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Would you like to watch some nice high-def Blu-ray movies but don’t have $400 for a Playstation 3? Well, if you have exactly half that amount of money you could get the Sony BDU-X10S, a Blu-ray drive for your desktop or your laptop. Even thought Blu Ray burners have been available for quite some time, this is the first drive that is read-only. It comes bundled with CyberLink’s PowerDVD BD Edition, so that you can actually watch the movies. It uses a SATA interface and it is compatible with Windows Vista and XP, and you will need a monitor connected via HDMI to watch movies (due to DRM restrictions). Sony says that releasing this device will help consumer adoption of Blu-ray:

“PC-based DVD-ROM drives helped accelerate mass DVD adoption, primarily because they were the least costly way to experience the technology,” said Wolfgang Schlichting, research director, removable storage at IDC.  “Similarly, we expect sub-$200 PC-based BD-ROM drives to be a driver for cost-conscious consumers to experience Blu-ray Disc high-definition video technology.”

Not bad for that ultimate media center PC you’ve been drooling about.

Read [Sony] Via [Engadget]