Installing Sony's new Blu-ray Disc writer took only a few minutes. After taking the drive out of the box, I left the jumper set to master and installed it on the secondary IDE chain by connecting the IDE cable and power connector. When I turned on the computer the BIOS detected it as a drive supporting UDMA 66. After making sure that the DMA was enabled in the Device Manager, I was ready to start installing the software.
Software Installation:
As I mentioned earlier, the BWU-100A comes with a CD full of software from CyberLink. If you have autorun enabled on your computer, the menu shown below will appear when you insert the disc. From here you can choose to install the software or visit Sony's user support web page.
Installing the CyberLink BD Solution suite is pretty straightforward. After selecting your preferred language and entering the serial number, you'll be presented with a list of components to choose from. Simply select the components you want and click next a few times. Once the files are copied over, you can start burning your own discs.
Documentation:
The documentation that comes with the BWU-100A is a bit different than what we're used to seeing from Sony. Instead of spreading the information out between a number of small guides, Sony has put everything into one large manual. It starts out by getting the user familiarized with their new Blu-ray Disc writer. The first section goes over the drive's package contents, features and system requirements. Sony has also provided some pretty good diagrams showing all of the different buttons and connectors located on the front and back of the drive. Everything is labeled clearly and the functions of each are explained very well.
From here, the manual jumps right into the physical installation of the BWU-100A. The instructions take the user step by step through the entire installation process and cover all the basics including how to set the jumpers, install the drive into an empty drive bay and hook up the cables. If you're not sure whether the drive should be set up as a master or slave, it also has a few example configurations along with their corresponding jumper settings.
The manual finishes up by going over the basic operation of the BWU-100A. Along with some brief information on how to install and use the bundled software, this section covers a number of topics including compatible discs and region codes. Last but not least, Sony has provided a comprehensive list of specifications for the BWU-100A. If you need additional help, Sony's support website has a number of resources includingFAQ's, guides and software updates.
Like the other Sony drives we've reviewed, the BWU-100A was very easy to install. Even though Blu-ray is a new technology, there were no problems getting the drive or the software installed and working correctly. For those that might need a little help, the documentation Sony has provided is quite good and contains a lot of useful information. With this in mind, the BWU-100A scores a 9 out of 10 for the installation portion of this review.
