Storage Insider: The time is now for Blu-ray storage

19.07.2006
This week Sony launched its first Blu-ray recording device for the masses, the Sony BWU-100A (http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_BrowseCatalog-Start;sid=WGhRWuypMHFR_6gVidBbUaOmhfTjK14eDho=?CategoryName=hav_bluraydiscburners&Dept=tvvideo), a standard 5.25-inch, half-height internal box with a parallel ATA connection that writes and reads a variety of media types, including all DVD and CD formats.

(You may want to check out this refresher (http://www.blu-ray.com/info) on Blu-ray if you're not familiar with the technology.)

The real treat from this US$750 MSRP baby appears when using BD (Blu-ray Disc) media that can store as much as 25GB. If that's not enough, double-layer discs extending the capacity to 50GB are expected to be along shortly.

The previous sentence is definitely the storage-geek view of Sony's BD, much like describing the Mona Lisa by spouting the square footage of its canvas.

Without dismissing the exceptional capacity -- five times larger than a DVD -- that could come in handy for backing up and archiving data, another way to look at and appreciate the BWU-100A -- hey, Sony, how about a friendlier name? -- is its capability of storing hours of high-definition movie clips on BD discs.

The BWU-100A comes with drivers for Windows (2000 and XP) and is bundled with Cyberlink, a suite of applications to ease backups and restores. I haven't tested its speed yet, but Bob DeMoulin, marketing manager of the optical storage division at Sony, wraps it up like this: "It's a 2x burner for Blu-ray. That acquaints to 9MBps sustained; so for a 25GB media, it will be 30 minutes for a full disc."