In official circles, Pioneer Electronics’ BDC-2202 ($199) is known as a “BD Combo Drive.” To the rest of the world, it’s an internal computer device that reads Blu-ray Discs (BDs), DVDs, and CDs, as well as writes DVDs and CDs. Offered as a retail kit, the BDC-2202 is available with either a black or beige front bezel and comes with a collection of simple software including Corel’s Ulead VideoStudio 11 SE, WinDVD 8 LE and Burn.Now SE. The drive employs a Serial ATA (SATA) interface so it’s a snap to connect, although the package doesn’t include data, power, and CD audio cables.
Working with DVDs and CDs with the drive shouldn’t be a problem for most PCs. However, playing commercial Blu-ray Disc (BD) movies requires not only significant computing horsepower but Windows Vista to boot (no XP). Specifically, Pioneer insists on at least a Pentium Dual Core or Athlon X2 with 1GB RAM, a 200MB hard drive, an NVIDIA PureVideo HD-compliant graphics card or ATI Radeon HD 2500/2600 (256MB RAM) and an HDCP-compliant digital or D-Sub VGA analog display. Internet access is also necessary so WinDVD can periodically renew its AACS key (used to copy-protect commercial movies). For this evaluation I used Vista Ultimate 32-bit edition, 1GB RAM, and an ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro (Catalyst version 8.1).
According to Pioneer’s specifications, the BDC-2202 writes CD-R and CD-RW (24x ZCLV), DVD±R (12x ZCLV), DVD±R DL (4x CLV), DVD±RW (6x ZCLV), and DVD-RAM (5x ZCLV). It promises an even wider reading assortment that includes BD-ROM/R/RE SL (5x CAV), BD-ROM/R/RE DL (2x CLV), DVD-ROM/±R SL (12x CAV), DVD-ROM/±R DL (8x CAV), DVD±RW (8x CAV), DVD-RAM (5x ZCLV), CD-ROM/R (32x CAV), and CD-RW (24x CAV).
Benchmark testing with Nero’s CD-DVD Speed illustrates that the BDC-2202 is indeed a capable, albeit not industry leading, performer with liberal format compatibility (see chart, below). For fun, I even tried out a couple of HD DVD-ROM/DVD-ROM Twin discs (Freedom 1 and 2 from Bandai Visual) and had no problem reading the DVD portion of each. On the burning side, I was impressed by the unit’s extensive support of discs produced by a range of manufacturers (atypical for Pioneer recorders). Specifically, full 12x speed was supported for fourteen out of the fourteen manufacturers of 16x-rated DVD-Rs I tested and seven out of the nine DVD+Rs.
The included copy of Corel’s WinDVD 8 LE is a no-nonsense BD and DVD video software player. For the technical crowd, it’s compatible with the BD-ROM AV (HDMV, BD-J) application format and conforms to first generation BD-Video grace period specifications (see The Authoritative Blu-ray Disc (BD) FAQ). In simpler terms, it promises the high-definition magnificence of Blu-ray but lacks its latest bells and whistles.
To get a feel for WinDVD, I tried out a handful of commercial BD movies encoded in MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC and VC-1 published on both single and dual-layer discs. After selecting the correct region (oddly, the drive’s disc tray must be open to do so) my viewing experience proved agreeable but mixed. Many titles in my collection, including Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnemise (Bandai Visual), Casino Royale (Sony), Superman Returns (Warner), Rocky Balboa (Sony), Ultraviolet (Sony), and Ratatouille (Disney/Pixar), played without incident or complaint. Others, however, such as Sunshine (Fox) and the Liar’s Dice game in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (Disney/Buena Vista) faltered and either crashed WinDVD or locked-up my system entirely.
I’m told that a fix-it patch is in the works but home theater PC (HTPC) enthusiasts will be better off investing in a full-blown software player. For example, I wasn’t disappointed when I took CyberLink’s latest version of PowerDVD Ultra ($99.95 MSRP) for a spin. It resolved my Liar’s Dice difficulties, basked in Sunshine and, thanks to its new-fangled Final Standard Profile functions, even gave me access to the movie’s (gimmicky) picture-in-picture commentaries. Be aware, however, that compatibility is still a work in progress so be prepared for issues to crop up as new movies are released.
All in all, the BDC-2202 is a solid unit offering a blend of capabilities and formats that should cover most day-to-day business, videography, personal and home theater PC (HTPC) situations. The unit performs well, is a conservative way of getting your feet wet playing Blu-ray movies and should appeal to existing BD recorder owners craving a companion drive for disc to disc work or those wishing to publish or restore large data sets or backups within an office.
Review originally appeared on EMediaLive, February 15, 2008.