Sony NEC Optiarc has just unveiled its first Blu-ray burner for PCs. Optiarc's BD-M100A burns single and dual layer Blu-ray media at double speed. Storage capacity of up to 50 GB enables up to four hours of film recordings in HD quality.



The multiformat burner writes single and dual layer BD-R and BD-RE Blu-ray discs, and it also supports BD-ROM and BD-AV discs.

The BD-M100A is can also read and write to all current DVD and CD formats. It burns DVDs at up to 8x speed and CDs at up to 32x speed. The drive is dustproof and it has an ATAPI interface, although a SATA intreface would be also welcomed.

Optiarc's new proposal for Blu-Ray burning on the PC features increased recording speeds for DVD media compared to Sony's first generation of BD drives, the BWU-100A. However, the writing speeds for Blu-Ray are the same (2x), while korean LG currently offers 4x burning.

The Optiarc BD-M100A is available now, and it is covered by an 1-year warranty. The drive can be found in online stores for around €600.

Overview of technical features