ASUS BC-1205PT SATA Blu-ray Disc Optical Drive
Benchmark Reviews have posted their review of the ASUS BC-1205PT SATA Blu-ray Disc Optical Drive “What’s Blu-ray, if not a shining star? It seems like anything wearing the BD badge these days just seems to look better. But maybe it’s just me, and my desire to touch all new technologies. Either way, ASUS has done a good job of reining in my attention and keeping the carrot just within my reach. The retail package tells the consumer everything they would want to know about this product, and allows them to compare it side by side to other products which might be on the shelf.
Optical drives have very little opportunity to make a lasting impression. Sure, the ASUS BC-1205PT wears a Blu-ray Disc badge that stands out across the room but other than that the appearance is not different than every other drive with a black bezel. I still like my idea of having a glowing blue logo, just for added ‘wow’ factor, but I think that ASUS has done as much as they realistically could to make this an appealing product.
You might think that all optical drives are constructed the same, but you would be wrong. As a technician, I find myself replacing more optical drives then almost every other component (second only to the power supply unit). Although the drive tray action uses a rubber-band on pulley assembly instead of gears (sacrificing long-term longevity for noise reduction), the remainder of the BC-1205PT is solid… almost literally. This SATA optical drive seems to have a bit of heft to it, since it felt heavier than standard DVD-burners.
With the ability to read three different generations of disc media (four counting mini-discs), the BC-1205PT matches legacy CD read and write functions with the current standard of DVD single and dual-layer functionality, and tops it all off with a touch of Blu-ray Disc for the future. CD and DVD performance is notably slower than the average SATA optical drive, but this combo-drive has to make some sacrifices for housing a blue laser for BD read capabilities.”