We used the bundled version of Roxio v7 to burn our Blu-Ray discs. The software installs the appropriate UDF 2.5 driver in order to make the burned BD-R/RE discs readable under Windows XP.
When we ran Roxio for the first time, it informed us that the Pioneer BDR-101A is not capable of reading or writing CD-R media. The next Blu-Ray burner from the Japanese company, the BDR-102A, is expected to offer support for the CD format.
The software is simple enough and can be used by both professional and ordinary users. The available functions include creation of data discs, disc copy, as well as some customized burning jobs for easy backups.
We selected the Data Disc function.
Below, you can see the available disc space (capacity) of blank BD-R and BD-RE media:
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| Estimated free space for BD-R and BD-RE media. | |
Our 23.3GB and 22.6GB data compilations are ready to be recorded onto BD-R and BD-RE media, respectively. Clicking on the red button on the bottom right of the software window, starts the procedure as you can see from the screen shot below:
Initially, the software starts gathering the information for the compilation. This takes a few seconds to complete. Then, the actual burning procedure starts:
The recording speed is calculated in real time, as the recording progress bar fills from left to right:
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| Click on the image for bigger... |
The burning procedure takes approximately 50 minutes or more.
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Below you can see the actual writing times for BD-R and BD-RE media (fully recorded)
| BD-R Burning Results | |||||
| Maker | Media Speed | Manufacturer ID | Media Type ID | Burned Speed | Burning Time (mins) |
| Memorex | 2X | MEI | 001 | 2X | 55:36 |
| Mitsubishi Kagaku Media Verbatim | 2X | VERBATIM | a000 | 2X | 54:47 |
| Sony | 2X | SONY | 001 | 2X | 51:42 |
| TDK | 2X | TDK | BLDRBA000 | 2X | 59:58 |
| BD-RE Burning Results | |||||
| Mitsubishi Kagaku Media Verbatim | 2X | VERBATIM | 0000 | 2X | 53:45 |
| Sony | 2X | SONY | 001 | 2X | 50:36 |
| TDK | 2X | TDK | BLDWBA000 | 2X | 56:42 |
BD-R
- Memorex BD-R 2X
- MKM Verbatim BD-R 2X
- Sony BD-R 2X
- TDK BD-R 2X
All the inserted BD-R media were read successfully at 2x CLV. What is also interesting is the high seek times reported for all the media (Click on each graph to see the results). The drive needs around 65-75 ms to seek the data randomly, and 350-360 msec to reach fully the data on the disc.
BD-RE
- MKM Verbatim BD-RE
- Sony BD-RE 2X
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- TDK BD-RE 2X
All BD-RE media were read by the drive (2x CLV). Note, that for this test we used Nero CDSpeed v4.53.
The BDR-101A could be a very convenient solution for all those who need a professional drive for video authoring or pre-mastering of commercial BD releases in preparation for replication. However, it is also suited to those requiring high capacity storage - typically demanded by high definition broadcast and video content. The lack of support for the CD format could be considered as a negative, as well as the limited writing speeds for DVD. However, keep in mind that this drive utilizes a new optical pickup unit as well as a new chipset to support the increased requirements of the Blu-ray format, while Pioneer is expected to offer more features in its second generation drives.
The price of both the media and the drive itself are currently prohibitive for the mid-user. The drive is priced at around $1000 while the media will cost you $18-20 for the BD-R and $25-29 for the BD-RE. But remember that the Blu-Ray technology is very new and prices are expected to drop as soon as the demand for the products increase.
So, our first impressions of the drive could not be anything other than quite good. More detailed testing and results will be available in our full review of the drive, expected very soon.
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