Psystar Offers Blu-ray Burner in Mac Systems

Mac clone-maker Psystar brought out an option for those users that want the ability to play and burn Blu-ray formatted disks.

The Blu-ray option is available on its low-end Open and high-end OpenPro configurations. Both of those computers come pre-installed with Mac OS X Leopard. A Blu-ray burner costs an additional US$350 in both configurations, bringing the retail price to $904 and $1504, respectively.

Many users expected Apple to offer the Blu-ray disk option in its computers for the past couple of years. Apple is a member of the Blu-ray association, but to date the company has not offered the option on any of its systems.

Of course, most users recognize Psystar as the company that is fighting Apple for the right to make and sell Mac clones. Apple sued the company in July claiming it had violated the end-user license agreement for OS X, which does not allow users to "install, use or run the Apple Software on any non-Apple-labeled computer, or to enable others to do so."

Psystar filed a counter suit claiming that Apple enjoys monopoly power by linking its hardware and the Mac OS and claimed that Apple violated antitrust laws when it blocked users from installing OS X on computers not built by Apple.

The legal battle between the two companies seems far from over, but in the meantime Psystar will continue to offer low price Mac clones with options not available from Apple.