An interesting email hit my inbox this afternoon from some friends at Newegg.com: Toshiba is now offering an external HD-DVD drive, model PA35, for a modest price of $369.99.

Here are the specs of the unit:

Model
Type External HD DVD ROM
Brand TOSHIBA
Model PA3530U-1HD1
WRITE Speed
DVD+R 4X
DVD+RW 4X
DVD-R 4X
DVD-RW 4X
CD-R 16X
CD-RW 10X
DVD+R DL 2.4X
DVD-R DL 2X
DVD-RAM 3X
READ Speed
DVD-ROM HD DVD read 1X speed (maximum)
DVD read 8X speed (maximum)
CD-ROM 24X
Physical Spec
Panel Color Black
Configuration
Load Type Tray
Interface USB 2.0

The drive uses a USB 2.0 interface to connect to your PC and is actually pretty slim in its form factor.  Unfortunately, it looks like you still won’t be able to mount it inside your case unless your pretty creative.

The price is a bit more than the Xbox 360 external HD-DVD drive, but that of course is a more hacked up solution. 

So, for users looking to add HD-DVD capability to their PC, and maybe even their notebooks, it looks like this Toshiba PA35 unit for $369 is the way to go!

Newegg Offers Exclusive External HD-DVD Drive - General Tech 2