ForumSony BWU-200S detail information
| Posted by | Kip R. |
| Posted on | 12/01/08 05:13 |
| Number of views | 17861 |
| Manufacturer | Sony |
| Product | Sony BWU-200S |
| Description | Internal Blu-ray Disc Rewritable Drive |
Test machine
For this review we are testing the Sony BWU-200S mounted inside of our Intel based system with the following components:
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Motherboard: ASUSTek, P5K Deluxe
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Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, 2.4GHz
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Memory: 4GB G-SKILL DDR2-800
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Video: GeForce 8600 GTS
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Sound: SoundMAX integrated Digital HD Audio, onboard
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Hard Disks: 250GB Seagate SATA-II, X2
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Optical Drives: Lite-On DH20A3P, LG GSA-H62L, ASUS BC-1205PT, Optiarc DVD RW AD 7170A, BenQ DW1650, Samsung SH-S203B, Lite-On CD-RW SOHR-5239V, and the ASUS DRW-2014L1T
Software:
Windows Vista Business 32bit installed on our test system; we will also be using the following software for this review:
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Nero Burning Rom 8 Ultra Enhanced
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Nero CD-DVD Speed
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Nero InfoTool
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Slysoft CloneCD
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K-Probe 2.5.2
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DVD Identifier
A Little More About Blu-Ray:
Until recently, optical disc technologies such as DVD, DVD±R, DVD±RW, and DVD-RAM relied on a red laser to read and write data. The new technology Blu-Ray format uses a blue-violet laser, which explains the name Blu-ray.
Blu-ray drives can also be made backwards compatible with CDs and DVDs through the use of a BD/DVD/CD compatible optical pickup unit.
A blue-violet laser (405nm) has a shorter wavelength than a red laser (650nm); this makes it possible to focus the laser with even greater accuracy. This will allow data to be packed more tightly, so it's possible to squeeze more data on the disc even though it's the same size as a CD/DVD. This together with the change of numerical aperture to 0.85 enables Blu-ray discs to hold 25GB/50GB.
Now let’s take a look at the track pitch and compare them with that of DVD:
As we can see in the above screenshots, the storage density of Blu-Ray is much higher than DVD. The Blu-Ray laser beam spot is also much narrower than that of DVD.
Blu-Ray Error specification:
In the above table we present some of the specifications for reported errors on Blu-Ray media. At present we have no equipment or software available for measuring these errors.
Installation and Supported Features:
The installation was flawless; we hooked the drive up using a standard SATA cable
Here is the Nero InfoTool output for the drive and its supported features:
CD-DVD Speed reports the burst rate of 46 MB/s, confirming that Ultra DMA Mode 4 is in effect:
On the next page we will take a look at the Disc Writing Technology of the Sony BWU-200S.
Introduction
Check out your player's format capability before burning any discs with any BD burner. Some players (like my Panny) will play only BDMV format; some players will play BDAV. This burner will burn either, but some burning software won't support BDAV. I am using Ulead Movie Factory with the HD add-in; it will burn either format.
Others have noted that the Sony's drawer won't fit thru a normal cutout - that was the situation with my Dell XPS400. Tried trimming out the hole in the Dell; gave up and mounted the burner in an external enclosure.
Overall, thumbs up even at the $600USD price.
It is actually a cannabilized external one for a DVD drive. External 5.25" SATA enclosures are a little hard to find and are well over $50 when you do. I had to run a power cable and SATA cable out of the back of the PC and the back of the external enclosure. The enclosure I use has a power switch that is not maintained and the PC showed drive not available when booting if the power was not on. So, I ran an cable from the PC power supply. Kinda junky doing it that way, but it works.
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