Optical devices have come a very long way and they are the integral part of consumer market. A decade ago, optical discs drives were very expensive and owning one was not possible. Due to advancements in optical storage technology, the price kept on reducing and the features became better and better. CD ROM drives were the first to hit the market and it became a necessity soon. The optical devices have progressed from read only CD ROM to CD ROM writers. Then a much better contender, the DVD devices and DVD discs hit the screen. These devices were still expensive especially disc writers. Later many more formats came into existence like CD-RW, CD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-RE, DVD-R and DVD+R etc. Earlier the drives were format specific, but now the devices support all the formats and are backward compatible. They are called multi format disc drives. The consumer need not bother about the formats any more. The storage capacities and the encoding techniques have increased considerably. HD DVDs and blu-ray discs devices were the next generation drives that made their way on to the marker. Although, HD DVDs became popular, blu-ray discs out beat them in every respect and soon became a new standard for storing high definition videos and Sony PS3 games. The storage capacities of these discs have increased by 10 folds. A blu-ray is equivalent to 10 DVDs i.e it has the storage capacity of 10 DVD discs. Even much bigger optical discs that can hold 100 GB of data is being developed. Optical media have revolutionized storage and have made data transferring an easy affair. External drives have taken it one step further and portability has never been anything like this earlier. Let us know about some of the latest blu-ray external drives and burners.
MediaStation 8x External-Blu-ray Writer from Buffalo: Buffalo Media station BR-816SU2 is an external writer that is developed by Buffalo technology. This is one of the best external blu-ray writers available in the market presently. This external writer can be connected through SATA – Serial ATA. It also supports high speed USB connection. It is backward compatible and supports all the older formats like DVD, CD, and CD-RW etc. The drive reads a BD-R at 8X speed and BD-RE at 2X speed. In addition, the device is capable of reading DVDs at 16x and CD ROMs at 48 speed. It can also burn at the speed of 48X and 16X for regular DVD discs. Rewritable CDs can be burnt at 24X and DVDs – RW at 8x. The writer is bit bulky. A Cyberlink software bundle is also provided along with the device. All in all, this is one of the best external blu-ray writers that perform well.
Plextor PX-B310U: PX-B310u is an external combo drive from Plextor. This is one of the best devices for playing high definition videos and storing data on discs. The drive can be connected through high speed USB and the blu-ray disc reading and writing speed is 6X, reads DVD at 16X and CDs at 48X. Rewritable BD discs are read / written at 2X speed and rewritable DVDs at 6X. CD-RW can be written at 32X speed. It has a buffer size of 2MB and buffer underrun protection for error free burning experiences. A software bundle from Cyberlink is also provided. You get high quality detail and excellent storage options. The device is backward compatible and supports variety of formats like CD-R, CD+R, CD-RW etc. This provides a complete entertainment solution for the PC.
Blu-ray Burner from Norazza: Blu-ray disc burner DVDBREXT1 is an external disc burner from Norazza inc. This device is equipped with next generation storage technologies as well as the device capable of playing and burning wide variety of formats. The device can be connected to the PC either through high speed USB or Firewire (IEE 1394). The writer can read and write BD recordable and BD rewritable at 4X speed. Regular DVDs can be read at 12X speed and rewritable DVDs at 6X speed. It has a buffer size of 2 MB and a buffer underrun protection to avoid burn related errors. This model comes at a price range of $699. A software bundle from Cyberlink is provided along with the product for all blu-ray needs.
I/OMagic IBD1E – BD-RE drive – Hi-Speed USB
I/O magic has launched a new blu-ray external disc burner. The drive is a USB drive and can be easily installed without any issues that are encountered in an IDE interfaced internal drives. IBD1E is capable of handling both dual layered 50 GB discs and single layered 25 GB discs and in addition, you can play high definition videos at the maximum resolution. The drive is capable of reading and writing BD discs at 6X speed, DVDs at 16X and CDs at 40X.It comes with a buffer size of 2 MB and there is a buffer underrun protection mechanism to stop improper burning of the disc. You can get the device for over three hundred US dollars and has a one year limited warranty. Considering the price and the performance, this device is can be purchased without any second thought.
MCE 8X Blu-ray Disc External Recordable Drive
MCE blu-ray is an external disc burner made especially for MAC, but also supports Microsoft Operating System. The drive can be connected to the system through high speed USB or eSATA. This blu-ray drive supports blu-ray discs, dual layered DVDs and CDs. It is compatible with all the old optical disc formats. The drive operates at 8X speed on regular BD discs and 2X on a dual layered BD discs. Single layered DVD discs can be burnt at 16X speed and dual layered at 8X. CDROMS can be read and written at 32X speed. The drive works flawlessly in both eSATA and USB connection. Toast titanium software bundle worth $100 comes with the hardware. The only drawback is that the fan makes too much noise. This is a good – reliable and affordable blu-ray burner for MAC and Windows operating systems.
Digistor DIG-78102 Blu-ray burners
Digistor DIG78102 is a blu-ray burner for laptop and notebooks. The drive is a high speed USB drive and consists of a Li-Pol battery, so the drive does not require A/C adapter for functioning. The blu-ray writer is compatible with the older formats like DVD-R, CD–RW etc. It can burn a blu-ray disc at 2X speed. It writes DVDs at 8X speed and dual layered at 4X speed. Reads a CDROM at 24X speed and the writing speed is 8X. If you are looking for a portable blu-ray drive that works on battery, then this is the best choice, although the speed is quite less compared to other devices available in the market.
