Software:
For the BWU-500S's software bundle, Sony has turned to CyberLink. The DVD that comes with the drive contains CyberLink's Media Suite 8 which includes PowerProducer, PowerDirector, Power2Go, PowerBackup, LabelPrint, InstantBurn, MediaShow and PowerDVD.
CyberLink PowerProducer 5 - With CyberLink's PowerProducer you can create your own movie discs quickly and easily. Right from the start, this wizard based software gives you a number of options to select from. From here you can choose to produce a new movie disc, edit an existing one or record video directly to DVD or BD.
PowerProducer lets you create a number of different movie discs. Looking at the menu below, you can choose to create a CD, DVD, or Blu-ray Disc. The software also supports various disc capacities and formats including DVD-VR, DVD+VR and BDAV.
While you can capture your own video, PowerProducer gives you the ability to import video files in a number of different formats. Once added to your production, you can use the built-in editor to trim, merge or split your video clips. PowerProducer also allows you to set chapters within the video content and add your own custom menus, backgrounds, fonts and titles.
CyberLink PowerDirector 8 - The BWU-500S comes with CyberLink's video editing software, PowerDirector. To create your own custom movies, simply drag and drop video footage onto the editing timeline and then add scene transitions, background music, or title effects.
You can also use PowerDirector's "Magic" editing tools to clean up video clips and images, condense long video segments and apply pre-designed style templates. When you're done editing your video, you have the option to save it to your hard drive, create a streaming file, write it back to DV tape, make a disc or upload it to YouTube and Facebook.
CyberLink Power2Go 6 - Power2Go is the main disc burning program included with the BWU-500S. With this software, users can create various types of CD's, DVD's and BD's or make backups of existing discs. Power2Go also offers enhanced security features, allowing you to password protect and encrypt the names of files on your discs.
CyberLink PowerBackup 2.5 - If you're looking for a quick and easy way to backup your data, PowerBackup is the answer. Depending on your needs, PowerBackup can do full, differential, and incremental backups as well as fast stream-to-disc archiving.
Backup jobs can be scheduled to run at regular intervals so the data is always protected. PowerBackup also offers more advanced features like file filtering, compression and password protection.
CyberLink LabelPrint 2.5 - The BWU-500S also comes with CyberLink's disc labeling software. With LabelPrint, you can design and print labels, covers and inlays in four easy steps. Just select your template type, disc information, text layout, background image and print destination.
CyberLink InstantBurn 5 - InstantBurn is CyberLink's packet writing software. Like Roxio's Drag-to-Disc or Nero's InCD, it allows you to use your CD, DVD or BD writer as if it was another hard drive or a huge floppy disk. Once formatted, you can cut, copy, and paste or rename files and folders on a CD-RW, DVD±RW or BD-RE disc.
CyberLink MediaShow 5 - With MediaShow, you can manage, enhance and share your photos and videos. The software features drag-and-drop functionality as well as automatic sorting, built-in search and face recognition technology. MediaShow can also be used to fix and enhance your photos and videos and create a slideshow which can be burned to DVD, turned into a screensaver or uploaded to Facebook, YouTube and Flickr.
CyberLink PowerDVD 9 - CyberLink's PowerDVD is one of the more popular software DVD players on the market right now. Along with support for DVD's, it can be used to play back Blu-ray Discs and other high-def formats including H.264, HD MPEG-2, and WMV-HD. PowerDVD 9 also supports Blu-ray 3D playback and with its support for BD-Live, you can access additional content via the Internet.
While affordably priced, Sony's new Blu-ray Disc writer delivers a good number of features. Along with support for all major CD and DVD formats, the BWU-500S offers some of the fastest BD reading and writing speeds available. The drive is capable of 12x BD-R, 8x BD-R DL, 6x BD-R LTH and 2x BD-RE writing speeds and a maximum BD read speed of 8x. The BWU-500S also sports a massive 8MB buffer, Power-Burn buffer underrun protection and a great software bundle from CyberLink. With all this, it's easy to see why the Sony BWU-500S gets a solid 9 out of 10 for its features.
