Optical disc devotees continue to find safe ports and harbors in Japan, with the release of the new FMV Note A laptop line (machine translation). This laptop range fuses modern features like a Windows Hello webcam, USB-C power, a Copilot key, and up to an AMD Ryzen 7 7000-series APU, with what most would admit is a long past-its-prime storage and media format – a Blu-ray Disc drive. FMV is Fujitsu’s flagship Japanese consumer brand, and to get your hands on one of these (outside of the country), you will need to organize a Japan tech holiday or get creative with your payment and shipping.
Display |
16.0-inch WUXGA (1920 x 1200), 16:10 aspect ratio |
Processor |
AMD Ryzen 7 7735U (8 cores / 16 threads) |
Graphics |
Integrated AMD Radeon 680M |
Memory |
16GB RAM, max 64GB |
Storage |
512GB SSD |
Optical Drive |
BDXL-compatible Blu-ray Disc drive with Super Multi-Drive support |
Weight |
Approx. 1.9kg |
Connectivity |
Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, USB-C x2 (one is USB4), USB-A x2, HDMI, audio combi jack, SD card slot, Gigabit Ethernet |
Other |
Windows Hello Webcam with privacy shutter, up to 11.6 hours battery life, 108 keys, Wireless mouse bundled, stereo speakers, Black, Gold and Silver colors |
OS |
Windows 11 Home |
FMV also has two lower-spec Intel 13th Gen-powered FMV Note A models available in its catalog. The A75-K3 and A55-K3 share many features of the A77-K3, but notably don’t have Blu-ray drives. Instead, they have Super Multi-Drive (DVD±R DL (2-layer) burning) drives built in.
Japan won’t let go of optical discs
As alluded to in our intro, while the rest of the world phased out the design and manufacture of PCs with optical drives in the second half of the 2010s, Japan has held onto this type of removable media much more tightly.
Over the weekend, we reported on shops in Tokyo's bustling Akihabara area suddenly experiencing a meteoric rise in Windows 11 demand, alongside optical drives being snapped up. Consumer competition to purchase Blu-ray-capable optical drives was particularly fierce, according to local reports. The same Blu-ray capability could make this FMV Note A A77-K3 laptop model particularly attractive.
As for pre-built computers with built-in ODD hardware, we note that FMV isn’t alone in carrying the torch for optical drives into 2025. Our research shows that at least two other Japan-only laptops came out earlier in 2025: the Dynabook T series, based on 13th Gen Intel CPUs, and packing Blu-ray / DVD Super Multi Drive options; and the NEC Lavie N16, based on AMD Ryzen 7 or Intel 12th Gen processors, which were configured with a DVD Super Multi Drive.
I’m happy enough to own a portable USB DVDRW drive, like this one from LG on Amazon, for when the need arises. It has been very useful over the last decade for various desktops and laptops. The only downside is that relatives borrow it and keep forgetting to return it.
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