NEC announced the HR-1100A HD-DVD drive at the IFA show last year in Germany.

German CT Magazine did it again and scored a pre-production model of a next generation HD PC drive. As reported they published last week also the first review of a Blu-ray Disc Burner.

The NEC HR-1100A is not a disc writer it only can read HD-DVDs, DVDs and CDs. NEC uses one lens in this drive. CT Magazine finds very slow access times (370 ms for HD-DVD) with this pre-production model. Data transfer rates from HD-DVDs clocked in at 8,7 MByte/s. Error correction is a problem with the HR-1100A. NEC says the final HR-1100A will have those issues fixed.
The NEC HR-1100A is supposed to sell for around $500 in March. A HD-DVD burner is scheduled for a summer release. It is supposed to have a similar price.
Read the full review (German).

The first Toshiba HD DVD Player (HD-A1) is available for pre-order on Amazon.com.