write capability. It does, however, retain all of the PX-B920SA’s other capabilities, and gets the same software package, which includes InterVideo WinDVD 8, Ulead MovieFactory 5.5 SE, and Burn.Now 4.5 SE.

Both drives are set to debut in North and South America in late March. The write-capable  PX-B920SA will sell for $599.99, while the PX-B300SA will go for $499.99.

[Updated 25-Mar with corrected pricing information from Plextor.]