When it comes to choosing an optical drive sometimes it can be hard. A lot of people just choose the cheapest drive, but that is not always the best route. Today we will be looking at a new combo drive from ASUS that allows for Blu-ray playback and DVD/CD burning. It also has some really cool features like being able to encrypt your burnt discs with 128-bit encryption, True Theater High Definition which boosts DVD playback quality and Optimal Tuning Strategy which will perform a test before really burning a disc to generate an optimal burning strategy for the best burning quality. Let’s see if the BC-08B1ST Blu-ray Combo Drive is right for you.
Special thanks to ASUS for providing us with the BC-08B1ST Blu-ray Combo Drive to review.
Specifications
| Write Speed | DVD-R： 16X,12X,8X,6X,4X DVD-RW： 6X,4X,2.4X DVD+R： 16X,12X,8X,6X,4X DVD+RW： 8X,6X,4X,2.4X DVD+R(DL)： 8X,6X,4X,2.4X DVD-R (DL)： 8X,6X,4X CD-R： 48X,40X,32X,24X,16X CD-RW： 32X,24X,16X,10X,4X DVD-RAM： 12X,10x,8x,6x,5X,3X,2X |
| Read Speed | BD-ROM/R/RE: 8 X max. DVD-ROM (Single): 16 X max. DVD-ROM (Dual): 12 X max. DVD-RAM: 12 X max. CD-ROM: 48 X max. |
| Access time | BD: 250 MS DVD: 150 MS CD: 150 MS |
| Writing Mode | DVD-R & DVD-R(DL)： DAO(Disc-At-Once)/Incremental Recording (Multi-Border Recording) DVD-RW & DVD-RW (DL)： DAO(Disc-At-Once)/Incremental Recording (Multi-Border Recording)/Sequential Recording (Multi-Session Recording) DVD+R & DVD+R (DL)： Incremental Recording (Multi-Border Recording) DVD+RW & DVD+RW (DL)： Random Recording |
| O/S Compatibility | Windows 2000 XP compatible Vista compatible |
| Interface | SATA |
| Data Buffer | 2 MB |
| Disc Formats | Write: DVD+/-RW,DVD+/-R,CD-R,CD-RW Read: BD-ROM,BD-R,BD-RE,DVD-ROM,DVD+/-RW,DVD+/-R |
| Disc Diameters | 12cm/8cm |
| MTBF | 60000 Power On Hours Operating Duty Cycle (Read) 20 % POH Operating Duty Cycle (Write) 2 % POH |
| Mounting Orientation | Vertical and Horizontal （ +5 ° ~ -5 °） |
| Dimension(WxHxD) | 41.3x146x185 mm (W x D x H) |
| Weight | 650 g |
| Power Requirements | DC+5V ±5%,DC+12V ±10 % |
| Temperature | Operating: 5℃ to 50℃ Storage: -40℃ to 65℃ |
Packaging
The BC-08B1ST comes in a very attractive retail package. On the front there is a picture of the drive and on the back there is an overview of the features.
Opening up the box we can see that everything inside is nicely packaged and protected. Getting everything out we have the BC-08B1ST drive, ASUS BD Suite software and mounting screws.
