Pioneer BDR-101A Blu-ray burner now available, for just $999

It's received some good reviews, can record 25GB onto a single-layer Blu-ray disc in 45 minutes, and now it's available for purchase -- if you've got a grand to spare. We're talking, of course, about Pioneer's BDR-101A Blu-ray burner, one of the first products of its kind to hit store shelves. The 2X E-IDE internal burner for PCs is now available from Tiger Direct for $999.99, and the etailer claims it will ship units in "7-21 days." Start clicking if you just can't bear to wait. And don't forget to budget an extra $25 a pop for those blank BD-Rs.

[Thanks, Alex]

[CSTA @ May 18th 2006 11:36AM]

Here's a stupid question...

Is there any chance of producing a write error on those $25 blank discs?

I hope it's not like burning CD's now onto CD-RW because that's going to become very costly.

[TheJoeSzymkowicz @ May 18th 2006 11:36AM]

I thought the Blu-ray discs were going to be in some kind of enclosure, like the UMDs? I mean one small scratch on these things is going to turn them into an uber-expensive coaster. But then again, I guess thats what they said about CDs when they first came out.

[Rohit Kapur @ May 18th 2006 11:37AM]

You guys missed out on an 'r' in the word 'retailer' there.

Anyways, I still think that Blu-rays as backup discs won't work. A cd is a cd. It WILL get scratched unless you're very careful. As data transport discs, this is great. Can't wait till the whole thing gets cheap (enough for everyday people). As for the whole movie thing, well, that too still has a long way to go in becoming a household item. Tooooo expensive. But I guess all technologies are when they're fresh.

[Travis Jenkins @ May 18th 2006 11:37AM]

Wohoo...first post! Great price on the player!!!

[NNTPgrip @ May 18th 2006 11:43AM]

to #1 - I wouldn't touch the Roxio software if I were you (for any kind of disc). Go buy Nero instead for it and you will have the best chance of burning good discs.

Would also hold out for a SATA one (which may be on this one, however I did not RTFA.)

[Ireland @ May 18th 2006 11:46AM]

That's the start of the price war on Blu Ray, bring it on!! :)

[NNTPgrip @ May 18th 2006 11:46AM]

Balls, who are you? McCoy, McCormick, etc.

[JeffNLA @ May 18th 2006 11:51AM]

Let?s see? I can buy blank dual layer dvd+r?s for $1.50 with 8.5 gigs. I can buy a single blu-ray with 25 gigs for $25 and have NO-ONE be able to read them. Hmmmmm,?

I really hope Pioneer and Sony choke on this on.

[willyjsimmons @ May 18th 2006 11:54AM]

'Go buy Nero instead for it and you will have the best chance of burning good discs.'

Nero has the most CRAPTASTIC installer I've ever seen.

Unpacks cab files, then can't find them two seconds later!!??

[johnnyg0 @ May 18th 2006 12:01PM]

great.. an optical media writer that costs as much as EIGHT 300gigs hard drive and I'm not even counting the blank media price.. Do I really care it can write 25g discs?

... which am I going to buy, the blu-ray burner, or 8 hard drives and make them an uncrashable raid array for the same price. Do I really need to awnser :)

Bye Bye Blu-Ray, welcome Holographic Discs!

[ty @ May 18th 2006 12:01PM]

I dont think BD burners will really take off until those 50gb BDs come out. 25gb is less than 3x dual layer dvd. So, right now its more of a conveinence (and watching movies) thing rather than a huge increase in storage capacity.

At least they designed recordability into the BD specs from the get-go, so the wait souldnt be that long.

[paris @ May 18th 2006 12:21PM]

So the countdown to affordable Bluray burners has begun. Lets hope it takes less time than it did for DVD burners though if I remember correctly DVD burners appeared for $2000.

[jon @ May 18th 2006 12:28PM]

25 Gigs would be nice but $999 is way too much. These will be great when they cost around $200.

What's interesting though is that someone with a Windows Media Center PC and Blu-Ray drive could easily have Blu-Ray movies stream to their TV-Sets via the Xbox 360 as it is a media center connector.

