Fujitsu is still putting Blu-ray drives in laptops - and people in Japan still want them

[Daniel Sims]

WTF?! PC users rarely rely on optical media anymore, and when they do, it's usually through an external USB drive – particularly on laptops. Most notebook manufacturers phased out built-in disc trays years ago, but Fujitsu is keeping the technology alive with a new model that offers an optional Blu-ray drive.

Fujitsu's FMV Note A WA3-K3 laptop is now available in Japan, starting at ¥124,800 (approximately $800 USD). All configurations include an internal optical drive, while the top-tier model – priced about ¥10,000 ($70) higher – upgrades it to a Blu-ray drive.

While most movies and software have long gone digital in Western markets, optical media remains surprisingly resilient in Japan. The recent end of official Windows 10 support underscored this trend, revealing that many users still prefer physical discs for software installation and archiving.

Last week, shops in Akihabara reported running out of PC Blu-ray drives and even selling large numbers of DVD drives. Despite the multiple digital options for acquiring Windows 11, many Japanese users still chose to upgrade using physical discs.

The WA3-K3 appears tailored for these users. It remains unclear whether the laptop's drive supports 100GB BDXL discs or only standard Blu-rays, but Fujitsu markets the device as ideal for storage or movie playback.

To support streaming and Blu-ray viewing, the laptop ships with a media remote that includes a trackpad for easy PC navigation. Customers who prefer to use the Blu-ray player on a larger screen can also add an external 1080p monitor ranging from 21 to 27 inches.

Outside of its unique features, the WA3-K3 offers fairly standard – if slightly mature – system specifications. The 16-inch laptop includes a 1,920 x 1,200 WUXGA LCD panel and a full keyboard with 18.4mm key travel and approximately 2.5mm key pitch.

It features a webcam with Windows Hello facial recognition and a privacy shutter. Connectivity options include two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, an SD card slot, Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi 7, and an HDMI port of an unspecified version.

Processor configurations include Intel Raptor Lake-U Core i3, i5, and i7 chips with Iris Xe graphics, or AMD Ryzen 7 7000 APUs. While the WA3-K3 lacks a dedicated GPU, its iGPU performance is likely comparable to that of more affordable Windows handheld PCs. Storage options range from 256GB to 2TB, and memory can be configured between 8GB and 64GB.

Customers can also opt for a Microsoft 365 subscription, a standalone Office 2024 license, or an external keyboard.

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Fujitsu is still putting Blu-ray drives in laptops – and people in Japan still want them

 

[The Talking Tech]

People would stupidity be against optical drives if the system already comes with it, that's as nonsensical as complaining about extra fruit on a fruit cake.

 

[Alfonso Maruccia]

Fujitsu is damn right. Optical drives are awesome for one thousand and more reasons. I specifically chose the case of my current gaming PC so that it could accomodate an internal Blu-ray burner. To this day, I'm enjoying the setup very, very much.

I absolutely loathe studios that sell "collector's editions" of their games without providing the proper on-disc game content with it.

 

[GeoffreyA]

Excellent, Fujitsu. Keep it up.

 

[VariableSpike]

I mean, this is the country where the government had to proudly announce that they are stopping the use of floppy drives, they still use fax machines and have website that look like they are from 2010, so its not exactly like they embrace modernity in business over there (as the saying always is with Japan "stuck in the 2000s since the 1980s", some parts seem modern and innovative, but there is also tons of old equipment and inefficiency since the method of "well it worked fine 20 years ago so it must still be good to use now" is very much in place in a lot of places (not all, but its certainly present)

 

[VariableSpike]

Fujitsu is damn right. Optical drives are awesome for one thousand and more reasons. I specifically chose the case of my current gaming PC so that it could accomodate an internal Blu-ray burner. To this day, I'm enjoying the setup very, very much.

I absolutely loathe studios that sell "collector's editions" of their games without providing the proper on-disc game content with it.

Fujitsu is damn right. Optical drives are awesome for one thousand and more reasons. I specifically chose the case of my current gaming PC so that it could accomodate an internal Blu-ray burner. To this day, I'm enjoying the setup very, very much.

I absolutely loathe studios that sell "collector's editions" of their games without providing the proper on-disc game content with it.

Fujitsu is damn right. Optical drives are awesome for one thousand and more reasons. I specifically chose the case of my current gaming PC so that it could accomodate an internal Blu-ray burner. To this day, I'm enjoying the setup very, very much.

I absolutely loathe studios that sell "collector's editions" of their games without providing the proper on-disc game content with it.

I think that is a problem attributed to poor internet connection though and publishers going crazy with game sizes becsuse they can't be bothered (or don't have time from investor presssure) to optimise and compress, the moment I got full fibre and gigabit available, game downloads went from "this is going to take all day" to "oh, this will only take an hour" which diminished that benefit

 

[DrSuess]

I would be happy with a Blu-ray drive, I choose the last computer case I bought because it still had a optical drive slot. I find it cumbersome to go a get a usb optical drive and connected it up.

It is still a really great persistent backup system for really important documents, photos etc. that one intends to keep for a long time.

 

[Jyrkz]

Next buy is going to be Fujitsu for the win

 

[Squid Surprise]

“Customers can also opt for a Microsoft 365 subscription, a standalone Office 2024 license, or an external keyboard.”

I’m assuming this doesn’t actually mean that I can either choose Office OR an external keyboard?

