HD ready
CDFreaks Poll
How do you get your movies?
Video on Demand
Downloading
Retailers
Internet rentals
Based on 1464 ratings
Sony BWU-100A Blu-ray Burner Review
Post reaction (14 reactions)
Stay updated on this item
Mail to ...
Print
Forum Forum

Sony BWU-100A detail information

Posted by agent009
Posted on 26/06/07 06:17
Number of views 20680
Manufacturer Sony
Product Sony BWU-100A
Menu
 Conclusion
 Introduction
 Overview, specifications, retail package
 Features and software
 CD, DVD and BD (Blu-ray Disc) writing performance
 CD, DVD and BD (Blu-ray Disc) reading performance
 CD-R and CD-RW writing quality
 DVD+R and DVD+RW writing quality
 DVD-R and DVD-RW writing quality
 DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL writing quality
 DVD-RAM writing performance
 BD-R and BD-RE writing quality
 BD-R DL and BD-RE DL writing quality
 Advanced tests
Text Size  Text Size
Introduction

 

Review: Sony BWU-100A
Reviewed by: agent009
Firmware: 1.0e
Manufactured: October 2006

Introduction

Sony Electronics Inc. was kind enough to send us their Blu-ray Disc drive, Sony BWU-100A.

Sony BWU-100A is an internal drive that reads and writes all BD, DVD and CD formats:

  • 50 GB BD-R DL, BD-RE DL
  • 25 GB BD-R, BD-RE
  • 8.5 GB DVD+R DL, DVD-R DL
  • 4.7 GB DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW
  • 4.7 GB DVD-RAM
  • 700 MB CD-R, CD-RW

With large 25 or 50 GB capacity, Blu-ray discs are an attractive option for many traditional applications like data storage and computer backup. They also open new possibilities such as storing 2 and 4 hours, respectively, of 1080 HD video.

The drive comes with a comprehensive CyberLink software suite that supports Blu-ray and DVD video playback, BD and DVD disc authoring, as well as general disc burning of BD, DVD and CD media.

Corporate information


Sony company logo

Sony Corporation is headquartered in Japan but it is a global company with presence on all continents.


New Sony headquarters, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Sony's history began during the first year of post-World War II occupation of Japan. In May of 1946, Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka founded Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K. (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation) in Tokyo. The startup capital valued at approximately $4000 was a loan from Morita's family that ran a sake business for many generations.

By mid-1950s, the company was making and exporting hundreds of thousands of early transistor radios to Europe and North America. In January of 1958, it changed its name to an easier-to-pronounce Sony.

Sony Corporation of America (SONAM), presently known as SCA, was established in the United States in February 1960.

Sony Corporation of America provides the following corporate overview:

Sony Corporation of America, based in New York City, is the U.S. subsidiary of Sony Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo. Sony is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, communications, and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. Its music, motion picture, television, computer entertainment, and online businesses make Sony one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world. Sony's principal U.S. businesses include Sony Electronics Inc., Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., and a 50% interest in Sony BMG Music Entertainment, one of the largest recorded music companies in the world. Sony recorded consolidated annual sales of approximately $70.3 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007, and it employs 163,000 people worldwide. Sony's consolidated sales in the U.S. for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007 were $18.9 billion.

Learn more about Sony Corporation of America by visiting the company website: http://www.sony.com/SCA/.

Learn more about Sony products at the Sony USA website: http://www.sony.com/.

Sony's global website is located at http://www.sony.net/.

BD (Blu-ray Disc)

Sony BWU-100A supports reading and writing BD-R and BD-RE, the write-once and rewritable versions of the Blu-ray Disc.


Blu-ray logo

Blu-ray Disc (BD) was developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), with the first version of it finalized in June of 2002.

