Sony BWU-200S 4x Blu-ray Disc Writer

[Ian]

After nearly a year, Sony has unveiled their second-gen Blu-ray Disc writer. The BWU-200S offers 4x BD-R, 2x BD-RE and 16x DVD+/-R writing speeds.

http://news.sel.sony.com/en/press_room/ ... 31747.html

Sony Electronics today announced its second generation internal Blu-ray Disc™ (BD) writer drive for the computer aftermarket, which boasts 4X BD-R and 16X DVD+R recording speeds.

The new BWU-200S model cuts BD-R burning time by half compared to the first generation model, allowing for a full 50GB BD-R disc to be recorded in about 45 minutes. It also features improved DVD burning speeds, making it a multi-format combo burner that eliminates the need for more than one drive in a system.

The drive comes with CyberLink BD Solution software that provides a comprehensive application for capturing, authoring, editing, burning and viewing high-definition personal content captured in the native HDV 1080i format from an HDV camcorder. In addition, the software supports recording on DVDs and CDs, as well as playback of DVDs recorded in the AVCHD format.

The BWU-200S drive can record up to 50GB of data for random access storage and backup on BD-R (write once) or BD-RE (rewritable) discs, or up to 230 minutes of high-definition HDV 1080i video on a BD-R/RE 50GB disc. It also supports recording on standard single layer 4.7GB DVD+R/+RW/RAM discs, 8.5GB DVD+R double/dual layer discs, and CDs.

The internal drive features a Serial ATA (SATA) interface and standard 5.25-inch form-factor for easy installation inside a desktop PC with Microsoft® Windows® XP or Windows Vista® software.

[Ian]

Sonystyle.com has its specs.

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... 1665251949

Buffer Memory: 8MB
BD-R DL Write: 4x (CLV)
BD-RE DL Write: 2x (CLV)
BD-ROM Read: 4x max
CD Read: 40x max
CD-R Write: 40x max (Z-CLV)
CD-RW Write: 32X max (Z-CLV)
DVD Read: 16X max
DVD+R DL Write: 4x (CLV)
DVD+R Write: 16X max (Z-CLV)
DVD-R Write: 16X max (Z-CLV)
DVD+RW Write: 8X max (Z-CLV)
DVD-R DL Write: 4x (CLV)
DVD-RAM Write: 5x (Z-CLV)
DVD-RW Write: 6x (CLV)

Any bets as to the manufacturer? It can't be the Lite-On DH-4B1S as its CD and DVD writing speeds aren't as fast as the Sony's. Maybe Panasonic or Pioneer?

[dolphinius_rex]

My guess is Panasonic. Sony and Panasonic have been working together a lot with Blu-Ray technology, so it would make a lot of sense. Their last burner and their BD-RDL media are both made by Panasonic also.

[Grain]

Any guess at a price?

[dolphinius_rex]

Any guess at a price?

$599.99 according to SonyStyle

[Grain]

That's not too bad a suggested price, hopefully will see it under $400 soon.

[dolphinius_rex]

That's not too bad a suggested price, hopefully will see it under $400 soon.

Sonystyle is usually not the cheapest place to get Sony products... unless you do a Credit Card deal with them or something. So I expect we'll see better prices fairly quickly through major retail outlets and online stores.

[CowboySlim]

OK, that's all well and good, but can I capture and record HDTV from my cable box?

Hox?

[Wesociety]

OK, that's all well and good, but can I capture and record HDTV from my cable box?

Hox?

It's definitely possible, but it depends on your cable box and your PC hardware/capture software. I assume you have a DVR?

[Ian]

That price isn't that great. You can already get the LG GGW-H20L for less than $450.

[Wesociety]

That price isn't that great. You can already get the LG GGW-H20L for less than $450.

Yeah, $600 is pretty steep. Plus the recordable Blu-ray media is still very expensive.

[CowboySlim]

OK, that's all well and good, but can I capture and record HDTV from my cable box?

Hox?

It's definitely possible, but it depends on your cable box and your PC hardware/capture software. I assume you have a DVR?

In my living room I have TW HD cable service with a Scientific Atlanta HD cable receiver with PVR. I have this connected to a 40" Sony LCD HD TV, 1080p with an HDMI cable. The cable receiver also has component video outputs and composite audio outputs.

Up here, with my PC, I have TW cable service feeding a Hauppauge Win TV PVR-360 tuner card, NTSC. This will capture a maximum of 480 x 720 for storage as *.mpeg2 to hard drive. In addition to the RF cable input connection, the Hauppauge card will also accept S-video input.

Currently, I use VideoReDo to edit the captured TV and Nero to decode and burn out the Mpeg2 files.

So, I guess to do the same type things with HDTV, and not be blocked by HDCP, is to have some kind of capture card that could connect to the tuned HD output from the cable box at 720p or 1080i and then encode it and save it to hard drive for playback at 720p or 1080i. Hopefully this saved video could then be burned out by a Blu-ray burner like the subject drive for a longer duration retention.

[jsl]

My guess is Panasonic. Sony and Panasonic have been working together a lot with Blu-Ray technology, so it would make a lot of sense. Their last burner and their BD-RDL media are both made by Panasonic also.

Yeah, it's probably Panasonic. Specs of the Panasonic SW-5583 seem to be the same except for the DVD±R DL write speed (unless it's a typo):

Panasonic SW-5583
- BD-R (single layer + dual layer): max. 4X
- BD-RE (single layer + dual layer): max. 2X
- BD-ROM (single layer + dual layer): max. 4X
- DVD-RAM: max. 5X
- DVD-R/+R (single layer): max. 16X
- DVD-R/+R (dual layer/double layer): max. 8X
- DVD-RW: max. 6X
- DVD+RW: max. 8X
- CD-R: max. 40X
- CD-RW: max. 24X

[dolphinius_rex]

Yeah, it's probably Panasonic. Specs of the Panasonic SW-5583 seem to be the same except for the DVD±R DL write speed (unless it's a typo):

Panasonic SW-5583
- BD-R (single layer + dual layer): max. 4X
- BD-RE (single layer + dual layer): max. 2X
- BD-ROM (single layer + dual layer): max. 4X
- DVD-RAM: max. 5X
- DVD-R/+R (single layer): max. 16X
- DVD-R/+R (dual layer/double layer): max. 8X
- DVD-RW: max. 6X
- DVD+RW: max. 8X
- CD-R: max. 40X
- CD-RW: max. 24X

Sony might be scaling it back down to 4x with their firmware if they feel that the quality at 8x isn't good enough... maybe....