Sony BWU-300S 8x Blu-ray Disc Writer

[Ian]

Sony has announced its third generation Blu-ray Disc writer, the BWU-300S. If I had to guess, I'd say that its another Panasonic SW-5584 based drive.



http://www.cdrlabs.com/News/sony-announ ... riter.html

Sony Electronics today announced its third generation internal Blu-ray Disc™ (BD) writer for the computer aftermarket, which at about $400 achieves a new level of affordability for BD enthusiasts.

The new BWU-300S model burns single and dual layer BD-R media at up to 8X speed, recording a full 25GB disc in about 15 minutes and a full 50GB disc in about 30 minutes. The 8X recording speed is achieved using 6X compatible BD-R media. The drive also records DVDs at up to 16X, CDs up to 48X, and supports DVD-RAM recording, with an eye towards data backup, making it an excellent replacement burner for a standard DVD drive while offering all the benefits of Blu-ray Disc technology.

To provide consumers with the opportunity to experience high-definition movie playback first-hand, the new drive comes bundled with a “Men in Black” Blu-ray Disc from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. “Men In Black” stars Will Smith (“Hancock”) and Oscar®-winner Tommy Lee Jones (“The Fugitive”) saving the world from a total intergalactic disaster in Barry Sonnenfeld’s smash-hit sci-fi action comedy. The “Men In Black” high-definition Blu-ray Disc boasts advanced BD-Live enabled bonus features, including a multiplayer trivia game, an interactive Frank the Pug advice generator, an alien subtitle track and much more.

[Ian]

This drive is pretty impressive. My only real issue so far is media compatibility. If you want to write at 8x, you need 6x BD-R media from Panasonic or Sony. Unfortunately, neither of which are readily available in the States. Also, if you want to read BD-R/BD-R DL media at 8x, you need media capable of writing at this speed.

Sony BWU-300S Pana 6x BD-R Write.png (18.32 KiB) Viewed 1666 times

[Ian]

Here's a screenshot showing the BWU-300S writing to BD-R DL media at 8x as well as a couple screenshots showing the full media ID of Panasonic's 25GB and 50GB 6x BD-R media.

Sony BWU-300S Pana 6x BD-R DL Write.png (20.47 KiB) Viewed 1644 times

The ID is MEI RA1 for the 25GB disc and MEI RB1 for the 50GB one.

Sony BWU-300S Pana 6x BD-R Info.png (14.62 KiB) Viewed 1647 times

Sony BWU-300S Pana 6x BD-R DL Info.png (14.75 KiB) Viewed 1646 times

[Ian]

Full review is online:

http://www.cdrlabs.com/Reviews/sony-bwu ... riter.html