FastMac offers slot loading Blu-ray burner

The ICT flag that would require HDCP won't be required on any titles until about 2010. After that, ICT-flagged titles would require HDCP or else the player would be required to down-res the video to 540p.

It doesn't matter if a display is 1080. Most HDTVs are 720p, which is about what the Mac Book is. Even at 720p, a video looks a lot better than a 480p DVD, or heaven forbid, a 480i DVD.

What really does matter is the lack of playback software.

fwoosh!

@ Ahmad: $800 worth it?! Are you freakin crazy....think about how much hard drive space I could buy with that money! (750GB Seagate's going for $300) That is of course if you're using it for data storage. But, why spend $800 on a tech that will be half that in less than a year and obsolete in 3-5??! You know of course(with the TV and all) that HD video will be offered online very soon....therefore no need to be able to read (old-tech) optical discs(even if you condider blu-ray new tech, it's old already) Personally I'm waiting for 1TB holographic discs...I'd be more willing to spend $800 on a drive that could read those! Anyways, my 2 cents!

$800 dollars
worth it.

lol $800? Crimey you geeks.....

@6: well that's not quite right either, the 24" iMac has a full 1080p (1920x1080) capable monitor (it is actually 1920x1200). For the smaller iMacs, if the software were there the image could be downcoverted (basically the same thing that happens when a 1080p source is connected to a 720p monitor, e.g. most "720p" LCDs are actually 1366x768). The 17" iMac is 1440x900; the 20" is 1680x1050. I reiterate, the problem is mostly software not hardware.

The MacBook and 15" MacBook Pro use an ultra-slim optical drive. This ultra-slim drive restriction is what made the first 15" MacBook Pro that was released just over a year ago to only have a single-layer DVD burning capabilities and slower read/write capabilites over the previous generation's Powerbook optical drives.

I think what Paul M is getting at is that the iMacs themselves do not necessarily have HD monitors...

I personally do not own one, so I don't know, and I can't find the resolutions on Apple's website - It's something to consider.

@4: your original comment mentioned HDMI, which is a cable standard (basically DVI plus digital audio); your second comment is talking about HDCP, which is a copy protection standard. HDMI connectors may, though do not necessarily, have HDCP support. As things stand now, however, Blu-ray movies generally lack HDCP protection, so it doesn't really matter (though that might change). Now if you look on the Windows side you'll see that they already have Blu-ray playback software for Blu-ray and HD-DVD drives like PowerDVD. So clearly, if the software were there the Mac could play these movies; the problem is software not hardware.

for Mat_Lu
You install inside the computer using ata cable and with ata cable you don't have the HighDef-video with Hdcp protection.
With this driver you won't be able to see BluRay on Imac