Other World Computing (OWC) has upgraded the OWC Mercury Pro External Blu-ray Optical Drive to 16X BD-R write speeds, 128 GB BDXL compatibility, and high-speed USB 3.0 connectivity. In addition to single and double layer BD-R discs, the LG-based Mercury Pro External (WH16NS40) offers support for up to 100 GB of data on triple layer BDXL-R/BDXL RE discs and up to 128 GB on quad layer BDXL-R discs.

The drive offers USB 3.0, FireWire 800, and eSATA multi-interface data connection options. It comes bundled with Prosoft Engineering Data Backup 3, Smile DiscLabel and Roxio Toast 11 Titanium media toolkit software packages.

The OWC Mercury Pro External Blu-ray optical drive is available today for $167.99.

Product Specifications:

• Chipset: Initio 1615 and 3609
• Optical Drive Support: 5.25" SATA optical dries (all CD & DVD deices and Blu-ray dries 6.7 in (17cm) and shorter)
• LED Indicator: Preconfigured solutions only
• Solution Material:ABS Plastic

Port Configuration

USB 3.0 (2.0 Backwards Compatible) - 1 Port

FireWire 800 (1394b) - 2 Ports

FireWire 400 (1394a) - 1 Port

Max Data Transfer Rate

USB 3.0 - 3.0Gbps (or 300MB/sec)

USB 2.0 - 480Mbps (or 60MB/sec)

USB 1.1 - 12Mbps (or 1.5MB/sec)

FireWire 800 - 800Mbps (or 100MB/sec)

FireWire 400 - 400Mbps (or 50MB/sec)

Cooling: Fan Cooled

Macintosh System Requirements

• FireWire Interface and OS X 10.3 or later
• USB 3.0 / 2.0 Interface and OS X 10.3 or later

Windows System Requirements

• FireWire Interface and Windows XP SP2 or later.
• USB 3.0 / 2.0 Interface and Windows XP SP2 or later.

External Case Dimensions: 6.3 in (D) x 11.3 in (W) x 3.1 in (H) (16.00 cm x 28.70 cm x 7.87 cm)

Enclosure Weight: 4.0lbs (1.81kg)

Temperature

• (operating) 5°C - 55°C (41°F - 131°F)
• (non-operating) -40°C - 65°C (-40°F - 149°F)

Relatie Humidity

• (operating) 8% - 90% RH (Non-condensing)
• (non-operating) 5% - 95% RH (Non-condensing)

Shock

• (operating) 65G 2ms
• (non-operating) 175G 2ms

Warranty: OWC 1 Year Solution Warranty

LG Super Multi Blue Specs:

Physical: Height (max) 41.3mm (1.6") Width (max) 146.0mm (5.7") Length (max) 172mm (6.8") Weight (typical) 0.8kg (1.8lbs.)

Maximum Read Speeds

• BD-ROM/BD-R/DVD-R/+R DL/-RW/+RW/DVD-ROM DL:12X
• BD-RE/ROM DL/-R DL:8X
• BD-RE DL/ BD-R TL/QL: 6X
• DVD-RAM 5X
• DVD-R/+R/DVD-ROM SL 16X
• CD-ROM: 48X
• CD-RW: 40X

Maximum Write Speeds

• BD-R/DVD+R/DVD-R: 16X
• BD-RE SL/DL/TL: 2X
• BD-R DL/TL: 12X
• BD-R QL, DVD+RW: 6X
• M-DISC/+M: 4X
• DVD-RAM: 5X
• DVD-R DL /+R DL: 8X
• CD-R: 48X
• CD-RW: 24X

Access Time

• BD-ROM: 180ms typ.
• DVD-ROM: 160ms typ.
• DVD-RAM: 180ms typ.
• CD-ROM: 150ms typ.

Supported Formats:

BD-ROM (SL/DL), BD-RE (SL/DL), BD-R (SL/DL), DVD-ROM (SL/DL), DVD-R (SL/DL), DVD-RW, DVD+R (SL/DL), DVD+RW, DVD-RAM, CD-ROM, CD-ROM, XA-Ready, CD-I, Photo-CD (Single & Multi-Session), ideo-CD, CD-Audio Disc, Mixed Mode, CD-ROM (Data and Audio), CD-R, CD-RW

Software

• OWC Disc Labeling Software Bundle for Mac OS X
• Prosoft Engineering Data Backup 3 for Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later