Addonics Announces Blu Ray / HD DVD Hybrid

by Marco Chiappetta — Thursday, December 13, 2007, 01:00 PM EDT

Addonics Announces Optical Solution that Bridges Blu Ray and HD DVD Formats

-- Zebra Blu-ray / HD DVD Player Plays Both Formats and Burns DVD±R/RW and CDRW Media --

SAN JOSE, CA (December 13, 2007) – Addonics Technologies today announced its Zebra Blu-ray / HD DVD Player an optical storage solution that allows your PC to play Blu-ray and HD DVD movies from the same tray.

The Zebra Blu-ray / HD DVD Player also plays standard DVDs and CDs in various file formats and burns DVD+/-RRW and CDRW media, which makes it one of the most flexible optical drives available. Users can turn their laptop or desktop computer into a high definition movie player and enjoy high definition video quality of 1080p format at 1920x1080 resolution and the dynamic 7.1-channel audio output that comes with the Blu-ray or HD DVD format.

Addonics has left the decision over which high-def video standard will emerge victorious to the end user. Consumers reluctant to purchase single-format hi-def players can now be assured they will not be left with an obsolete player with the Addonics Zebra solution.

Constructed in a sturdy compact aluminum body, the Zebra Blu-ray / HD DVD player & DVD±R/RW burner comes with a choice of high speed eSATA connection or a combination eSATA and USB 2.0 interface.

The Addonics Zebra records up to 8.5GB of data or 4 hours of video on compatible DVD+R DL (double layer) and DVD-R DL (dual layer) media. It is bundled with the Cyberlink High-Def Suite for use with Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, 2003, and Vista. The product also supports Linux (Kernel 2.6 and above) with free playback software downloadable from various Linux websites.

Maximum transfer rates in various modes of the Addonics Zebra are Blu-ray BD-ROM 215.79 Mbits/s (6x); HD DVD-ROM 109.65 Mbits/s (3x); DVD-ROM 22.16 Mbytes/s (16x) and CD-ROM 6,000 Kbytes/s (40x).

The Addonics Zebra is compact at 10.16 x 6.61 x 2.36 inches and weighs just 3.72 lbs. The MSRP of the Zebra Blu-ray / HD DVD Player is $409 with eSATA interface, or $429 with combination eSATA and USB 2.0 interface.

Tags: HD, Nic, Hybrid, DVD, CES, HD DVD, Addonics, blu ray, ICS, blu, ray, id

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com