Psystar equips Mac clones with Blu-ray drive and Geforce 9800 GT
Psystar is too quick for Apple to offer a Blu-ray option. Customers can now choose a Blu-ray burner and a Geforce 9800 GT video card when ordering a Mac clone from Psystar.
The lack of an optional Blu-ray player came to Apple with criticism when announcing the new Macbook and Macbook Pro laptops. Steve Jobs mentioned the standard is a boon to consumers, but a bag of hurt for Apple when it comes to Blu-ray licensing issues.
Psystar does not elaborate on the licensing story and emphasizes the consumer benefits. “Blu-ray has already emerged victorious. Not only does the standard enjoy full functional and mature operating system support, but you can now rent and buy Blu-ray movies anywhere,” thus Rudy Pedraza, CEO of Psystar. Pedraza also points out that 25GB of files can be burned on Blu-ray discs.
It should be noted that Mac OS X does not yet support playing Blu-ray movies and there are no other applications for the Mac platform that can. According to a prediction by Kevin Rose, this support may already be in version 10.5.6 of Mac OS X. It is possible to remove the AACS protection from the Blu-ray film, after which it can be played in Mplayer.
Psystar charges an additional $310 for the option of a 6x Blu-ray burner, while a Blu-ray/DVD-RW burner can be supplied for an additional $350. Apple doesn’t offer a Blu-ray player or burner as an option at all yet. Psystar also beats Apple in the field of video cards. While Apple only offers its customers an option for the Geforce 8800 GT when purchasing its Mac Pro, which costs a minimum of $2799, customers of Psystar’s more expensive Openpro model can opt for a Geforce 9800 GT for an additional cost of $200. dollars. The cheaper Open version can optionally be equipped with the Geforce 8600 GT, which then replaces the standard Geforce 7200 GS.
Psystar is currently in a legal battle with Apple for alleged copyright infringement. Recently, the two ruffs announced that they would resolve the dispute outside the courtroom. The provocation with the Blu-ray option will not go down well with Apple.