Pioneer Black 8X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 5X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA 8X Blu-Ray DVD Burner w/ Software BDR-203BKS

Pros: burns ok / works fine / has a nice blu ray suite to come with

Cons: make sure you know your pc capability first / I bought and can burn but cannot play / processor too incompetent

Pros: This review isn't reflecting any issues with NewEgg. They get 5 stars in my book!!

Cons: The drive failed with less than 200hrs of use. I emailed pioneer CS this:
Inquiry:Am trying to use a BDR-203 BluRay drive in AHCI mode with my PC. The drive will only play Blu-Rays intermittently and sometimes not at all. When the system board bios is set for IDE it plays fine but I need to use it in AHCI for optimal performance of the OS system(Win7) SSD drive.
HELP???

Here's their reply after 2 weeks of waiting:
Thank you for contacting Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.

Our spec doesn't state that it supports or doesn't support AHCI mode. The drive should work in AHCI mode, but when changing modes from IDE to AHCI, you need to reinstall the OS afterwards. If not, it wont work properly.

Thank You,

Luana
Customer Service Representative

I had already done a clean install with ACHI enabled because I had just bought the SSD!

Other Thoughts: Seems as though Pioneer Quality has gone down hill rapidly. I've since purchased LG drives and haven't had any problems. Plus LG drives cost about 1/2 of what compare-able Pioneers do.

Pros: Burned BluRay discs without a problem for about 8 months

Cons: After 8 months, support on reading discs was spotty, and their support center NEVER responds to EMails.

Other Thoughts: Find another brand if you're considering this drive used or own one from Newegg, beware that it WILL fail on you sooner than you want.

Pros: Since my previous review on 9/2/2009, I can definitely say that this is THE Blu-Ray burner to buy, hands down. I have since burned 30 decrypted Blu-Ray .iso movies, (well on my way to 50 now) on both Verbatim and TDK BD-R (25G) and BD-R DL (50G) discs @ 8x speed (despite the both brands of media listed @4x) without a single coaster! And this was with ImgBurn a free program, no less... This burnder has proven to be an awesome purchase and I have yet to have a single problem with it. And, while cost is an issue, I can certainly recommend that you take the plunge and buy this now!

Cons: Obviously, price.

Pros: makes a great laser pointer.

Cons: Out of stock because everyone is making laser pointers out of the blu-ray diode inside. Yes Pioneer they are out of stock here because we are ripping them apart.

Other Thoughts: be nice if i could get one.

Pros: Fast, reliable, good looking, burns blu-ray...

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: This burner is a little expensive, but all blu-ray burners are nowadays... It works like a charm...no complaints! Just make sure you are not using XP with blu-ray... I found that out the hard way!

Pros: Best on the market! Much better than my Light Off!

Burns @ 8X!
Reads @ 8X!

Cons: Still costs too much

Other Thoughts: The primary reason for this review is so that those of you who like to "back up" their home movies should look no further! Unlike those other guys, this drive will rip movies at 8X! That's twice as fast in most cases.

Pair this with a nice combo drive and you're set!

Pros: Well-built, great performing drive. It burns Memorex 4X discs at 8x. I was suprised how little time it actually takes to burn 25GB. It seems like it takes just a few more minutes than burning a 4GB DVD. FYI I am running Windows 7 x64 Ultimate. I've burned about 10 discs so far, all burned and verified without error. I'm glad I purchased this drive. Another plus is that this drive is nearly silent. Not a big deal, but it's a nice plus.

Cons: None

Pros: x 8 BD-RE other than that nothing

Cons: Had two of these. Sent one in got a replacement drive and had to beg them (lucky I spent a lot of money here I think) to refund my money for this expensive JUNK. There is nothing good about this drive to say. If you need a FRISBEE maker this is your drive. It wouldn't even burn a Reg DVD yet alone a BluRay. The drive is a major FAIL

It freezes up your computer. I have a Plextor drive to I just bought from NewEgg and it is a good drive. Never does like this drive. I have had other Pioneer drives before as well and don't ask me why I even considered this drive as it truly is a poor design. I mean NewEgg right off the bat tell you of a firmware update that needs to be done on this unit. FAIL!
It reads the drive ok and runs good as a Read drive. But why spend 200 bucks on a 10 dollar thing to do. FAIL FAIL FAIL. Horrible drive. Do research on this drive before even considering it. Most likely NewEgg will see my Review and it will never see the light of day.

Other Thoughts: FAIL FAIL FAIL! Horrible drive. Pioneer could not make a drive to save their behind. This drive is FAIL! Please do yourself a favor and by a different drive. NewEgg please have some guts and let this be shown. I have given you plenty of good reviews for good items but this drive is total JUNK. Every drive I ever had from Pioneer has been JUNK! Pioneer stick with Stereo's huh!

Pros: Thus far has worked perfectly for burning and playing blue ray movies.

Cons: Doesn't come with a SATA cable or mounting screws. So if you don't have an extra cable or screws lying around, buy those too.

Other Thoughts: There is currently no free or open source blu-ray software, so if you do not have any buy that too or find a more creative way of getting it.