Pioneer's 12x BDR-205 Blu-ray burner is so fast it's ahead of its time
By Richard Lawler 
posted Sep 30th 2009 1:23PM
posted Sep 30th 2009 1:23PM
Please note: If you're a current Engadget commenter, you do not need to re-register. Simply login and you will be prompted to select a username.
HD-DVD burner anyone? :)
I've been looking everywhere for one for my Tandy.
Thats what she said
So how long would it take to actually burn 50GB, providing that 12x media would be used (eventually)?
15 minutes
I wonder if we will see the Blu-Ray equilvalent of DVD-RAM discs? If HD-DVD hadn't bit the dust, there were plans for an HD-DVD-RAM.
I like the flexibility of these DVD-RAM discs which are like a hard drive. What about for Blu-Ray?
Hadn't thought of a BD-RAM disk. That may have some potential.
Man, I can't wait til this thing is like $20 five years from now.
but for only $249 you could get a 12X ULTRA-ray burner that burns 500GB UBs
when will they stop playing the incremental 2x 8x 12x 16x 24x game with us?
As soon as they can come up with a decent platform?
When they decide to stop improving products while retaining backward compatibility.
12x is actually the maximum speed BD can do before the drives tear themselves apart. So, the game ends here.
Not sure if it's "the drive tears itself apart" , versus the disc's outer edge starts hitting the sound barrier. But yea, hitting the sound barrier can't be good for this kind of stuff.
I thought DVD 16X already approached that - BD 12X would be nuts!
ummm correct me if im wrong but 1x is 1x - does not matter if its a CD, DVD, or BD. So how is 12x BD any faster then 12x CD or DVD???
Wikipedia says:
The 1x speed rating for CD-ROM (150 kB/s) is different than 1x speed rating for audio CD (172.3 kB/s) and is not to be confused with the 1x speed rating for DVDs (1.32 MB/s) or Blu-ray at (4.5 MB/s)
DVD 1x is about the same data writing speed as 8x CD. BD 1x is about the same as DVD 3x.
Part of the math has to do with the fact that the pits and hills are physically smaller on each successive technology, so more bits can be written in a single revolution.
ie. pits that are 1/2 the size hold twice as many bits of data, so one revolution is _like_ having 2x
1X speed generally means the standard speed for reading. 1X CD is the speed needed for audio CD playback, 1X DVD is the speed needed for DVD video playback (although the bitrates can vary), and likewise for 1X Blu-ray.
I can't wait until I start burning my discs and hear that sonic boom!
1X is the same on all 3 (CD/DVD/BD) in terms of rotational velocity. The data rates vary as DVD and BD are denser than CD, so at the same rotational speed more data goes by.
The minimum BD read rate for video playback isn't 1X (36mbit/sec), it's 1.5x (54mbit/sec).
There is no reason BD can't go to 20X or more, the discs will not fly apart.
The limiting factor in blu-ray burner speed is actually the output of the laser. This new 12x burner has a pulsed output of 450mW, which is pretty impressive.
Faster blu-ray burners are actually a big deal in the laser enthusiast community. Whenever a faster burner is available, people like to take the more powerful lasers out and push them as hard as they can.
It hasn't proven to be a limiting factor so far. Yeah, higher powered lasers had to be developed over time as CDs sped up, then DVDs too. At any given time, laser power was the issue, but that didn't mean it couldn't be improved later.
I have a bluray burner but I have never ever used it. I still have stacks of DVDs I still need to get through.
I'm not sure I understand the Playstation 3 comment...
I believe they're getting at that faster BD read= less need for HDD installs.
I personally don't really want a BD burner, except for long term archiving and excessive backups. I'd probably burn a BD-j emulator disc for ps3 with some essentials like futurama and arrested development (still not THAT worth it...) and maybe burn 3-4 1080p mkvs of trilogies or whatever per disc. But not until it's at $150 and discs are down to a buck or two for 12x 50GB+.
Much faster read times than the existing PS3 BlueRay drive... Think PS3 Turbo?
They could put that thing for $40 and I still wouldn't buy it. Not when media is still $5 a disk.
I'm with you - I couldn't care less about 4X vs 8X vs 12X, it's the media cost that's holding me back.
It's getting lower though - $3 per disc in quantities of 15 at newegg is the best I've seen so far:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817501029
Same here. Especially with a lick and a promise of, "Well, we haven't tested it with 12x disks, but, eh, it should work." No thanks.
Possible tagline: The Pioneer BDR-205. Why go to up eleven when you can go up to twelve?
It's so fast, it's already outdated and is a special two for one deal at best buy!
12X BD = 54MB/s
50GB BD = 47683MB
47683MB / 54MB/s = 883 sec = 14,7 min
Don't know if you looked, but this part of the internet is in AMERICA- where we use decimal points (.) and not commas (,) as separators.
J/K.
Not really.
Don't know if you looked, NoAndThen, but a (.) looks like a single tit to the rest of the world...
Yeah umm...50GB BD-R discs are $20...each.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817131076
And while this thing might hit 12X on a single layer BD-R I wouldn't get my hopes up on the dual layer 50GB discs since they're not as easy to burn quickly.