Perhaps reword that last sentence?

 

[yRaz]

I have USB Blu-ray drive for archiving stuff that is like to have an extra copy of aside from on my NAS.

 

[p51d007]

I mean, this is the country where the government had to proudly announce that they are stopping the use of floppy drives, they still use fax machines

Oh don't get me started on fax...thanks to lawyers, courts, hospital types it still goes.
I've been in the copier/printer/fax/computer type side of tech since 81. Fax was just becoming a "big thing" back then. Most were a WHOPPING 4800-9600bps!!! Then, they went to 14.4k and up to a
REALLY screaming 33.6k!
Then everything started going to VoIp and we had to figure out a way to make them work with the ATA boxes that didn't have enough buffer to handle the packets. Slowed them down, disabled a bunch of things to make them work.
If I had known how much I had to learn about the stupid phone systems, to understand why these stupid things didn't work, I would have said nope, let someone figure them out.
Late 1880's technology in the 21st century!

 

[ferrellsl]

What's wrong with giving your customer base what it wants? That's what smart businesses do to maximize profits.

 

[ZedRM]

Not just people in Japan want these...

Fujitsu is damn right. Optical drives are awesome for one thousand and more reasons. I specifically chose the case of my current gaming PC so that it could accommodate an internal Blu-ray burner. To this day, I'm enjoying the setup very, very much.

I absolutely loathe studios that sell "collector's editions" of their games without providing the proper on-disc game content with it.

Excellent points!

 

[amghwk]

A Fujitsu laptop with Blu-ray drive and Ryzen 9 AI Max+ Pro 395 would be a killer machine for me right now.

 

[candle86]

I think that is a problem attributed to poor internet connection though and publishers going crazy with game sizes becsuse they can't be bothered (or don't have time from investor presssure) to optimise and compress, the moment I got full fibre and gigabit available, game downloads went from "this is going to take all day" to "oh, this will only take an hour" which diminished that benefit

You know, when I lost certain things I owned on streaming—things I had bought—because the platform lost the license, I learned my lesson. I won’t buy a digital movie again. I buy Blu-rays or DVDs. If they’re not available on Blu-ray, I get them from Amazon, the local pawn shop, or a place called Half Price Books.

I buy TV shows, movies, documentaries—because they’ve already burned me once. I won’t be burned again.

As for games, frankly, I wish they were back on disc. I wish we could get rid of these stupid little online stores like Steam, EA, or Ruby. I know they won’t drop the requirement, but it also means that in the future, games won’t run on whatever the latest version of Windows is, because they always retire support for older operating systems. I’ve got games on Steam that still require Games for Windows Live. Guess what? They can’t be launched anymore, because Games for Windows Live doesn’t run on modern systems. I can’t play those games now.

But you keep going with “it’s just people have slow internet,” and you’re free to think that.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I still buy my media on blu ray or DVD. "You will own nothing and be happy" my arse.

I wont have my media censored by harpies offended at a joke from 20 years ago, or episodes removed because of "sensitivities". I wont lose my purchases because some contract expired or service merged with another. I only buy full priced games from GoG where I get a DRM free installer I can back up at will.

And if I cant buy it, it gets "found" in warez. I'm waiting for the day that the only way you can enjoy classic Tom and Jerry is via illegal means.

A Fujitsu laptop with Blu-ray drive and Ryzen 9 AI Max+ Pro 395 would be a killer machine for me right now.

Let's add a 17.3" screen while we're at it. I miss big boi laptops. These new 13" netbooks just dont cut it when you use them for an extended time period.

My next laptop is going to be a used Dell Precision for this very reason.

 

[Jarenien]

Disc drives are pointless. Anything can be put on a much faster and reliable flash drive if needed.

****And before you all post about those with crappy internet, the early 00's called and they want their sheet Internet speeds back.

 

[Thrackerzod]

Disc drives are pointless. Anything can be put on a much faster and reliable flash drive if needed.

Apparently being able to watch my collection of movies on DVD and Blu-Ray is pointless.

 

[candle86]

Disc drives are pointless. Anything can be put on a much faster and reliable flash drive if needed.

****And before you all post about those with crappy internet, the early 00's called and they want their sheet Internet speeds back.

Oh I'm sorry crappy internet still a thing in large parts of the world. As far as no need for it last time I checked my Blu-ray player plays my Blu-ray discs on the TV but it doesn't play flash drives. No granted I've ripped my discs to my Plex server but the movies only come in one format. In quite frankly we would be buying rather expensive thumb drives per movie I don't know about everybody else but I tend to keep my blu-rays in raw MKV format and just have large storage for it so my average movie size is 32 GB. Some of my larger ones are well north of 50.

 

[m3diapers]

Good for them. it's disgusting strategy to make people my more digital/stream media. Most consumers can’t really tell the difference in streaming audio quality. My new car came with a SiriusXM subscription that recently expired, so I tried Spotify — and immediately noticed the drop in quality. To make matters worse, new cars don’t even come with optical drives anymore.

 

[RaXelliX]

Personally I never liked optical media. It's bulky and fragile. Plus it's capacity has always been low along with slow r/w speed.

Once USB became fast, compact and high capacity I ditched optical and have never looked back.
I suppose at this point someone will point out how USB is not meant for long terms storage.
Yet instances of USB being unreadable are miniscule compared to optical not being readable with bit rot due to disk aging.