Other World Computing has just let loose the Mercury Pro 12X Blu-Ray+SuperDrive, an external Blu-Ray writer for PCs and Macs that feature four connectivity options, the classic USB 2.0, both FireWire 400 and 800, plus the speedy eSATA.

The new optical drive makes use of Pioneer's BDR-205, has 8MB of buffer, and delivers write speeds of up to 12x for BD-R, 2x for BD-RE, 16x for DVD-R/+R, 8x for DVD-R/+R DL and DVD+RW, 6x for DVD-RW, 5x for DVD-RAM, 40x for CD-R and 24x for CD-RW.

OWC's Mercury Pro 12x burner is backed by a one-year warranty and can be purchased for $350 (bundled with two 25GB 4x BD-R discs).