Sony BWU-100A Review
By
August 21st, 2006
Summary
Sony’s first generation Blu-ray Disc drive for the computer offers the best of all worlds by recording virtually all BD/DVD/CD disc formats in one internal package. The BWU-100A drive supports recording both 50GB and 25GB BD-R (write once) and BD-RE (rewritable) discs, as well as 4.7 GB DVD+R/+RW/RAM, 8.5GB DVD+R Double/Dual Layer, and CD-R/-RW discs. Because you can store up to 4 hours of 1080 HD video on a single dual layer 50G BD disc, the BWU-100A is the perfect solution for keeping High Definition video shot on your HDV camcorder in native HD. Boasting up to 50GB of online, random access storage, BD discs are ideal for computer backup and data storage applications. Since the BWU-100A can record DVDs and CDs, all your burning projects can be handled by a single drive. Comprehensive Cyberlink® software suite is included to author BD and DVD discs as well as general disc burning for BD/DVD/CDs. Works with Windows® XP and Windows 2000 PCs.
Specs
| 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. **,br>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 TRASFER 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 |
| POWER CONSUMPTION: 1.1A max (+5V DC), 2.2A max (+12V DC) |
| DIMENSIONS (WxHxD): 5.2 5 X 1.63 X 7.0 Inches |
| WEIGHT: 3.5lbs. |
| PACKAGE CONTENTS: Internal BWU-100A Blu-ray Disc Rewritable Drive Cyberlink® PowerProducer™ BD/DVD Authoring Software Cyberlink PowerDirector™ Editing Software Cyberlink Power2Go Data Burning Software Cyberlink InstantBurn™ Packet Writing Software Cyberlink PowerBackup Backup Software Cyberlink PowerDVD™ Player Software Mounting Screws User’s Manual & Quick Start Guide |
| SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: Pentium® III 800 MHz or faster (or equivalent) CPU minimum. Pentium IV 1.6GHz or faster (or equivalent) CPU is recommended for real time video authoring/editing 256 MB RAM 5GB of hard disk space. Windows® 2000 or Windows® XP SP2 Home or Professional Operating Systems |
| WARRANTY: One Year Limited |
| *Playback of commercial movies on Blu-ray Disc (BD-ROM) requires additional software/hardware not included with this product. Requires compatible high-definition display for high-definition playback. Playback of AACS protected media may require an HDCP compliant output and HDCP compliant display. Photo CD playback requires additional software not bundled with this drive. |
| **Appropriate speed discs required. |
| ***Requires appropriate double/dual layer BD-R, BD-RE, DVD+R DL media |