New External Pioneer Blu-ray Disc Burners for PC & Mac Available now at Videoguys.com

Available to order at Videoguys.com or Call us at 800-323-2325

The Videoguys technicians just returned from the 2014 CES show in Vegas and had a great meeting with the folks at Pioneer up at their suite. Over the past year the Pioneer product line-up has grown and evolved. Now, in addition to internal Blu-ray drives, Pioneer also offers a complete line-up of external drives with different features and form factors.

While some of these drives ship with Cyberlink software, we don't recommend it for anything more than basic burning. If you are looking for a stand-alone Blu-ray Disc burning and authoring tool, we recommend Roxio Creator NXT (for Windows) and Roxio Toast (for Mac).

If you are looking for Blu-ray Disc authoring software to make movies that you can play on any Blu-ray Disc player; and a low cost, easy to use but powerful PC based video editing solution; we recommend Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum.

But, if your goal is to author professional quality, high-definition Blu-ray Disc movies, we recommend using the software integrated or bundled with our professional video editing products like:

• Adobe Creative Cloud for Teams or Adobe Premiere Pro with Encore
• Avid Media Composer with Avid DVD
• Apple FCP with Compressor
• Sony Vegas Pro with DVD Architect
• Grass Valley Edius Pro

Introducing the Next Generation Pioneer External Blu-ray Disc Burners

I am excited to introduce Pioneer’s new line-up of external burners. I've become a big fan of external Blu-ray burners. Like most of us today, I have many computers at my disposal: home & office, PCs & Macs, desktops & laptops; so the external options give me the flexibility to move the burner to the machine where I need it. This saves me a lot of money since I do not need a burner for every computer. It also allows me to invest in the best optical drive that I can even use on machines like my Mac Book Air which doesn't have a built-in drive at all. The Pioneer drives all support Blu-ray, DVDs & CDs so I can use it as the only optical drive with every machine I own and/or use.

All of the Pioneer external drives are USB 3.0 and can be bus powered. They are also all backwards compatible to support all DVD and CD media as well as being able to read and write to the latest Blu-ray Disc formats. These Pioneer burners can write up to 6x on BD-R and BD-R dual-layer (DL) media. One BD-R DL disc can hold 50GB of data, that's equal to 10 single layer DVDs! The drives can also write up to 4x on BD-R triple-layer (TL) and quad-layer (QL) media. While the 100GB Triple-Layer & 128GB Quad-Layer blank discs are still pretty expensive, we're offering a ten pack of 50GB (DL) media for $79.95, that's under $8 per blank!

Pioneer also includes powerful features found only in Pioneer Blu-ray burners such as PowerRead™, Auto Quiet mode, and PureRead2+. PowerRead can provide smoother movie playback when a disc has fingerprints or minor surface scratches. Auto Quiet mode intelligently adjusts the disc rotation speed to reduce noise (useful while watching movies or listening to music), and PureRead4 automatically adjusts the drive parameters to minimize sound glitches during music playback. Auto Quiet mode and PureRead can be configured as well as enabled and disabled with the Pioneer Drive Utility.

For each external burner Videoguys.com has also put together special Archiving bundles with DigiStor REWIND software for PC & Mac for archiving your digital videos, photos, multimedia, music & more!

The Archiving bundles combine Rewind with the Pioneer Blu-ray Disc burner to give you everything you need to back up your work, your memories, and your digital life to high-capacity, long-term reliable and secure Blu-ray discs. The Blu-ray Disc archive disc you create with Rewind contains a copy of the software you need to later restore to and from any combination of PC, Mac, desktop or laptop.

Below each of the Pioneer burners in the following chart you will also see the Archiving Bundle price. These Archiving bundles all include the Pioneer burner of your choice along with the Digistor REWIND archiving software for PC or Mac.

