We hope that we have given you an idea of how the first Blu-ray drive on the market performs in the basic reading and writing tasks. Having 25GB on a single disc is now a reality, thanks to the Pioneer BDR-101A drive, which worked flawlessly. The drive's installation does not demand any special knowledge; and in general anyone familiar with CD/DVD burners will be able to use it. The Roxio software, bundled with the package, features an easy and user-friendly interface, which guides you through the basic data burning and copying tasks in just a few clicks. What we would like to see fixed in the Roxio software, is a consistent and accurate indication of the total size of the selected data compilation before burning.

The BDR-101A could be a very convenient solution for all those who need a professional drive for video authoring or pre-mastering of commercial BD releases in preparation for replication. However, it is also suited to those requiring high capacity storage - typically demanded by high definition broadcast and video content. The lack of support for the CD format could be considered as a negative, as well as the limited writing speeds for DVD. However, keep in mind that this drive utilizes a new optical pickup unit as well as a new chipset to support the increased requirements of the Blu-ray format, while Pioneer is expected to offer more features in its second generation drives.

The price of both the media and the drive itself are currently prohibitive for the mid-user. The drive is priced at around $1000 while the media will cost you $18-20 for the BD-R and $25-29 for the BD-RE. But remember that the Blu-Ray technology is very new and prices are expected to drop as soon as the demand for the products increase.

So, our first impressions of the drive could not be anything other than quite good. More detailed testing and results will be available in our full review of the drive, expected very soon.