CDRLabs.com

(lame as in, a damaged leg)

Just reading the front page news here, and what do I see?

The HD DVD specs of the first drive will be limited to recordable, write-once HD DVD-R media at 1X, to both single-layer 15GB and dual layer 30GB discs; the drive won't support any of the HD DVD flavors of rewritable discs. However, the drive will support writing to standard DVD: 4X DVD±R (2X for double- and dual-layer), 4X DVD±RW, 3X DVD-RAM, and 16X CD-R.

Those specs make Pioneer's spec-lacking drive look *GOOD*. What is Toshiba THINKING?!?

Toshiba is thinking we need to get a drive out the door as fast as possible, before people start thinking the (recordable) format is dead.

yeah, the biggest mistake the Toshiba guy made was this:

"I honestly don't believe in these early days that many people will be using HD DVDs and Blu-rays to back up content. If you look at the cost per GB to back up to disc, it's not cost-effective."

Data backup is the most LIKELY use for the media at this point...

And here I thought first gen Blu-ray drives were slow..

Data backups is really the only use right now. I doubt many people are going to be creating their own high-def movies, especially when you consider how few HD camcorders are on the market. I think they would have been smarter to introduce a half-height drive first too.. or at least at the same time as their laptop one.

Data backups is really the only use right now.

No, not at all.

Blu-ray and HD writers are for High Def TV capture, burning to disc, and delayed viewing of The Jerry Springer Show.

Who wants to watch those fights in low def?