The Plextor PL-LB950UE Blu-ray burner has been available to Europeans for a few months, but now it’s coming to the US for $239.99. It comes in your choice of either USB 3.0 or eSATA connectivity, has a 12x write speed, which is twice as quick as the previous version and the ability to burn up to 50GB of data on a dual-layer disc.

The drive also handles 3D playback and has a low vibration system to make sure that it runs quieter and it is LightScribe enabled.

Plextor has a brand new external Blu-ray writer that feels the need for speed. It’s the PX-LB950UE. It offers a 12x write speed for single-layer Blu-ray media and 8x for double layer. Plextor has also included USB 3.0 and eSATA connectivity.

In-device labeling technology will help you produce professional-looking discs, while also offering burn accuracy, quality and stability thanks to a low vibration system and 8MB buffer. It can record up to 50GB of data to one double-layer disc at an 8x write speed. It will hit Europe later this month for around GBP179 (US$286).

If your laptop has both the USB port and the power, Plextor has a new device to bring Blu-Ray to your machine. The new PX-B120U is a USB-powered BD-ROM drive, which plays Blu-ray movies and even goes a step further with the ability to burn DVDs and CDs.

Those features are nothing special. It’s the ability to function entirely from USB power that we like. The device can also be converted into a living room player when connected to the forthcoming PlexMedia. At just $99.99 it is very tempting.

Plextor has been in the optical drive market for years now. The company is branching out and has announced a pair of new SSDs that are available. The SSDs are the 64GB PX-64M1S and the 128GB PX-128M1S.

Both of the drives use non-volatile NAND flash memory and Marvell controller chipsets. The drives are both 2.5″ form factor units and use the SATA II interface. Plextor ships the SSDs with Acronis True Image software for backup and recovery.

Optical drives are changing with constantly evolving speeds and features. Blu-ray drives for PCs are coming down in price and gaining features as well. One of the things that is important to computer users, especially those using notebooks is power consumption. Plextor has announced a new line of optical drives with internal and external USB models that uses new control software giving control over power use and more.

The line of drives includes the PX-601U, PX-B310SA, PX-B310U, PX-850SA, and PX-850A. The 610U is a small external DVD super multi drive that draws all of its power from the USB port. The B310SA is an internal SATA Blu-ray combo drive that reads Blu-ray discs and burns CD/DVD media. The B310U is the USB external version of the drive.