Psystar debuts Blu-ray, Nvidia 9800GT before Apple

Psystar, that squirrely manufacturer of OS X-compatible PCs, has begun shipping PCs with Blu-ray disc drives and the nVidia 9800GT graphics card - before Apple's own debut of the components in their own computers.

If you'll recall, Apple shunned support for Blu-ray when Apple CEO Steve Jobs called it "a bag of hurt" to incorporate during the debut of the latest MacBooks. In a sniping press release, Psystar president Rudy Pedraza countered, saying that Blu-ray has already won the format war:

"Not only is there fully functional and mature support for Blu-ray in other operating systems but you can now rent Blu-ray discs from almost any rental chain. Blu-ray has become pervasive technology that is being widely adopted by consumers everywhere."

Sure, but I think the "big bag of hurt" was more about licensing. Ignorance is bliss, no?

 (Sure makes me wonder what kind of profit margins Psystar's making.)

The nVidia 2x GeForce 9800GT 512MB was a whopping $400 more than the standard GeForce 8600GT 512M, and upgrading to a 6x Bluray Burner/16x DVD±RW DLcost a hefty $310 more than the default 20x DVD±RW DL.

Since the desktop itself starts at $1,154.99, that's a 61% increase (final price: $1,864.99) for those two upgrades alone.

"Apple tax"? How about Psystar tax? Anyone?