Looks like the love affair with HD DVDs is finally and completely over. Toshiba has hammered the final nail in the coffin with the BDX2000 Blu-ray player and thrown their HD DVDs out on the lawn. You can expect the following specs:

BD-Live (Profile 2.0), 1080p/ 24 fps Full HD Video Output, AVCHD Playback, Toshiba REGZA-LINK (HDMI-CEC), Support for enhanced audio formats from Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio, Bonus View, SD memory card slot and it’s ENERGY STAR Certified.

The problem with netbooks is that they lack optical drives. I learned that the hard way when I used my netbook at CES earlier this year and everyone was handing me CDs with information on them to check out.

Addonics has a new external optical Blu-ray drive that has both eSATA and USB connectivity. The Blu-ray drive can play Blu-ray movies and burn CDs and DVDs. The drive is also available in a DVD only version that can burn and play DVDs or CDs.

Buffalo Japan is getting ready to unleash two new optical drives on the Japanese market, the BR-H1016SU2 (external) and BR-H1016FBS-BK (internal) Blu-ray writers. Both drives have 4MB of buffer memory and will give you write speeds of up to 10x for BD-R SL, 8x for BD-R DL, 2x for BD-RE SL/DL, 16 x for DVD-R/+R, 12x for DVD-RAM, 8x for DVD-R/+R DL and DVD+RW, 6x for DVD-RW, 48x for CD-R and 24x for CD-RW.

Both models come with several connectivity ports including SATA and USB 2.0 for the BR-H1016FBS-BK, and eSATA for BR-H1016SU2. The BR-H1016SU2 and BR-H1016FBS-BK should hit Japanese retail shelves in early September for about $359 and $300.

I always knew that Blu-ray would win the format war with Sony on its side selling the PS3. The PS2 helped get the DVD player into the homes of gobs of people and I figured the PS3 would do the same for Blu-ray.

Toshiba was the main backer of HD DVD and when its format was defeated it stayed out of the HD format market for movie players. The company decided this year to get back into the HD payer market and has announced that it has applied to be part of the Blu-ray disc association.

Harman has released a new high-end Blu-ray player dubbed the Lexicon BD-30. This Blu-Ray player is supposed to support just about everything including BD-Live, BonusView, DVD, upconverted DVD, DVD-Audio, SACD, CD and USB.

The BD-20 also comes with Anchor Bay’s award-winning Video Reference Series technology for the best 1080p picture possible. Sadly, we have no word on price just yet, but this is high end so expect to pay. We’ll let you know when we do.

Here’s some good news for those of us living in the States. Onkyo has finally launched its latest Blu-ray player in the US market. This one is the DV-BD507 and it supports Deep Color and x.v. color specifications of HDMI 1.3a and can play AVCHD video files stored on SD/SDHC card or DVD-R/RW dics.

The DV-BD507 also features BD-Live Profile 2.0 for various online interactive content. If this one is up your alley, the Onkyo DV-BD507 will cost you $449.

Panasonic has announced a new series of DVRs that will be available in September. Six models in all, these new DVRs feature a Blu-ray recorder, a VHS player (for the DMR-BR670V) and your choice of 320GB / 500GB / 1TB / 2TB of HDD.

They come equipped with the latest UniPhier system LSI that integrates new AV data compression/decompression technology. The high-end model, the DMR-BW970 should be able to record up to 320hrs of video in MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 @ 12.9Mbps and supports Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby True HD, DTS-HD, can record on BD-RE / BD-R / DVD-RAM / DVD-R / DVD R DL / DVD-RW, and there’s also HDMI output, an SDHC card slot, the VIERA Link, and is DLNA.

This one is interesting, even though we’ve heard it before. Just as Toshiba is announcing that it will be delivering a Blu-ray drive of it’s own, Microsoft could follow suit. At least that’s the word on the street.