The Blu-ray Disc Association is directed by a group of electronics, computer, and entertainment companies, currently including:

  • Apple Computer, Inc.
  • Dell Inc.
  • Hewlett Packard Company
  • Hitachi, Ltd.
  • LG Electronics Inc.
  • Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
  • Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
  • Pioneer Corporation
  • Royal Philips Electronics
  • Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
  • Sharp Corporation
  • Sony Corporation
  • Sun Microsystems, Inc.
  • TDK Corporation
  • Thomson Multimedia
  • Twentieth Century Fox
  • Walt Disney Pictures
  • Warner Bros. Entertainment

Blu-ray media is structurally different from DVD media. The Blu-ray disc consists of a single 1.1 mm thick polycarbonate substrate with a 0.1 mm thick cover layer on the bottom side of the disc, while the DVD disc is made of two 0.6 mm thick substrates. In both cases, two substrates are bonded together by a UV-cured resin adhesive:


DVD vs. Blu-ray disc structure

The larger 25 GB and 50 GB storage capacity of the Blu-ray disc is due to the higher density of pits and tracks on the disc. Unlike previous optical discs, Blu-ray uses a shorter-wavelength, tighter-focused violet laser to read and write pits that are about three times smaller than pits used in DVDs:


CD, DVD and Blu-ray laser beam color and size


CD, DVD and Blu-ray pits and tracks as seen by a scanning electron microscope


Blu-ray disc surface mapped by an atomic force microscope

The following table compares the three current optical disc formats used for video storage:

Conclusion
Overview, specifications, retail package
Want to submit your own review? Click here
Reactions on this item
Posted by ProfessorDVD on Wednesday 27 June 2007 04:47
"handles all optical media"

except HDDVD perhaps :S
Posted by agent009 on Thursday 28 June 2007 04:01
Good point!

Unfortunately, 1x HD-DVD burners are just beginning to appear this summer [in notebooks], so HD-DVD burning has been no more than a theoretical possibility even though HD-DVD-R and -RW media has been out for months.

Toshiba's SD-H903A 1x HD-DVD burner is awfully late for a product launched/unveiled six months ago. They better hurry. You know: train... leaving the station... :)
Posted by electrox3d (guest) on Thursday 28 June 2007 19:47
why even bother, over a year has gone by and blu-ray has been pumping out 2x burners and now 4x, later 6x, and hd-dvd will finally have 1x and barely be able to store 15GB.... why?? 15GB?? come on, seems so last-gen, 50GB's where its at.
Posted by cd pirate on Sunday 01 July 2007 15:05
Hey Agent009, I like your review. Good to see some opinions here and there about the burns, which I agree with more than I usually do.

Just wondering if that benQ you used for scanning is a rebadged liteon? If it's genuine benQ, I wonder why you didn't use cdspeed for scanning + jitter, it would be nice to see how good the jitter was on some of those discs that had ridiculously low error levels (MCC003 in particular) :)
Posted by agent009 on Monday 02 July 2007 21:57
"Just wondering if that benQ you used for scanning is a rebadged liteon? If it's genuine benQ, I wonder why you didn't use cdspeed for scanning + jitter, it would be nice to see how good the jitter was on some of those discs that had ridiculously low error levels (MCC003 in particular)"

DW1680 is a MediaTek/Lite-On design [otherwise KProbe wouldn't have worked with it], equivalent to LH-16A1P.

We use KProbe for quality testing to keep reviews consistent, but you are right, CD-DVD Speed does provide more quality data.

In BWU-100A DVD+R burns, jitter is pretty low. It usually averages 9% +-0.4% when measured by either BenQ or Lite-On drives.
Posted by shae (guest) on Saturday 07 July 2007 00:57
BD-R discs are 24.2GB unlike BD-RE which are 25GB? Why's that?
Posted by agent009 on Saturday 07 July 2007 07:58
"BD-R discs are 24.2GB unlike BD-RE which are 25GB? Why's that?"

I believe this is the way CD-DVD Speed reports capacities.

25,025,xxx,xxx bytes is the so-called 'gross' BD-RE capacity before 12,288 clusters are allocated for the inner spare area (ISA0).

The same number of 64 KB clusters is lost with BD-R as well, but the 24,220,xxx,xxx number reported for BD-R is the 'net' capacity.

