Positive:

• Supports BD-R/RE (Single layer) read and write at 2x/2x
• Supports BD-R/RE (Dual layer) reading and writing (*2)
• Supports BD-ROM SL/DL reading at 2x
• Supports DVD±R DL writing at 4x
• Supports DVD±R/CD-R/RW writing at 12x/32x/24x
• Overall very good write quality on DVD and CD media
• Bitsetting support for DVD+R/RW/+R DL media (booktype DVD-ROM)
• Disc quality scanning is partly supported
• Reads DVD±R/RW/±R DL at 12.5x/12.5x/8x
• Reads CD-R/-RW/CD-DA/CD-ROM at *35x/*34x/36x/*34x
• Reads 90/100 Minutes CD-Rs
• Virtually silent operation
• Serial-ATA interface
• Extra Bezel (Black) included
• Serial-ATA cable included
• Serial-ATA Power adapter cable included
• Philips BD-R Blu-ray Media included
• Very good retail package and Software solution
• Separate Blue/Green/Green operation LED for BD/DVD/CD

* based on a 74 minutes CD media

*2 Writing on BD-R/RE DL media should be available in a future firmware update.

Negative:

• Does not support Mt. Rainier

Conclusion:

Let us summarize the most important positive and negative points below:

The main positive points: Belonging to the first generation of Blu-ray writers, the device seems to operate very well and also the write quality on the supported media types is very good.

The Philips SPD7000BD is one of the first Blu-Ray drives that are equipped with a Serial-ATA interface.

The 12x writing speed on DVD±R media is also a feature that is most welcome.

The bitsetting support for DVD+R/RW/+R DL media (BookType DVD-ROM) is also a welcome inclusion and ensures good compatibility with i.e. standalone DVD players.

As a last point, we would like to mention the separate Blue/Green/Green operation LED for BD/DVD/CD media integrated on the Bezel is a very nice feature.

The main negative points: There is almost nothing negative to say about this drive, but if we should mention a point it would be the lack of writing the Mt. Rainer format.

To sum it all up, this is what we would say: "The Philips SPD7000BD is overall a very good example  of a CD/DVD/Blu-ray drive".

By using our price grabber feature cdfreaks.pricegrabber we found the drive listed at 595 USD and at geizhals the drive is listed at 677 EUR (January 2007).

Based on our results and experiences with the Philips SPD7000BD we would like to give it our Safe Buy award.

You may discuss/comment this article below or in this forum thread.

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Introduction