The Pioneer BDR-203BK is the fastest BD burner currently available. The supported 8x burning speed is fast enough to offer you a complete 25GB disc in less than 14 minutes - a record that would sound unrealistic if you asked us a couple of years ago when we tested the first 2x BD burners. What we really liked with the drive is the fact that the 8x burning option is available with BD-R DL discs and that it supports read/write of the new LTH BD-R discs.

The drive will burn many BD media at 8X, although there are no 8X certified discs at the moment. We were able to burn discs that were not even 6X compatible at the stunning speed of 8X.

Other than that and regarding the reading aspect of the drive, we have to say that it turned out to be pretty good and all the CD and DVD disc were read at speeds that agree with the drive's specifications. Most reading processes were nice producing smooth graphs. Furthermore, the drive turned out to be able to read BD media fast enough, reading 2X BD-R DL at 6X, BD-R at 8X and so on.This is a very good aspect of the drive, as fast and reliable reading of the stored data is always useful, especially when you are dealing with 25GB or 50GB media. As far as error correction is concerned, we can say that the drive can handle defective media DVD pretty well. Error correction on CD media was average and could be improved.

Next on, are the writing tests that we performed. DVD media were burned at speeds of up to 16X and CD media at 48X .However, the drive refused to write CD-RW discs faster than the 16x, although its specifications indicate that it can go up to 24x. Writing quality tests were performed at CD and DVD media, and the drive turned out to be pretty good at this point. Both DVD+R and DVD-R media produced generally good scores, and this applies to the RW media, too.

So the standards are set high with this one. Pioneer BDR-203BK can be used for fast backups of data on Blu-ray discs, as well as for entertainment allowing you to watch your favorite BD movies on your PC or HD screen. It is a strong competitor for the other 8x BD Burners and allows you to burn at 8x even with previous generation discs certified for lower speeds. The drive can be purchased online for approximately $230.