In both cases, usable space ends up being the same 24,220,xxx,xxx bytes.
Posted by ProfessorDVD on Thursday 12 July 2007 03:13
Whoah only 15GB?? - i didn't know that.
Havent payed much attention yet as its still sorta early to consider using anything newer than DVD as a cost effective measure..
But yeah, absolutely too small for next gen, which is sad because I hate sony and everything they are about.

btw nice writeup 009
Posted by Michael (guest) on Sunday 29 July 2007 13:06
Hi,

thanks for the review, I appreciate it, I was wondering if anybody here, maybe able to help me with a question, I am thinking of fitting one of these into a custom HTPC case. Is this the same same size dimensions as current DVD drives and also, does the front bezel remove easily as current drives, I need to remove to be able to fit the drive into my custom case, as long as it is standard sizeand the bezel comes off, I will be fine.

thanks for any feedback.
Posted by agent009 on Wednesday 01 August 2007 02:48
"Is this the same same size dimensions as current DVD drives and also, does the front bezel remove easily as current drives, I need to remove to be able to fit the drive into my custom case, as long as it is standard sizeand the bezel comes off, I will be fine."

Yes, the bezel is removable. It is held in place by plastic tabs, as with any other drive.

BWU-100A is a standard 5.25 inch drive that is 190 mm long. This is longer than usual and about the maximum length that 5.25 inch bays are designed for. It may be a tight fit in very small cases like Shuttle. I don't think you will have trouble fitting it in an HTPC case, but to be sure, measure the length of the drive bay.
Posted by simon (guest) on Monday 20 August 2007 20:02
I bought an oem bwu-100A on ebay a few months ago for under $500. It can only write BD-R and BD-RW at 1x. Several people in cyberspace mentioned that because of the "write verify" turned on at the hardware level and Nero doesn't have an option to turn it off. Though Imgburn has the option, it doesn't support the INCD UDF format Nero is using. It seems that new drives like that in this review doen't have the problem. I just wish Sony can release a firmware update to solve this problem.
Posted by plasm0 on Tuesday 23 October 2007 14:47
"I bought an oem bwu-100A on ebay a few months ago for under $500. It can only write BD-R and BD-RW at 1x. Several people in cyberspace mentioned that because of the "write verify" turned on at the hardware level and Nero doesn't have an option to turn it off. Though Imgburn has the option, it doesn't support the INCD UDF format Nero is using. It seems that new drives like that in this review doen't have the problem. I just wish Sony can release a firmware update to solve this problem."

...is this true? BD-R at 1x? Is this only on the OEM version? I am also looking at a (retail) version from ebay and wondering if anyone else had same experiences... thx
Posted by simon (guest) on Wednesday 14 November 2007 17:22
It seems that there are two different versions on the market. According to the CNET review, "Burning a BD-R with 23GB of mixed data files took 1 hour, 40 minutes, 11 seconds.". NOT 45 minutes in the review here.

http://reviews.cnet.com/dvd-drives/sony-bwu-100a-blu/4505-3212_7-31899197.html
Post your reaction
Post your reaction ( click for policy)
Name
Email
Type in the code

Don't like to type in this code? Please register or login.


Your message
:) :( ;) :r :d :B :X :c :o :g :+ :p :* :S
Post it
Related tags
A tag is a relevant keyword or term associated with or assigned to a piece of information (like picture, product, or video clip), thus describing the item and enabling keyword-based classification of information it is applied to. We use it to make searching our database easier and enable all our users to contribute to our database.