Pioneer Launches New Line of External Blu-ray Disc Burners! Available Now at Videoguys! The new series of Pioneer External drives all have the same great features including: USB 3.0 USB Bus Powered. No separate power supply needed! Pioneer technology including Auto Quiet, PowerRead, and PureRead 2+ features Up to 6x writing speed on BD-R and BD-R DL media Supports BD-XL, Blu-ray, DVD and CD media All models work great on either a PC or Mac CyberLink Media Suite software not included with all models - only where specified.		Videoguys' Archiving Bundles with Digistor REWIND Software REWIND™ is an easy to use data storage application to archive all your digital assets. The best backup solution is creating a permanent archive. REWIND™ allows you to easily and permanently back-up and restore all your photos, movies and digital assets. Archiving is the permanent storage of your files that you can’t live without. REWIND™ utlizes scratch resistant Blu-ray discs for long term reliable, secure storage. $39.99
Pioneer BDR-XD05W White Clam shell with no software $85.00	Pioneer BDR-XD05 Black clamshell with CyberLink Media Software Suite $95.00	Pioneer BDR-XS05 Slot Load with Picture Frame with CyberLink Media Software Suite $125.00	NEW! Pioneer BDR-XU03 Magnesium Slim Slot Load with no software $175.00
Pioneer BDR-XD05W White with Digistor Rewind $99.00	Pioneer BDR-XD05 Black with Digistor Rewind $109.00	Pioneer BDR-XS05 with Digistor Rewind $149.00	Pioneer BDR-XU03 with Digistor Rewind $189.00
BluStor Archival Discs 10 Pack of 50GB BD-R 6x Blu-ray discs featuring BluStor Archiving technology, make recording HD video and backing up large amounts of data possible. The Extremely Strong Coated Surfaces (ESCS) protects your data from scratches, fingerprints and other contaminates and is BluStor approved to exceed an archival life of more than 75 years! Guaranteed compatibility with all Pioneer BD and BDXL drives. $79.95		BluStor Disc 10 Pack with Digistor Rewind Archiving Software Already have a Blu-ray burner? Add the features of our archiving bundles with a special price on the Digistor Rewind software and a 10-pack of BD-R discs! $99.95

Which Pioneer Burner is right for you?

Pioneer BDR-XU03 Magnesium Slot Load

Pioneer's goal was to design the new BDR-XU03 to look and feel like a Mac Book, to make it attractive and possible for Mac users. WOW! Did they hit this one out of the park! This drive not only looks sleek and sexy like an Apple product, but it feels solid. It's a metal case, so it's going to be far more rugged and durable. While it may look like a Mac Book, that doesn't mean that Windows based road warriors can't take advantage of this super slim, super sleek, slot loading burner. The BDR-XU03 works equally well with PC or Mac.

Pioneer BDR-XS05 Slot Load with Picture Frame

We've been selling the BDR-XS05 for a while now and our customers really love it. It's also a slim slot loader, but it's a bit thicker then the new XU03. It delivers the same great features and specs. One of the cool things I like about the XS05 is that it can be used as a picture frame. You can take any photograph and mount it on the side of the unit. This makes it a great fit for your desk or home office.

I know of an event videographer who includes the XS05 as part of his Blu-ray package. He presents his clients with their Blu-ray movie and a drive and inserts a really nice picture of the bride and groom framed inside, with his logo tastefully photo-shopped into the corner.

Pioneer BDR-XD05 and BDR-XD05W Clamshell

The BDR-XD05 and XD05W are the same product, the only difference is the cover of the lid/faceplate. The original XD05 is black, the new XDO5W is white. The W stands for WHITE, not Windows. Both units work equally well with Windows and Mac machines. These are clamshell type of external optical drives. The lid/faceplate opens and you place the media inside. One advantage of this is that it can accept mini-discs as well as full sized. They are also under $100, which makes them a tremendous value.

Pioneer has also released their newest Internal Blu-ray Disc burners:

Pioneer BDR-2209 SATA Burner with software

Want the fastest Blu-ray burner currently in the market? Looking for Pioneer's most powerful and full featured drive? Don't want to settle for less than the best? Then the BDR-2209 is the perfect drive for you. The BDR-2209 internal SATA drive gives you up to 16x writing speed on BD-R media, and 14x on Dual Layer discs making it the fastest Bu-Ray burner available. You also get full BDXL format support including 128GB Quad Layer (QL) and 100GB Triple Layer (TL) Blu-ray Disc.