This is a nice feature as it enables consumer choice in the matter.

[Blurb @ May 18th 2006 12:29PM]

You people make me laugh, do none of you remember when DVD burners came out and how crazy expensive they were?

[falcom @ May 18th 2006 12:31PM]

but does it play movies?

[six2one @ May 18th 2006 12:38PM]

the thing with these are what the HELL are you going to do with it? as a backup medium its not very good unless u go external (at the moment)so you can read the disks on another computer as they wont play in anything but a blue ray drive....which are 1000 as we see here....the dvd players arent much better...the prices are probably going to come down to where the dvd player will cost as much as the ps3. it is nice to see the technology get put on the shelves, but at the moment its a want thing and not a need thing

[otakucode @ May 18th 2006 12:42PM]

$999 is not a bad price at all for a first generation burner. I'd give serious thought to purchasing one if the media wasn't so ridiculously priced. I truly hope Blu-Ray wins so we can have a good backup medium as well as finally have collectors edition movie releases with tons of special features all on a single disc. With HD-DVD, most movies will have to come with a second disc just for the special features unless they crank up the compression on the video. I don't know what they were thinking when they designed a format that can just barely fit a 2 hour movie with a surround sound track.

[James Costa @ May 18th 2006 12:47PM]

DVD-R drives first started at around $6,000... Pioneer as well IIRC. Slow as heck.

[ChillyWilly @ May 18th 2006 2:45PM]

I'm in the Blu-Ray camp here. I'm not going to rush out and spend $1k on this drive, but as others have said, it's the start to the future.

The thing that will help this format take off is cheaper blanks. Once you can get a BD dual layer blank for under $10, it's going to be a big deal. By then, the drive should drop below $500 and a viable format for backing up some of our data without having to use an entire spindle of blanks will be welcome.

And not just DVD burners were pricey when they first came out. My first CD burner, which was 1x, cost me $550. For the amount of storage it could hold, it was over-the-top. I bought my last CD-R drive (24x speed) two years ago for $60. Blu-Ray will drop the same over time.

[Canadian Geese @ May 18th 2006 2:54PM]

I really like how HDDVD's have both the hi-def burn and a regular dvd burn all on the same disk.

I got to see hi-def footage for the first time today. There is an HDDVD player at Best Buy on a 30-something inch Westinghouse LCD running at 1080p via an HDMI cable. It was $500. I was pretty impressed.

Sorry, I know this is a blu-ray discussion, but I wanted to throw that in there. =)

[Pinkerton @ May 18th 2006 2:58PM]

I could see myself using one of these in a few years to do personal data backups, archive video, or possibly to store non-critical backups at work such as Ghost images.

I read the Wikipedia entry on the Durabis coating that #10 mentioned. Sounds like this adds a lot to the cost of the disc. For scratches that go through the protective layer, I wonder if one could run the disc through a decent resurfacer (like the JFJ Disc Repair) and make the disc work again, sans protective coating.

[Broo @ May 18th 2006 5:16PM]

#24 the data layer on Blu-Ray is very close to the protective coating- not in the center of the disk as with DVDs; I think Blu-Ray data starts about 0.1mm below the surface (vs. 0.6mm for DVD or HD-DVD)- so if the surface does get scratched it could be hard to repair...

Personally I hope HD-DVDs win the 'format war' as they are cheaper to make and Sony is not involved in the mix. Sony used to be awesome but they have issues since they are producing the content and the hardware- I think they are trying milk consumers for $$ in every possible way...

[antaeus @ May 18th 2006 6:49PM]

so is microsoft AND EVERY OTHER COMPANY IN AMERICA thats how it works dude.

[x23 @ May 18th 2006 10:16PM]

"26. so is microsoft AND EVERY OTHER COMPANY IN AMERICA thats how it works dude."

microsoft owns a record label and movie studio that they use to leverage an otherwise unpopular media format that they themselves created and get royalties for? news to me. links?

[CK @ May 19th 2006 6:45AM]

"microsoft owns a record label and movie studio that they use to leverage an otherwise unpopular media format that they themselves created and get royalties for? news to me. links?"