The big M might be readying a Blu-ray drive add-on for the popular Xbox 360 gaming console. The company did offer an external HD DVD drive before, built by Toshiba. The new drive is seen as more feasible, both because of Toshiba’s support and cost reductions, which could make a USB Blu-ray reader affordable.

Well, it’s about time. We first saw the 400 disc MegaChanger in May and we had hoped that it would be out by now. Looks like the wait is almost over though. Sony has officially announced plans to release the BDP-CX7000ES in August for $1,900. Yeah, it’s pricey, but that’s about $300 cheaper than the price we had listed in May.

You are getting a lot for the money. Assuming you have 400 discs. This baby will handle any Blu-ray Disc, DVD or CD and works with the latest codecs delivered via bitstream or LPCM. Your other option is to hold off for a few months for the BDP-CX960, which is $800. But there will be no RS-232 and IR-in.

Samsung’s latest Blu-ray Home Theater In a Box is a nice all-in-one solution.The HT-BD3252 supports all of the latest HD audio codecs like TrueHD and DTS-HD, and a mic for automatic calibration. It features an integrated Blu-ray player, which supports BD-Live.

Samsung has also included internet services like Pandora, Netflix and Blockbuster via an included WiFi dongle and more. Even an iPod dock. You get a bunch of features for just $799. Those looking for an all-in-one solution should definitely check this one out.

You can now play and burn Blu-rays and DVDs wherever you go with the Amex Digital BDR-S1/ BDR-T28 4x Blu-ray recorders for Mac. They’re available in black or white and the USB-powered Blu-ray burners support the latest green ECO S.M.A.R.T that extends battery life more than 40% and STAT Drive with 30% faster data transfer rates.

The drives also feature Quiet Drive Technology that reduces the noise level of audio and video recording or playback and the ad Research technology that compensates for warped discs. The Amex Digital BDR-S1/ BDR-T28 4x Blu-ray recorders are priced at $599 each.

ASUS has taken a fairly basic USB Blu-ray drive and given it a high-gloss makeover. The SBC-04B1S-U isn’t gonna wow you with 4.8x maximum Blu-ray disc reading, 8x DVD burning, a USB 2.0 connection, and Windows compatibility.

The bright blue ‘X’ on the unit flashes and has a dedicated app to control brightness. My main concern with this X is that it might attract government agents looking to give Fox Mulder some deepthroat-like info.

Yesterday, we told you about the Sony Vaio NW notebook with Blu-Ray for $880. Today we have the comparable Acer Aspire AS5739G with Blu-Ray for $750. You’ll get a 15.6-inch LED LCD (1366×768), 2.1Ghz Core2 Duo processor, 4GB of DDR3 RAM and a GeForce GT130 graphics card with an extra 1GB of memory.

It also features an 8X Blu-ray drive, 250GB hard drive, Dolby 5.1 output, fingerprint recognition and multitouch support. It’s not the lightest laptop, but it is decent looking. And available now.

We told you back in April that Blu-ray players for $99 would be hitting this year. Here’s the first. The latest Curtis Mathes offering, the CMMBX130. Offered by Meijer, this new Blu-ray player can play 1080p Blu-ray discs and will even upscale regular DVDs. Outputs include an optical digital audio, composite and HDMI 1.3.

Some other specs include a 24-bit 192kHz audio converter, a BroadCom 7440 processor and an 11-bit 108MHz digital-to-analog convertor. It also features an Ethernet jack for downloading firmware updates.

The Sony VAIO NW is the latest 15-inch notebook from Sony featuring a fairly reasonable price tag. The base price is $880 and goes up from there. This one offers a 15.5-inch widescreen HD display with 1,366 x 768 resolution and an Intel Core 2 Duo processor.

Some other features include an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 graphics card, 4GB RAM, a 400GB hard drive, a 1.3MP webcam, Blu-ray drive, WiFi, Bluetooth, an HDMI port, 3x USB ports, an ExpressCard port, a microSD card slot, a memory stick PROTM slot and Windows Vista as the OS. You can get the VAIO NW notebook starting this month in three colors.