What's in the box?:
- Sony BDX-S500U Portable 6x Blu-ray Disc Writer
- Operating Instructions
- Sony Software Disc v9.20W
- AC Power Adapter
- USB Cable
- Warranty Information
Physical Features:
The drive Sony sent us for this review was manufactured in August of 2010 and had firmware 1.D1. This is the newest firmware currently available for the BDX-S500U.
The BDX-S500U is one of the smallest Blu-ray Disc writers on the market today. Measuring 136.5 x 19 x 146.5 mm, it's not much larger than a couple of jewel cases stacked on top of one another. The BDX-S500U is also constructed of a lightweight, black plastic. It's hard to tell by looking at the pictures below, but there are some sparkly bits in the plastic that help hide the finger prints and smudges that glossy plastic tends to attract.
On the top of the BDX-S500U you can see a large "Blu-ray" logo as well as a few showing support for Ultra Speed CD-RW media and the DVD+ReWritable and DVD Multi specifications. There's also a long, rectangular LED that lights up green whenever the drive is powered on.
On the bottom, the BDX-S500U has four small rubber feet to keep it from sliding around when placed on a flat surface. The plastic also has a matte finish which makes it a little easier to hang onto the drive.
The eject button is located along the front of the BDX-S500U. The drive also has a second LED that lights up orange when both reading and writing.
Along the rear, you can see the BDX-S500U's USB 2.0 interface and power connector. Instead of being powered off a computer's USB bus, Sony's new drive uses the included AC adapter as a stable power source.
Technical Specs:
Most of the specs below have been taken from Sony's website and the manual that came with the drive.
| Sony BDX-S500U Portable 6x Blu-ray Disc Writer | |
| BD-R Write Speeds | 6x (CAV) 4x (Z-CLV) 2x (CLV) |
| BD-R DL Write Speeds | 4x (Z-CLV) 2x (CLV) |
| BD-R LTH Write Speeds | 6x (CAV) 4x (Z-CLV) 2x (CLV) |
| BD-RE Write Speeds | 2x (CLV) |
| DVD+R Write Speeds | 8x (CAV) 6x, 4x (Z-CLV) 2.4x CLV) |
| DVD+RW Write Speeds | 8x, 6x, 4x (Z-CLV) 3.3x, 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD-R Write Speeds | 8x (CAV) 6x, 4x (Z-CLV) 2x (CLV) |
| DVD-RW Write Speeds | 6x, 4x (Z-CLV) 2x (CLV) |
| DVD+R DL Write Speeds | 4x (Z-CLV) 2.4x (CLV) |
| DVD-R DL Write Speeds | 4x (Z-CLV) 2x (CLV) |
| DVD-RAM Write Speeds | 5x (Z-CLV) 3x, 2x (CLV) |
| CD Write Speeds | 24x, 20x, 16x (Z-CLV) 8x (CLV) |
| CD Rewrite Speeds | 16x (Z-CLV) 10x, 8x, 4x (CLV) |
| BD Read Speeds | 6x Max (BD-ROM Single Layer) 4x Max (BD-ROM Dual Layer) 6x Max (BD-R) 6x Max (BD-R LTH) 4x Max (BD-RE) 4x Max (BD-R DL) 4x Max (BD-RE DL) |
| DVD Read Speeds | 8x Max (DVD-ROM) 8x Max (DVD±R) 6x Max (DVD±RW) 6x Max (DVD±R DL) 5x Max (DVD-RAM) |
| CD Read Speed | 24x Max |
| DAE Speed | 24x Max |
| Buffer Size | 6MB |
| Access Times |
230 ms (BD) 180 ms (DVD) 190 ms (CD) |
| CD Formats | CD-DA CD-ROM CD-ROM XA CD-I Ready CD-Bridge CD-Extra Video CD Photo CD CD Text CD-R CD-RW |
| DVD Formats | DVD-ROM DVD-R/RW DVD+R/RW DVD+R DL DVD-R DL DVD-RAM DVD-Video |
| BD Formats | BD-ROM BD-R/RE BD-R/RE DL BD-R LTH BD-Video BD-AV |
| Writing Methods | Disc At Once Session At Once Track At Once with Zero Gap Fixed and Variable Packet Writing Multisession |
More Features:
By looking at the picture below, you can see that Sony's new Blu-ray Disc writer is identified as a "SONY BD RW BDX-S500U."
Nero also shows that the BDX-S500U has a maximum CD writing speed of 24x and a 6016KB buffer which is actually larger than what is listed in the drive's specs. This buffer is also backed up by Sony's Power-Burn buffer underrun protection. According to Nero, the BDX-S500U can also write CD-Text and overburn. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to test the drive's overburning capabilities as it was not able to recognize CompUSA's 99 minute CD-R media.
Using Alex Noe's Weak Sector Utility we were able to determine that the BDX-S500U is a "two sheep" burner. This means that Sony's new drive is capable of backing up titles protected by SafeDisc 2, including version 2.51.
Here is a screen shot from Erik Deppe's Opti Drive Control. Among other things, this program queries the drive to see what its reading and writing capabilities are. Opti Drive Control had no problems detecting the BDX-S500U's reading and writing speeds and supported disc types.
Opti Drive Control also shows that the BDX-S500U is an RPC-2 DVD drive. This means that the drive's region is stored in the firmware. The region can be changed five times and after that it cannot be changed anymore. Unfortunately, a patched RPC-1 firmware is not yet available for this drive.
While Opti Drive Control gives us a quick glance at the BDX-S500U's features, DVDINFOpro provides a little more information on some of the drive's reading and writing capabilities. By looking at the screenshot above you can see that Sony's new drive can read and write to most BD and DVD formats.
The BDX-S500U doesn't let you set the book type of single layer DVD+R or DVD+RW media. However, using software like Nero, you can set the book type for DVD+R DL discs to "DVD-ROM." This greatly reduces compatibility problems, especially with older DVD players.