Seriously, could you be more obtuse? If Microsoft *did* have such a record label, do you think they'd be doing any differently? Maybe it wouldn't be a rootkit, maybe it'd be some Windows tiein and WMP fun. They're be just as greedy. Lest we forget Netscape/IE and the wonderful antitrust battle.

Sony has badly misstepped, but never construe that to mean that Microsoft is some kind of angel. I can count more times when MS has argued it has the right to screw the consumer than Sony has (although admittedly, it'd be a close battle)

[Geir E @ May 19th 2006 8:16AM]

Is it just me who is old enough to remember the first CD burners? and the first DVD burners? The media was in the beginning in the same price range.

Given time, should become just as cheap as similar DVD media is today. just as DVD became in it's time and CD before it.

[Ectoplasm @ May 19th 2006 4:55PM]

How long does it take to burn a 25GB disc?

At $1000, I don't see too many people picking this one up.

[Apple Man @ May 19th 2006 5:12PM]

Is this a new Ipod accessorie

[eric the eye @ May 25th 2006 6:42AM]

Unless BD discs, whoever they are made by, will play in any BD drive then I'm not interested. I'm fed up of trying to archive large video files on DVDs just to get cyclic redundancy errors when I try to copy them back to a hard drive. I've got 4 hard drives in my machine, all different but I never get any write or read errors.

[annonmy @ May 25th 2006 12:08PM]

ok anyone who thinks a hddvd is better doesnt know anything about data storage...so what right now blu-ray costs more, if hddvds succeed dvds we will just be waiting for the next higher capacity disc...(ie the blu-ray) and so what if a company advertises a band to push cd sales...its up to the consumer to actually decide if they like it or not...and everyone who says man this sure is a lot. no sht sherlock its a brand new technology thats well worth the money if you want to be the very first to buy the product, but for the avg consumer...everyone talking in any forum this is obviously not practical...blu-ray is excepted to succeed in coming the next media format (news from a friend that works for the industry and not sony) the fact is hddvd dont hold enough space and dont output in true 1080p...they are already strapped for space what will happen when they come out with 10.1 surround sound...when the prices come down throw your money at the blu-ray

[dom @ May 27th 2006 7:28AM]

Slow down....
Blue Ray was dead before it was even born.
Check Out
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/0,39020351,2107853,00.htm

This is real technology

[Tilgare @ Sep 4th 2006 8:22AM]

Ah, just like the VHS vs. Beta wars...

Blu-Ray is in no way "dead". Blu-Ray is bound to succeed on one level or another. Sony can be assured of this by the fact that their PlayStation 3 is not just going to flop. All their new PS3 games will be on BDs. Even if their ONLY success is through these games, it is still success. This of course will NOT be the only success with the format.

The holographic discs are nice, but far from practical use. Also, you might look into this:
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/storage/0,39020366,39282192,00.htm
This would top your holographic discs anyways.

