Buffalo Technology BR-816SU2 External Blu-ray Burner

Buffalo's BR-816SU2 external USB/eSATA Blu-ray burner ($310 as of 9/3/09) is a winner, at least in performance--in my tests the drive performed as advertised, writing in times commensurate with its rating. It also played Blu-ray movies nicely, without stutters or slowdowns.

Its speeds and feeds are state of the art all the way: It's rated to handle single-layer BD-R at 8X write and 8X read, double-layer BD-R at 6.5X write and 7.2X read, and both single-layer and double-layer BD-RE at 2X write and 2X read.

This external model packs a Matshita SW5584 drive inside, and it also writes/reads DVD-RAM at 5X/5X, single-layer DVD-R at 16X/16X, double-layer DVD-R at 8X/8X, DVD-RW at 6X/8X, single-layer DVD+R at 16X/16X, double-layer DVD+R at 8X/8X, DVD+RW at 8X/8X, CD-R at 48X/48X, and CD-RW at 24X/32X.

My only real complaint about the BR-816SU2 is the rather fragile manner in which the front door is attached (not the tray mechanism itself, but the outside panel that the tray pushes when it slides out). I inadvertently hit it with my elbow, with only a moderate amount of ...

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Jon L. Jacobi, PC World