While other drive vendors may claim to support 16X, only Pioneer gives you features such as PowerRead™, Auto Quiet mode, PureRead2, and QuickPlay technology which insure the highest quality playback of music & Blu-ray movies.

Pioneer BDR-209DBK Low Cost SATA Burner

The 209DBK is our lowest cost Blu-ray solution. It is an internal SATA drive. It can burn up to 15x on BD-R (25GB) media and up to 14x on BD-R dual layer (50GB) media. It is a barebones, drive, without any additional software.

As you can see, Pioneer continues to be the world leader in Blu-ray burners. They deliver the highest level of quality, burn speeds and form factors. PC or MAc, Laptop or Desktop we've got a Blu-ray burner to fit your needs and budget.

Pioneer Blu-ray Burner FAQs

1. Can I see the files I burned to a BD-XL disc on any Blu-ray Disc Drive?
   BDXL discs can only be read on BDXL drives.
2. How can I change the PureRead and Auto Quiet Mode settings?
   PureRead and Auto Quiet Mode can be configured as well as enabled and disabled with the Pioneer BDR-xxx Drive Utility. This utility is available for download on the Pioneer website.
3. I started the Pioneer Drive Utility. Whay are all of the options grayed-out and it says "Target not found"?
   Ensure that the drive is connected and recognized by the computer before starting the utility. Ensure that the correct utility (BDR-xxx) is used. Connect the drive to the PC and restart the BDR-xxx utility.
4. When installing the Cyberlink software, why do i get the message "This software can only be installed with a Pioneer device. The setup will abort."?
   The BDR-xxx drive must be connected to the computer through a SATA cable when installing the CyberLink software. Please ensure the drive is connected and recognized by the operating system and then restart the software installation.
5. Can I use the BDR-xxx with other burning/playback/editing software?
   The BDR-xxx will work with newer software in a Windows 8, 7, Vista, or XP SP3 environment. In a limited way, it will even work with Mac OS X software. However, as with all current Blu-ray drives, it will not work with playback software that does not support Bus Encryption. Bus Encryption was implemented into playback software in 2011.
   
6. Does the Pioneer BDR-XU03/BDR-XS05/ BDR-XD05 work in a Mac environment?
   The drive can operate in a Mac OS X environment (Mac OS X 10.6/10.7/10.8). Use Finder to read and write to Blu-ray, DVD and CD media. Use DVD player to play back DVD movies. Blu-ray playback requires additional software (not included). The software provided is only for Windows OS.
7. Is connection by USB 2.0 fast enough to watch Blu-ray Disc movies?
   To watch Blu-ray titles, you need to read the Blu-ray Disc at 1x. To watch Blu-ray 3D titles, you need to read the disc at 2x. Connection by USB 2.0 can allow reading of Blu-ray Discs up to 6x, so USB 2.0 is more than enough in most operating environments. Of course with USB 3.0, its even more than enough.
8. Why can't I play Blu-ray titles or high-definition copy protected content, but I can play DVDs?
   From January 1, 2012, all playback software is required to disable analog outputs from the PC for high-definition copy protected content. For such content, an HDCP display (monitor/TV) is required and it must be connected to the PC using a digital DVI (DVI-D), HDMI, or DisplayPort cable. The best way to know if a display supports HDCP is if it has HDMI inputs. The next best way is to look at the display's user manual. When playing non-copy-protected high definition video (such as home videos), or copy protected DVDs, the computer’s analog outputs are enabled and non-HDCP display systems will work.
   Note: This limitation is not applicable to notebook computers with built-in displays, only when using external monitors.
9. Can I connect BDR-XU03/BDR-XS05/ BDR-XD05 to a PC through a USB hub?
   Answer: If the USB hub is powered (AC adapter), the BDR-XS05 may work, however the drive’s read and write speed may be reduced. The BDR-XS05 will not work if the USB hub is not powered.