I also agree with the comment 2 above mine about HDDVD. It is bound to lose in this war. Keep in mind that Sony is not alone in their Blu-Ray conquest. They have tons of support, more than any other format has ever had from the get go. Here are all of Sony's friends:
Apple
Dell
HP
Hitachi
LG
Mitsubishi Electric
Panasonic
Pioneer
Philips
Samsung
Sharp
Sony
TDK
Thomson
Twentieth Century Fox
Walt Disney
Warner Bros.
Adobe Systems
Almedio Inc.
Alticast
Aplix Corporation
ArcSoft, Inc.
ATI Technologies Inc.
Atmel Corporation
AudioDev AB
Broadcom Corporation
Canon Inc.
CMC Magnetics Corporation
Coding Technologies GmbH
Cryptography Research Inc.
CyberLink Corp.
DATARIUS Technologies GmbH
DCA Inc.
Deluxe Media Services Inc.
Dolby Laboratories Inc.
DTS, Inc.
Electronic Arts Inc.
Esmertec
Fuji Photo Film Co. Ltd.
Fujitsu Ltd.
Horizon Semiconductor
Imation Corp.
InterVideo Inc.
Kenwood Corporation
Lionsgate Entertainment
LITE-ON IT Corporation
LSI Logic
MediaTek Inc.
Meridian Audio Ltd.
Metta Technology
Mitsubishi Kagaku Media Co.Ltd.
Mitsui Chemicals Inc.
Moser Baer India Limited
Nero
Optodisc Technology Corporation
Paramount Pictures Corporation
Pixela Corporation
Prodisc Technology Inc.
Pulstec Industrial Co., Ltd.
Ricoh Co., Ltd.
Ritek Corporation
ShibaSoku Co. Ltd.
Sigma Designs Inc.
Sonic Solutions
Sonopress
Sony BMG Music Entertainment
ST Microelectronics
Sunext
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd.,
Universal Music Group
Victor Company of Japan, Ltd.
Visionare Corporation
Zentek Technology Japan, Inc.
ZOOtech Ltd.
Zoran Corporation
Alpine Electronics Inc.
Asahi Kasei Microsystems Co., Ltd.
ashampoo GmbH & Co. KG
Bandai Visual Co. Ltd.
BASF AG
Basler Vision Technologies
BenQ Corporation
B.H.A. Corporation
Bose Corporation
B&W Group
The Cannery
Cheertek Inc.
Cinram Manufacturing Inc.
D&M holdings, Inc.
Daewoo Electronics Corporation
Daikin Industries, Ltd.
Daxon Technology Inc.
Degussa
Eclipse Data Technologies
Elpida Memory, Inc.
ESS Technology Inc.
Expert Magnetics Corp.
Fujitsu Ten Ltd.
Funai Electric Co., Ltd.
GalleryPlayer Media Networks
Gear Software
Hie Electronics, Inc.
Hoei Sangyo Co., Ltd.
IMAGICA Corp.
INFODISC Technology Co., Ltd.
Infomedia Inc.
Intersil Corporation
Kadokawa Holdings Inc.
Kaleidescape, Inc.
Kitano Co., Ltd.
Konica Minolta Opto Inc.
Laser Pacific Media Corp.
Lauda Co. Ltd.
Lead Data Inc.
LEADER ELECTRONICS CORP
Lenovo
Linn Products Ltd.
LINTEC Corporation
M2 Engineering AB
MainConcept AG
Mitsumi Electric Co., Ltd.
Must Technology Co., Ltd.
MX Entertainment
Netflix Inc.
Newtech Infosystems Inc.
NEXAPM Systems Technology Inc.
Nichia Corporation
Nikkatsu Corporation
NTT Electronics Corporation
nVidia Corporation
Omnibus Japan Inc.
Onkyo Corporation
Online Media Technologies Ltd.
Ono Sokki Co., Ltd.
OPT Corporation
Orbit Corp.
Origin Electric Co., Ltd.
Osmosys SA
Pinnacle Systems
PoINT Software & Systems GmbH
Pony Canyon Enterprise
PowerFile
Primera Technology, Inc.
Quanta Storage Inc.
Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Rimage Corporation
Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
Dr. Schwab Inspection Technology GmbH
Shinano Kenshi Co. Ltd.
Singulus Technologies
STEAG ETA-OPTIK GmbH
Sumitomo Bakelite
Tao Group Limited
Targray Technology International Inc.
TEAC Corporation
Teijin Chemicals Ltd.
THX Ltd.
Toei Video Company Ltd.
Toho Company, Ltd.
Toppan Printing Co., Ltd.
TOPTICA Photonics AG
Trailer Park
UmeDisc Ltd.
Unaxis Balzer AG
Vivendi Universal Games
Yamaha Corporation
Yokogawa Electric Corporation
1K Studios, LLC

[Pierre Chicoine @ Nov 22nd 2006 8:46PM]

I dont know what the complaint is here. When CD burners were first introduced, I bought one for $7500.00, and that was a 1X burner. Sony guts, Phillips software. Took me 12 hours to do my first burn as I had 12,000 files on it and Windows 3.1 was slowwww. My first portable Hard Drive cost me 15,000.00 and it held a whopping 2.5 megabyte. It weighed 200 lbs, so I didn't see as that portable. 1000.00 for 25gig, well, it's all relative.