Buffalo's SuperSpeed USB 12x Blu-ray Burner!

Two technologies that were meant to come together finally have, Blu-ray and USB 3.0, in Buffalo's BR-X1216U3. This self-powered external burner (look here for bus-powered Blu-ray) can burn a 25GB disc in 11 minutes at 12x, 50% faster than other offerings. Buffalo suggests using at least 6x media which is all that's available currently. Not all Blu-ray discs may be able to burn at this rate, but the faster discs are definitely worth it if your time is valuable. This could save you up to 30 minutes over 2x speed BD-R burning. The Buffalo player also comes with upscaling software for your standard-def. DVDs. With this software you can turn your SD videos into high definition compatible Blu-ray discs. This won't result in much better quality, but it will allow you the option to phase out your old stuff onto Blu-ray if that's something you need to do.

Buffalo's BR-X1216U3 still works with USB 2.0, but you just won't get the same speed boost. 7x is the maximum you can expect with the previous, more pedestrian standard. To help, it has support for Buffalo's TurboUSB drivers which can give you up to 15% more speed. They also include CyberLink's Power2Go software for burning and computer backups with optional encryption. If/when it makes it outside of Japan, you can expect it to run about $450.