- CNET Editors' Rating 6.3/10 Good Editorial policies >>
The good: Supports all optical media types except HD DVD; works with PC and Mac; can burn 8cm or 12cm discs.
The bad: Very expensive; stingy phone support.
The bottom line: The LaCie d2 Blu-ray burner offers good performance speeds, but it's still prohibitively expensive. Home users should wait for Blu-ray burners to drop in price and improve in performance.
Specs: CD / DVD type: BD-RE; CD / DVD read speed: 32x (CD) / 8x (DVD) / 2x (BD); CD / DVD write speed: 24x (CD) / 8x (DVD?R) / 4x (DVD?R DL) / 2x (BD-R) / 2x (BD-R DL) See full specs >>
Price range: $628.73 - $856.25
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 07/24/2007
| Drive type | External Blu-ray multidrive |
| Supported media | BD-ROM; BR-RE (25GB and 50GB); BD-R (25GB and 50GB); DVD-ROM; DVD-Video; DV+/-R DL; DVD+/-R; DVD+/-RW; CD-R; CD-RW; CD-DA; CD-ROM; Video CD, Photo CD, CD Text, CD Extra |
| Maximum write speeds | 2X BD-R; 2X BD-RE; 4X DVD+/-R DL; 8X DVD+/-R; 8X DVD+RW; 6X DVD-RW; 32X CD-R; 24X CD-RW |
| Buffer memory | 8MB |
| Dimensions (WDH) | 5.75x7.48x1.63 inches |
| Notable design features | None |
| Interface | 1x USB 2.0 port; 2x FireWire 400 ports (6-pin IEEE 1394a) |
| Supported operating systems | Windows XP SP2 or Mac OS 10.3.9 or higher |
| System requirements | Windows: Pentium 4 Dual Core 3GHZ processor or higher; Mac: PowerPC G4 or Mac Intel processor or higher; minimum 512MB RAM |
| HD video playback | Nvidia 7600GT, ATI X1600 series GPU with latest driver; minimum 1,280x1,024 monitor resolution. Playing protected BD movies in HD through a digital DVI or HDMI interface requires an HDCP GPU and HDCP-ready display |
| Software included | Total media Extreme (Windows); Toast 7.1.1 Titanium |
| Any additional features | Supports 8cm or 12cm discs |
| Service and support | One-year warranty; toll-based phone support available weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT; LaCie's Web site includes FAQs, document downloads, and e-mail support. |
In our CNET Labs' tests, the LaCie d2 Blu-ray drive performed on a par with other Blu-ray drives we've tested. Technically speaking, though, the d2 had the edge based on its higher bandwidth connection. For our tests, we used the FireWire 400 port. Ripping an 8.47GB commercial DVD movie took 23 minutes and 12 seconds. Burning that image to a DVD+R DL took 20 minutes and 50 seconds. A 4.48GB mixed data file took 10 minutes and 23 seconds to burn to DVD. It took the drive 4 minutes and 13 seconds to rip a 746MB commercial CD. Burning the CD image to a CD-R took 4 minutes and 37 seconds. When it came to HD content, the LaCie d2 essentially matched the Sony BWU-100A internal drive, though the d2 won by a very slight margin. Burning a BD-R with 23GB of mixed data files took 1 hour, 39 minutes, and 46 seconds, where the BWU-100A took 1 hour, 40 minutes, and 11 seconds. Ripping that same file took the LaCie drive 4 hours, 56 minutes, and 5 seconds; the BWU-100A took 5 hours, 2 minutes, and 22 seconds.
- See more CNET content tagged:
- LaCie,
- Blu-ray drive,
- CD-R,
- minute,
- Blu-ray
User opinions
Rating from 2 users
WRITE YOUR OWN REVIEW How would you rate this product?
-
10/10 Perfect June 18, 2008
"Excellent product!" Read more >>
-
5/10 Average December 11, 2007
"If it breaks, you're stuck with it" Read more >>
-
2/10 Terrible July 25, 2007
"Beware LaCie's mindbogglingly bad support" Read more >>
- WRITE YOUR OWN REVIEWSee all 2 user opinions >>
Where to buy
| Store | CNET Certified | In stock | Shipping | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
 |
Yes | Free | $629.99 |
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Yes | $12.92 | $628.73 |
|
 |
No | Free | $729.99 |
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Next Warehouse
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Not yet rated
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No | Free | $856.25 |
See LaCie d2 External Blu-ray burner (2X BD-R/E) prices from 4 stores.
Unlimited long distance $24.99/mo
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