Buffalo has put out a fast new external Blu-ray burner that connects to PCs via a USB 3.0 interface. Rated at 12x speed, the BR-X1216U3 (page translated) is listed to be able to fill up a 25GB disc in 11 minutes, while also being able to write to single layer and dual layer DVD discs. All good and well, but there’s a few niggles: the fastest speeds can be had if your PC has a 5Gbps USB 3.0 port. Of course, it’s backwards-compatible to regular USB 2.0, but it limits the burning speeds to 7x. Also, it’s set to ship in Japan (for the equivalent of $450) by the end of the year, with no word on an international release.
Hong Kong-based AMEX Digital has recently announced a Mac mini Blue-ray Drive Upgrade Kit for adding Blu-ray to Apple’s newest Mac mini (obviously). Capable of 4x BD read speeds and up to 8x speed DVD burning, the slot-loading drive comes with a SATA interface, the Blu-ray upgrade kit should work with Roxio’s Toast 9, Adobe’s Premiere Pro CS3 or VLC player for handling BD and DVD movies on a Mac (which is recommended since you can’t play BD movies on a MAc just yet). The BD upgrade kit is available in the US for $199.
Other World Computing has announced the release of the Mercury Pro BDR-205 External, an external BD/DVD/CD-burner that comes with four different connection types: USB 2.0, FireWire 400, FireWire 800, and eSATA. Listed to burn onto Blu-ray discs at up to 12x, DVDs at 16x, and CDs at up to 40x speeds, the Mercury Pro also supports burning onto dual-layer BD-R discs for recording up to 50GBs of data. It’s available now for $350, with a package that includes the necessary cables and a pair of recordable 25GB single-layer BD-R discs.
JVC has announced the XV-BP11, a low-cost slim-line Blue-ray player that recognizes only the Blu-ray 1.1 Profile, dropping internet features for a reduced price. Measuring only 1.5-inches high, the player sports a USB port for connecting external digital media sources, and recognizes the AVCHD (H.264) format used by HD camcorders.
Pioneer has just announced that they’ve come up with what’s currently the world’s fastest Blu-ray disc burner, the 12x BDR-205. It’s an internal drive that connects via the SATA interface, and takes a step up the evolutionary tech ladder by going past the previous 8x cap for BD burners. It features Pioneer’s Low Vibration Mechanism Design for noise and vibration reduction, and can also burn onto recordable DVDs at 16x and CDs at 40x speeds. The 12x recording speeds is supported on both 25GB BD-R and 50GB BD-R DL discs.
It’ll sell for $249 when it comes out early next year.
