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LaCie d2 Blu-ray drive offers 8x external burning

by Parm Mann on 4 February 2009, 14:21

Tags: d2 Blu-ray Drive, Lacie (EPA:LAC)

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LaCie has launched its fastest external Blu-ray burner, the d2 Blu-ray Drive.

The drive, pictured below, offers 8x Blu-ray burning for both single-layer and 50GB dual-layer discs. Sporting both USB 2 and FireWire connectivity, it's suited to both PC and Mac users but USB users should note that BD-R write speeds are limited to 6x when utilising a USB connection.

Priced at £409, the drive aims to be the ultimate solution for video professionals wanting to backup or store large quantities of data.

It'll come bundled with two pieces of software - Easy Media Creator 10 and Toast 9 Titanium - but as with a number of Blu-ray drives, it's still priced out of reach for the everyday consumer.

The complete read and write speeds for various forms of media break down as follows:

  Write speeds Read speeds
LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive BD-R (single or dual layer) 4x to 8x (limited to 6x with USB2.0)
BD-RE (single or dual layer) 2x
DVD±R 16x
DVD±RW 6x
DVD±R DL 8x
CD-R 48x
CD-RW 24x		 BD-ROM 4x to 8x (limited to 6x with USB2.0)
AACS BD-ROM (content protected) 2x
BD-R 4x to 8x
DVD±R 16x
DVD±RW 8x
DVD±R DL 8x
CD-R 48x
CD-ROM 48x
CD-RW 32x

 

HEXUS Forums :: 4 Comments

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Posted by Blackbadger - Wed 04 Feb 2009 15:24
8x BD-R disks don't exist.
6x are not available anywhere in the uk (or at least I cant find) and are silly money in the USA. (same price as a small HD for 1 blank)
4x cost around £5-12 depending on brand.

8x coasters are going to be a financial nightmare.

I fail to see the point in these until media costs come down by a huge %.
Posted by s_kinton - Wed 04 Feb 2009 19:22
Blackbadger
8x BD-R disks don't exist.
6x are not available anywhere in the uk (or at least I cant find) and are silly money in the USA. (same price as a small HD for 1 blank)
4x cost around £5-12 depending on brand..

Its always been the same though…the burners hit the market and the media follows. It just takes time.
Posted by Blackbadger - Wed 04 Feb 2009 20:59
I agree yes that over time prices drop. However if the prices don't drop fast they will become redundant.

The drive is aimed for
video professionals wanting to backup or store large quantities of data.

A video pro will be working with uncompressed data that is around 10gb per min for HD video. So firstly they will have to split the data up into 5 min chunks to fit into the 50gb barrier.
The 50gb dual layer discs cost approx £15-20 for a dual layer 4x speed disk. and will take approx 25 mins to write.
So for a basic 30 mins of footage it will take you over 3 hrs just to write the data, and around £100 in consumables.
It's not even remotely viable.

Whilst a hard drive will backup the data in a fraction of the time for a fraction of the cost.

When blank cd's and dvd's came out first, sure they were pricey, but the price was still reasonable especially in comparison to alternative backup methods. The price fell due to many people using using them.. I cant see this happening with blu-ray media soon, as why would anyone want to use such a slow and expensive system when faster cheaper methods are available.

The only thing that could be in bd-r's favour is the long term life of the disc.. which is yet unknown.. They are using non organic dies, so maybe they don't fail (unlike cd's/dvd's) over time when kept in safe archive conditions.
Posted by DaveBG - Mon 09 Feb 2009 10:55
I give thumbs up for this drive. Although there is still not 8x media available the drive seems solid. I had one external burner from them and it was flawless. :bowdown:

BTW is there 6x media available at bargain prices?