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Psystar’s Open Computer now has an option for a Blu-ray drive, which is not available on a Mac.

(Credit: Psystar)

Psystar’s Mac clones now come with a Blu-ray drive, but they still can’t do much more with the technology than is already possible on a Mac.

Go ahead, order an Open Computer or Open Pro with a $310 Blu-ray drive if you’re a Mac OS X fan chafing at Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ decision that Blu-ray is “a bag of hurt.” But don’t expect to be able to pop in a Blu-ray movie and watch a high-definition movie on the display attached to that system.

Without Mac OS support for a Blu-Ray player, all you can really do with a Blu-ray drive on an Open Computer is burn Blu-ray discs using Roxio’s Toast 9 software, as Ars Technica points out. Apple doesn’t appear close to licensing the Blu-ray technology to make a player compatible with Mac OS X, and Psystar isn’t exactly in a position to add it on itself.

And you could already burn files or home movies with Toast 9 if you had a third-party Blu-ray disc drive hooked up to a Mac, or installed in a Mac Pro. I guess if you need the storage requirements of the Blu-ray format for files on a cheap computer this might be a palatable option, but otherwise, Psystar really isn’t bringing much to the table with this move.