Virtually all media is now accessible digitally over the Internet, lessening our reliance on physical discs to the point that most new computer cases no longer accommodate 5.25-inch external drives. Discs aren’t gone entirely, however, and Pioneer’s latest offering caters to the last remaining holdouts.
The new Pioneer BDR-213JBK is a versatile optical drive that’s compatible with a range of Blu-ray, DVD and CD formats and appears to have a nice brushed finish (at least on the tray). Highlights include up to 16x write speeds on BD-R single-layer discs, 14x on dual-layer BD-R discs and 6x on M-DISC (BD) three-layer discs. Read speeds, meanwhile, top out at 48x for regular CDs and up to 12x for single-layer Blu-ray discs. Pioneer probably could have pushed read speeds even higher, but there’s no reason to risk it. Also see: What happens if a CD spins too fast? The Pioneer BDR-213JBK is already on sale in Japan according to Tom’s Hardware for the US equivalent of around $150. It’s probably not going to appeal to most, but Blu-ray aficionados, data archivists, HTPC builders, or retro gamers might want to have a look. Image credit: Mati Mango
