I-O DATA BRD-AM2B/U Blu-ray Disc Writer

Model: I-O DATA BRD-AM2B/U Blu-ray Disc Writer
Manufacturer: I-O DATA DEVICE
Provided By: I-O DATA DEVICE USA

While a relatively new name in the United States, I-O DATA DEVICE has a history that goes back 30 years. The company got its start by designing interface boards for Japan's textile industry. Over the years, they expanded product lineup, establishing themselves as one of the country's leading manufacturers of computer peripherals. With their success in Japan, I-O DATA has set their sites on the US market, offering an array of memory, storage and multimedia products.

This spring, I-O DATA announced their first internal Blu-ray Disc writer, the BDR-AM2B/U. Based on the Panasonic SW-5582, this new drive supports both single and dual layer BD-R and BD-RE media, giving it the ability to store up to 50GB of data or four hours worth of HD video onto a single disc. The BDR-AM2B/U is also capable of playing commercial Blu-ray Disc movies and can read and write to all major CD and DVD formats, including DVD-RAM. To top it all off, I-O DATA has included a full featured software bundle from Ulead and InterVideo.

We've had I-O DATA's new Blu-ray Disc writer in the 'Labs for a few weeks now and have had the time to put it through its paces. To give you an idea of what to expect from the BRD-AM2B/U, we'll take a look at some of its features and then see how it compares to the Pioneer BDR-101A. Does I-O DATA's Blu-ray Disc writer have what it takes? Keep reading as we find out.