label toevoegenadd a tag | t315t | t516t | t205t | t377t | t658t | t985t | t509t | t952t | t825t | t183t | t830t | t738t | t988t | t692t | t957t | t978t | t522t | t519t | t525t | t864t | t899t | t862t | t491t | t65t | t140t | t982t | t623t | t810t | t890t | t968t | t507t | t60t | t834t | t498t | t17t | t804t | t831t | t861t | t567t | t369t | t918t | t984t | t277t | t678t | t746t | t263t | t588t | t511t | t226t | t51t | t103t | t110t | t392t | t901t | t63t | t670t | t506t | t583t | t342t | t558t | t364t | t696t | t449t | t621t | t927t | t793t | t473t | t748t | t373t | t959t | t137t | t265t | t858t | t367t | t120t | t854t | t781t | t783t | t972t | t538t | t544t | t378t | t628t | t368t | t41t | t326t | t157t | t742t | t725t | t211t | t132t | t78t | t501t | t757t | t539t | t976t | t801t | t954t | t839t | t88t | t126t | t241t | t293t | t25t | t790t | t195t | t996t | t589t | t553t | t190t | t391t | t794t | t383t | t359t | t437t | t612t | t513t | t809t | t835t | t214t | t556t | t686t | t52t | t165t | t166t | t12t | t370t | t217t | t184t | t690t | t601t | t433t | t645t | t287t | t703t | t423t | t399t | t523t | t268t | t682t | t554t | t505t | t949t | t633t | t306t | t395t | t763t | t429t | t42t | t312t | t94t | t524t | t813t | t83t | t452t | t61t | t48t | t482t | t335t | t191t | t891t | t687t | t606t | t422t | t543t | t557t | t446t | t627t | t673t | t149t | t895t | t805t | t816t | t317t | t105t | t311t | t931t | t791t | t321t | t160t | t710t | t723t | t849t | t822t | t109t | t476t | t515t | t559t | t674t | t529t | t346t | t300t | t789t | t807t | t625t | t402t | t171t | t297t | t917t | t235t | t436t | t188t | t991t | t605t | t116t | t212t | t540t | t84t | t339t | t602t | t474t | t775t | t753t | t213t | t955t | t676t | t998t | t579t | t340t | t304t | t792t | t249t | t192t | t848t | t666t | t631t | t267t | t499t | t701t | t776t | t100t | t325t | t85t | t663t | t387t | t597t | t210t | t897t | t961t | t15t | t732t | t290t | t779t | t74t | t33t | t199t | t351t | t153t | t712t | t570t | t73t | t875t | t904t | t585t | t54t | t741t | t372t | t618t | t43t | t53t | t577t | t416t | t32t | t124t | t863t | t428t | t683t | t82t | t888t | t648t | t916t | t208t | t394t | t451t | t828t | t607t | t547t | t617t | t574t | t983t | t333t | t616t | t125t | t691t | t614t | t122t | t407t | t72t | t296t | t58t | t6t | t118t | t838t | t754t | t542t | t142t | t410t | t136t | t833t | t266t | t764t | t731t | t86t | t679t | t80t | t735t | t878t | t704t | t942t | t642t | t715t | t970t | t250t | t770t | t438t | t444t | t803t | t751t | t909t | t531t | t3t | t889t | t5t | t420t | t308t | t159t | t769t | t860t | t668t | t302t | t785t | t285t | t707t | t337t | t967t | t309t | t71t | t924t | t203t | t857t | t654t | t198t | t767t | t694t | t448t | t406t | t101t | t45t | t230t | t721t | t221t | t541t | t800t | t458t | t411t | t518t | t512t | t330t | t913t | t371t | t435t | t353t | t928t | t969t | t644t | t640t | t224t | t604t | t472t | t973t | t138t | t566t | t555t | t700t | t98t | t689t | t571t | t911t | t237t | t310t | t796t | t388t | t563t | t59t | t782t | t843t | t202t | t966t | t662t | t477t | t752t | t656t | t940t | t829t | t279t | t201t | t169t | t247t | t79t | t456t | t836t | t768t | t273t | t76t | t50t | t133t | t533t | t750t | t174t | t185t | t657t | t900t | t714t | t26t | t114t | t39t | t935t | t593t | t336t | t486t | t332t | t64t | t186t | t708t | t323t | t341t | t622t | t950t | t598t | t2t | t465t | t592t | t239t | t146t | t492t | t521t | t584t | t207t | t453t | t113t | t27t | t824t | t481t | t987t | t117t | t568t | t200t | t629t | t450t | t948t | t93t | t329t | t389t | t35t | t112t | t442t | t726t | t99t | t271t | t251t | t906t | t177t | t798t | t403t | t66t | t316t | t817t | t143t | t269t | t173t | t286t | t591t | t841t | t705t | t914t | t441t | t29t | t414t | t651t | t549t | t463t | t933t | t90t | t28t | t179t | t925t | t252t | t910t | t178t | t455t | t360t | t328t | t634t | t681t | t695t | t611t | t479t | t647t | t869t | t270t | t578t | t24t | t993t | t665t | t354t | t1000t | t915t | t941t | t865t | t144t | t881t | t709t | t802t | t894t | t971t | t743t | t530t | t487t | t4t | t14t | t156t | t462t | t187t | t661t | t532t | t366t | t154t | t404t | t747t | t181t | t245t | t728t | t16t | t565t | t115t | t55t | t352t | t484t | t128t | t552t | t390t | t222t | t964t | t893t | t994t | t204t | t921t | t77t | t8t | t637t | t885t | t164t | t997t | t600t | t119t | t431t | t193t | t295t | t303t | t548t | t209t | t920t | t150t | t649t | t581t | t495t | t466t | t912t | t365t | t374t | t866t | t445t | t155t | t89t | t421t | t892t | t127t | t580t | t718t | t919t | t151t | t876t | t537t | t778t | t280t | t216t | t739t | t671t | t777t | t147t | t56t | t883t | t284t | t669t | t652t | t246t | t87t | t405t | t228t | t357t | t595t | t908t | t419t | t873t | t292t | t685t | t172t | t868t | t882t | t36t | t232t | t401t | t194t | t244t | t218t | t850t | t180t | t630t | t855t | t820t | t443t | t196t | t573t | t375t | t508t | t305t | t724t | t233t | t135t | t107t | t168t | t624t | t242t | t717t | t261t | t319t | t23t | t141t | t331t | t457t | t773t | t189t | t348t | t426t | t965t | t929t | t510t | t121t | t564t | t733t | t20t | t503t | t702t | t886t | t819t | t846t | t632t | t626t | t102t | t502t | t938t | t275t | t318t | t38t | t274t | t620t | t765t | t432t | t257t | t826t | t382t | t229t | t963t | t47t | t722t | t758t | t18t | t424t | t698t | t905t | t158t | t70t | t283t | t264t | t282t | t9t | t294t | t832t | t425t | t145t | t350t | t527t | t225t | t162t | t139t | t7t | t134t | t655t | t786t | t659t | t459t | t902t | t859t | t485t | t278t | t504t | t956t | t771t | t470t | t376t | t526t | t871t | t175t | t281t | t926t | t67t | t182t | t243t | t946t | t384t | t409t | t514t | t608t | t821t | t324t | t363t | t977t | t223t | t415t | t215t | t490t | t497t | t756t | t569t | t483t | t784t | t68t | t338t | t299t | t646t | t884t | t958t | t545t | t713t | t256t | t500t | t97t | t879t | t974t | t471t | t460t | t40t | t780t | t639t | t818t | t259t | t561t | t672t | t562t | t30t | t730t | t870t | t981t | t412t | t96t | t31t | t231t | t152t | t951t | t815t | t430t | t276t | t240t | t945t | t934t | t408t | t322t | t535t | t167t | t313t | t896t | t887t | t255t | t345t | t49t | t749t | t599t | t760t | t653t | t260t | t21t | t37t | t206t | t641t | t990t | t880t | t799t | t667t | t81t | t362t | t327t | t334t | t992t | t603t | t219t | t176t | t939t | t129t | t947t | t638t | t932t | t467t | t856t | t381t | t488t | t34t | t594t | t923t | t349t | t396t | t220t | t716t | t643t | t380t | t761t | t106t | t148t | t609t | t729t | t575t | t953t | t92t | t344t | t766t | t823t | t298t | t986t | t851t | t962t | t11t | t903t | t69t | t314t | t62t | t272t | t489t | t104t | t664t | t877t | t534t | t528t | t680t | t197t | t706t | t546t | t922t | t596t | t811t | t480t | t468t | t688t | t234t | t19t | t248t | t610t | t872t | t772t | t95t | t795t | t586t | t130t | t650t | t398t | t697t | t936t | t464t | t418t | t494t | t551t | t979t | t842t | t161t | t361t | t797t | t427t | t343t | t844t | t806t | t867t | t847t | t582t | t814t | t699t | t131t | t744t | t347t | t930t | t307t | t75t | t400t | t675t | t711t | t291t | t812t | t227t | beduxizaez | t693t | t615t | t262t | t808t | t320t | t684t | t960t | t745t | t989t | t439t | t853t | t461t | t258t | t677t | t740t | t46t | t787t | t301t | t762t | t840t | t393t | t837t | t550t | t536t | t386t | t755t | t163t | t736t | t852t | t619t | t719t | t874t | t520t | t447t | t417t | t943t | t493t | t660t | t434t | t289t | t397t | t898t | t413t | t356t | t288t | t587t | t469t | t737t | t10t | t788t | t560t | t635t | t91t | t727t | t355t | t572t | t937t | t170t | t1t | t358t | t517t | t22t | t379t | t238t |