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SONY UNVEILS FIRST BLU-RAY DISC DRIVE BURNER

PostPosted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 3:28 pm
by Ian
SONY UNVEILS FIRST BLU-RAY DISC DRIVE BURNER

Burns up to 50 GB of Data and Keeps Video in Native HDV 1080i

NEW YORK, July 18, 2006 –Sony Electronics today unveiled its first internal Blu-ray Disc™ (BD) rewritable drive for the computer aftermarket.

The new drive(model BWU-100A) supports up to 50 GB of data on BD-R (write once) or BD-RE (rewritable) discs or up to four hours of high-definition video using HDV 1080i on a BD-RE 50GB disc. The new drive is capable of burning a full 25GB disc in about 50 minutes.

For personal content captured on a HDV camcorder, the BD drive is optimized for keeping the video in the native HDV 1080i for playback on home players compatible with BD-AV format and PCs with BD drives installed.

Sony’s BD drive also supports recording of standard single layer 4.7GB DVD+R/+RW/RAM discs, 8.5GB DVD+R Double/Dual Layer Discs, and CDs, making it a multi-format burner.

“Now consumers, professional videographers and filmmakers can store, record and experience the highest capacity of high-definition video available – from capture to playback,” said Bob DeMoulin, marketing manager for branded storage products in Sony Electronics’ IT Products Division. “Our Blu-ray Disc drive represents a significant leap in storage technology.”

The BWU-100A drive comes bundled with the CyberLink BD Solution® from Cyberlink Corporation, which provides a complete software application for capturing, authoring, editing and burning high-definition personal content captured by a HDV 1080i format camcorder onto BD discs. Video can also be “down-converted” to standard-definition resolution for burning onto DVDs.

The internal drive features an IDE (ATA/ATAPI) interface and standard 5.25-inch form factor for easy installation inside a PC.

Availability and Pricing
The recordable/rewritable drive will be available in August for about $750. Pre-orders are now being accepted at sonystyle.com.

Sony BD/DVD/CD rewritable drives are sold direct through sonystyle.com, at Sony Style retail stores nationwide (www.sonystyle.com/retail), at authorized resellers and retailers across the country, through mail order catalogs, and by select online shopping sites.

PostPosted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 3:37 pm
by Ian
Here are some specs taken from the attached spec sheet...

PART NUMBER BWU-100A
DRIVE TYPE Internal BD/DVD/CD Burner
MEDIA & MODES SUPPORTED BD-ROM*, BD-AV, BD-R, BD-RE, DVD-R/-R DL/-RW, DVD+R/DVD+R DL/+RW, DVD-RAM: DVD-ROM, DVD-Video
CD: CD-DA, CD-ROM (XA), CD Extra, Video CD, Photo CD*, CD Text, multi-session
READ/WRITE SPEED
Write (BD-R 50GB***/25GB) 2X CLV max**
Write (BD-RE 50GB***/25GB) 2X CLV max**
Write (DVD-R) 4X CLV, 6X ~ 8X Z-CLV max.**
Write (DVD-R DL) 4X CLV max. ***
Write (DVD-RW) 6X CLV max. **
Write (DVD+R) 6X ~ 8X Z-CLV max**
Write (DVD+R DL) 4X CLV max***
Write (DVD+RW) 6X ~ 8X Z-CLV max**
Write (DVD-RAM) 5x Z-CLV max**
Write (CD-R) 12X ~ 24X Z-CLV max**
Write (CD-RW) 12X ~ 16X Z-CLV max. **
Read (BD-ROM) 2X max.
Read (DVD-ROM) 8X max.
Read (CD-ROM) 32X max.
SUSTAINED DATA TRANSFER RATE
9MB/s max. (2X BD-ROM)****
10.8MB/s max (8X DVD-ROM)****
4.6MB/s max (32X CD-ROM)****
AVERAGE ACCESS TIME
210 ms (BD-ROM)
170 ms (DVD-ROM)
160 ms (CD-ROM)
INTERFACE Parallel ATA (P-ATA)/EIDE
BURST TRANSFER RATE
66.6MB/sec Ultra DMA Mode 4
33.3MB/sec Ultra DMA Mode 2
16.6MB/sec Multiword DMA Mode 2
BUFFER MEMORY 8MB

PostPosted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 5:36 pm
by MonsterMan
$750, huh? Well, better than $1000...at least the prices are already dropping.

I'm guessing these will get to the $300 point faster than DVD burners did (at least, I hope so).

Then I'll spring for one...but man, I could really use those 50GB discs right now :(

PostPosted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 10:48 pm
by Dartman
And so it begins....

Wonder who makes it, Sony, BenQ, other?

PostPosted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 11:30 pm
by Ian
At first I thought it was going to be based on the same design as the BenQ DW1000 and Lite-On LH-2B1S but it supports DVD-RAM. If I had to guess, its a new drive design from Sony NEC Optiarc.

PostPosted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 2:06 am
by dolphinius_rex
Ian wrote:At first I thought it was going to be based on the same design as the BenQ DW1000 and Lite-On LH-2B1S but it supports DVD-RAM. If I had to guess, its a new drive design from Sony NEC Optiarc.


Or a Panasonic OEM maybe?

PostPosted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 9:43 am
by MonteLDS
i could really use this since i do have a high def camera, but i think i am going have to wait till the price drops or the format is widely excepted over HD-DVD.

I don't want to feel like i just bought a betamax player....

PostPosted: Sat Jul 22, 2006 5:00 am
by jsl
dolphinius_rex wrote:Or a Panasonic OEM maybe?

I think you can remove the "maybe?" ;) The specs are identical and the emergency eject hole is in the same place, the screws on the top of the drive are in the same place etc.

Sony must have gotten a good price for it or they sell it with a really low margin considering for example I-O data sells its rebadged Panasonic BD drive for $150 more than Sony's MSRP ($900 vs. $750). It will be interesting to see what Plextor will try to sell its Panasonic clone for now...