Argh. Still only 2x BD-RE. When will that get improved?
I'm not asking for spontaneous instant-writing or anything, but even 4x BD-RE would save me 20 minutes at a time on 25 GB writes.
"We're still not sure if that many people are interested in buying Blu-ray burners yet"... Hmmm?
Some of us have had this ability (albeit at slower speeds) for a while now, I know my Sony's been burring BD for years.
I guess that's yet another luxury afforded by my Windows/PCs (along with a suitable number of USB ports, real built-in media card slots/readers, numeric keypads, et al), that my Apple Macs don't even offer.
You seem to be under the badly mistaken impression that this BD drive won't work in a Mac. And yet if you put it in a Mac, it will actually work with Toast. And I don't know what kind of crack you're smoking, but all my Macs have a keyboard with a numeric pad. And plenty of USB ports. And expansion slots to add more if I want. And I have a media card reader, not sure why it has to be built in but I can even get a built in one if I want.
In conclusion... buy a clue?
Well aside from DaHarders unnecessary attack on Macintosh. How do you know this will work with Roxios Toast in OS X it isn't even out yet. Roxio does support Blu ray but OS X does not.
The chances you will ever see anyone put this in a Mac are really low. For one it isn't slot loading and for two most macs today are Imacs/notebooks. So this is really a mute point. The Mac Pros can take a blu ray drive however I am not sure about how the newer form factors handle tray loading discs.
You know have to ask for Numeric Pads when you order a Mac. Its just an extra click but that is what this guy is referring to here but again I don't really see the point of his post as this isn't about MS/Apple. Its about a 12x BD-R drive that may or may not be 12x.
Couple corrections and clarifications: The odds of somebody putting this into a Mac is irrelevant. You can do it, end of discussion. Second, your reasoning for not being able to put it into Macbooks or iMacs is equally usable for PCs. This won't work in any PC that doesn't have a 5.25" optical drive bay, which leaves out all laptops and most AIOs.
Third, you don't have to specify a number pad for all Mac models because the number pad comes with them by default except for a couple models in which case you can specify the number pad for free. Either way, the assertion that Mac keyboards don't have number pads is wrong. Again, end of discussion. Facts are facts, the end.
OS X doesn't support Blu-Ray.
Windows XP doesn't support Blu-ray movie playback either. You have to get third-party software for that.
And if I remember correctly, Windows XP doesn't even support DVD movie playback - you have to get third-party decoder software, though most drives include it. Mac OS X at least includes DVD movie playback capabilities.
@Michael
Just shut up. It is not even worth criticizing your argument.
ahead of its time, not it's time
Dr Grammar
Why are we still using optical disc? Hurry up and sell HD movies on flash media.
Uhhhhh...
Because recordable optical media is still substantially less expensive than flash media.
That's like wrapping a big mac in gold foil.
Why even physical media? Downloads FTW. Why can I download an HD movie illegally in half an hour but I can't download it legally at all?
i hope there's scratch proof coating on the blue ray discs. or else one scratch would mean a few GBs gone ?
I prefer my media on flash, discs are a waste of money and time. They need to make the switch to flash!
I'd love to get a Blu-Ray burner if the media was cheaper. Did you know it's dirt cheap if you import the media from Japan? I don't understand why that is. Once the discs get down to $2 each I might buy a blu-ray burner. Oh wait, I don't even think my display is HDCP compatible. Forget that idea. Perhaps I can just burn Blu-Ray discs and not watch store bought movies. Nice.
Yeah those media prices make a burner pointless basically, unless you need a laser to rip out of it.
You are all missing the REAL point and excitement of a 12x BD Burner. THE LASER INSIDE! A 12x diode might be able to do 600, 700, 800mw safely! That's nearing a 1W blu ray beam... this would easily burn through quite a few things if taken out of the drive itself and put in to a nice host with a good power source and driver. In fact, these guys are doing just that (as soon as they can get a drive...)
http://laserpointerforums.com/f38/pioneer-bdr-205-12x-blu-ray-burner-43688-4.html#post584394
Agreed...
Very impressive, especially when compared to the burn-times for a couple of my other BD-burners.
I have a 330mW blu-ray laser right now, it's pretty ridiculous. I can't imagine the output from this laser. It's in class 4 territory!
Actually it's tricky to say that stuff on(or in) public places, sooner or later some senator's kid or senator will pick up on the idea and they'll start making laws to prevent it, better not shout too loud if you don't want to attract hyenas, they'll gnaw your ass off.
I keep forgetting too though and blab naively :(
The Media just costs too much still.
I'm ready for it and would jump on this but the media still costs too much.
optical media sucks. my PC still can't tell the difference between CD and DVD until there is data on it.
This Blu-ray Burner software is a powerful Blu-ray DVD burner and Blue-ray burner tool, that can help you burn videos to Blu-ray Disc (BD), then you can watch them on general Blu-ray player. (Sony Play Station 3 supported. )
thanks, to visit:http://www.blu-ray-burner.biz