Fastmac Announces 1st Blu-Ray Optical Drive Upgrade for Laptops; Low
Profile Slot Loading Drive Provides 50 GB of Storage on 1 Disk for
Apple PowerBook, iBook, MacBook Pro, iMac & Mac mini

April 06, 2007

Salinas, CA – Fastmac today announced the first & only Blu-Ray
optical drive upgrade for Apple’s PowerBook, iBook & MacBook Pro
computers. The new slimline, slot loading drive uses one of the
fastest & most compatible Blu-ray mechanisms to provide up to 50 Gb
of storage on 1 disk, without sacrificing compatibility with standard
DVD & CD recordable media. Fastmac’s Blu-Ray optical drive upgrade is
scheduled to ship within 10 days and is available for pre-order from
www.fastmac.com for a special introductory price of $799.95. Each
drive carries a 1 year warranty and a 30 day money back guarantee .

Fastmac’s new Blu-ray slot loading drive gives photographers,
videographers & musicians the ability to save anything, anywhere- in
the field, on location, in the studio, at work or at home. System
administrators and database administrators can archive and retrieve
large amounts of data on 1 convenient disk. And consumers can now
watch today’s latest HD content in true high definition with surround
sound anytime & anywhere they happen to be. Blu-ray is the next
generation of storage technology & entertainment and it’s available
today, only from Fastmac

“This new optical drive gives me the freedom to save anything,
anywhere I happen to be with my new MacBook Pro,” said Edward Savio,
President of Fastmac Performance Upgrades, Inc. “With this much
storage capability, I was able to sort and backup my work on a per
project basis.”

About Blu-ray
Blu-ray, also known as Blu-ray Disk (BD), is the name of a next
generation optical disk format developed by a consortium of
electronics and computer manufacturers including Apple, Dell, HP,
JVC, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony &
TDK. The format was designed to enable the recording and playback of
High Definition (HD) content and to allow storage of large amounts
(up to 200 Gb) of data. While current optical drive technologies rely
on a red laser to read and write data, the new format uses a
blue-violet laser (hence the name, Blu-ray). The blue-violet laser
has a 38% shorter wavelength (405nm) than a red laser (650nm),
allowing the drive’s optical pickup unit to focus more precisely than
ever before. Data can then be packed more densely on standard sized
disks. Despite using a new type of laser, Blu-ray drives are
compatible with standard DVD and CD media through the use of a
combined red, blue & violet optical reader and writer.

In addition to broad support from the electronics, music, computer &
video game industry, 7 out of 8 of the major Hollywood film studios
support Blu-ray media and 5 out of those 7 (Disney, Fox, Lionsgate,
MGM & Sony) have decided to release their movies exclusively in the
Blu-ray format. With its forward and backward integration with new
and old media, Blu-ray is destined to become the successor to today’s
DVD format.

Specifications
Fastmac’s slimline Blu-ray slot loading optical drive supports
reading, writing and re-writing to single and dual layer Blu-ray
media at 1x speeds. The drive is also compatible with standard DVD
and CD media and can write to DVD-R and DVD+R media at 8x speed in
single layer and 2x speed in dual/ double layer mode. It can rewrite
to DVD-R and DVD+R media at 4x speeds. The drive also supports
DVD-RAM reading and writing at up to 5x speeds and standard CD-R and
CD-RW burning at 8x speeds.

Compatibility
Fastmac’s slimline Blu-ray slot loading optical drive upgrade
requires Mac OS X 10.2.8 or higher and is compatible with the
following Apple computers:

iBook G4

iMac G5

iMac Intel

MacBook Pro (17-inch)

Mac mini

PowerBook G3 Pismo

PowerBook G4 Titanium (667 Mhz or higher)

PowerBook G4 Aluminum

Blu-ray burning requires 3rd-party software such as Roxio’s Toast 8
Titanium, which enables Blu-ray disk support in the Mac OS Finder.
Native support for Blu-ray burning within iLife & iTunes is expected
in the future via Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, but cannot be guaranteed at
this time.

About Fastmac
Fastmac is an OEM designer and manufacturer of innovative upgrade
products that add value and extend usability of Apple computers &
iPods. Fastmac’s award-winning product line-up includes drive, CPU,
LCD and battery upgrades, including the world’s longest lasting
PowerBook & iPod batteries & the only replacement batteries for
Apple’s latest MacBook portables. More information about Fastmac is
available via http://www.fastmac.com/company