Portable users and most noticeably, laptop users have requested a high-definition player that could upgrade their existing systems. Of course we all know that Blu-Ray seems to be (?) the future, so Sony-Nec Optiarc introduces to the market its first slimline Blu-ray Disc combo drive, the BC-5500A. This slim-line ODD supports BD playback at double (2x) speed as well as reading and writing of conventional DVD and CD media. Those few reasons should be enough to upgrade your notebook, giving that high-definition playback content can be "handled" from your system.

Taking a quick peek at the BC-5500A we can see that it burns DVD±R at up to 8x speed and DVD±RW/±DL at up to 4x speed. Optiarc doesn't forget to support DVD-RAM so you can burn them up to 5x speed and for traditional users, CD burning still is present with up to 16x speed. Below are the full specifications as found online.

- Specifications

Blu-ray	Read
	BD (SL/DL)	2X
DVD	Read
	DVD+R DVD-R	8X
	DVD+R DL DVD-R (DL)	6X
	DVD-RAM	5X
	DVD+RW DVD-RW	4X
	Write
	DVD+R DVD-R DVD+R DL DVD-R (DL) DVD+RW DVD-RW	4X
	DVD-RAM	5X
	DVD-RW	4X
CD	Read
	CD-R	24X
	CD-RW	16X
	Write
	CD-R	16X by CAV
	ReWrite
	CD-RW	10X

-The drive

The Optiarc BC-5500A follows the slim-line format, meaning it should fit in all currently sold notebooks. The front panel of the drive comes with all the essential logos/certifications showing its wide support for various optical media.

On the rear panel you can only see the notebook interface connector

At the top, the label was still empty, due to the fact that was an engineering sample:

The device operates with a typical 5V/2A power supply cord, essentially as the one that powers your floppy disc drive on your PC.

- Nero Info Tool

NeroInfo Tool gives as an overview of the drive's basic capabilities/specifications. Besides the supported disc formats, you can see that the drive is AACS-compliant, essential element of the Blu-ray disc support.

- DVD Info