Sony Optiarc rolls out 12x Blu-ray disc rewritable drives this month

Sony Optiarc has rolled out its next-generation line of half-height internal Blu-ray disc rewritable drives.

The BD-5300S, BWU-500S and BWU-500S can all write single BD-R media at up to 12X and dual-layer BD-R media at up to 8X speeds. Sony's example for us is that any one of these drives can record a full 25GB disc in about 10 minutes. Snap.

Each member of the Blu-ray writer trio features a standard 5.25-inch form-factor and a SATA interface. The BWU-500S stands apart as it comes with CyberLink's Media Suite 8 software for working on and viewing HD content and playback of 3D Blu-ray movies. Expected to roll out after the other two drives (at an unknown date), the BWU-500S also totes along one 25GB Sony BD-R blank disc in the box to get you started.

The BWU-500S and the BD-5300S drives will become available this month, but Sony is keeping mum on pricing.