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Blu-ray drive recommendations

Film Snob

Film Snob

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Hi, I have an external Blu-Ray player for my movies but nothing for my PC. When I bought my computer (Win 7) a few years ago I just got a DVD drive to save money, but at least I left a drive slot open in case I wanted to add Blu-ray later. That time has come.

Since I'm going to be editing now I need to buy a good internal Blu-ray drive capable of burning, ripping, and writing everything. But I'm kind of worried because looking around on Amazon the products have mostly good reviews, but every item has a couple dozen reviews of people complaining their drive either shipped dead or stopped working after a few months to a year. Is this common?? My DVD drive works fine almost 6 years later, and the computer I had before that the DVD drive also worked for 7-9 years. Can't imagine buying a drive and it goes out in a few months!

Any good recommendations for hardware and software programs? I haven't really done this before. Thanks!
 
all burning should be done with IMGburn. Authoring is another story. I use DVD Architect, because I edit with Vegas.

As for a drive recommendation, I'm no expert. All I can say is that the LG Blu-ray burner I installed on my computer 7 years ago has never given me any trouble. The model was WH10LS30, but I think that particular drive has been discontinued.
 
That's funny, ThrowgnCpr. I had to finally replace my LG BR burner a few years ago since it could no longer burn. I ended up replacing it with a Pioneer model: http://a.co/0ZqAnmd

I'd ignore most of the reviews that bitch and moan about the burners shipping dead. I've learned most people who review just want to vent their grievances instead of contacting Amazon for a replacement. If the drive arrived dead they'll replace it free and allow you to ship it back free. People are too quick to leave negative reviews.

Not that you asked, but if you need something to rip BR I highly recommend MakeMKV. I do a full disc backup instead of ripping just the title since I get the M2TS file which is what I use to edit. However, if you prefer a different format I've found it's easier to convert from M2TS rather than MKV.
 
Q2 said:
That's funny, ThrowgnCpr. I had to finally replace my LG BR burner a few years ago since it could no longer burn. I ended up replacing it with a Pioneer model: http://a.co/0ZqAnmd

I'd ignore most of the reviews that bitch and moan about the burners shipping dead. I've learned most people who review just want to vent their grievances instead of contacting Amazon for a replacement. If the drive arrived dead they'll replace it free and allow you to ship it back free. People are too quick to leave negative reviews.
Click to expand...

Pioneer is almost always a solid choice, and I usually look to those when buying a new optical drive. At the time, I went with the LG because of price (BD burners were a lot more expensive then). That's mostly a non-issue now. All I can say is, I haven't had a day of problems >7-years in with my LG. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
Film Snob said:
Well that's nasty. I tried to d/l IMGburn from their site and lots of trojans and viruses tried to get into my computer. Won't be trying that again.
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You went to their official site? http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download

I've never had an issue with downloading something from them before.
 
Q2 said:
Film Snob said:
Well that's nasty. I tried to d/l IMGburn from their site and lots of trojans and viruses tried to get into my computer. Won't be trying that again.
Click to expand...

You went to their official site? http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download

I've never had an issue with downloading something from them before.
Click to expand...

Yeah I downloaded from their official website. My AV program blocked trojans and malware. Looking around on the internet, there seems to be confirmation that IMGBurn bundles with known malware and has been heavily criticized for it.
 
if your internal DVD drive works, instead of replacing it, you can buy an external blu-ray reader/writer. that external drive, if it lasts, can be used with your next computer(s), which might not come with an optical drive slot at all.

i use a Samsung external blu-ray drive via USB; it's been working without issue for more than two years.

a word of warning about makemkv, at least for the mac: i regret ever installing it. my computer's been crashing like crazy since installation almost a year ago, and removing the application and the preference files i could locate hasn't solved the crashing issues, nor has upgrading the system, performing disk repair, zapping the PRAM, etc. makemkv for windows, though, might behave altogether differently.
 
Q2 said:
That's funny, ThrowgnCpr. I had to finally replace my LG BR burner a few years ago since it could no longer burn. I ended up replacing it with a Pioneer model: http://a.co/0ZqAnmd
Click to expand...

Do you know if there's any difference between the BDR-209DBK and the BDR-2209? I've heard conflicting reports, with some saying that the BDR 209DBK (the one you have) has the limitations (in the firmware, if I recall right) that the more expensive BDR-2209 doesn't.
 
ssj said:
if your internal DVD drive works, instead of replacing it, you can buy an external blu-ray reader/writer. that external drive, if it lasts, can be used with your next computer(s), which might not come with an optical drive slot at all.

i use a Samsung external blu-ray drive via USB; it's been working without issue for more than two years.

a word of warning about makemkv, at least for the mac: i regret ever installing it. my computer's been crashing like crazy since installation almost a year ago, and removing the application and the preference files i could locate hasn't solved the crashing issues, nor has upgrading the system, performing disk repair, zapping the PRAM, etc. makemkv for windows, though, might behave altogether differently.
Click to expand...

Thanks SSJ I may try that.

Also just came across the "resources" and "tools" tab at the top of the page. Has some good tools there for people who come upon this thread later. I'm new here so still figuring it out.  :)
 
hbenthow said:
Do you know if there's any difference between the BDR-209BDK and the BDR-2209? I've heard conflicting reports, with some saying that the BDR 209BDK (the one you have) has the limitations (in the firmware, if I recall right) that the more expensive BDR-2209 doesn't.
Click to expand...

I don't, and I don't know what limitations you're referring to. I've never had any problem ripping or burning discs with it.
 
ssj said:
a word of warning about makemkv, at least for the mac: i regret ever installing it. my computer's been crashing like crazy since installation almost a year ago, and removing the application and the preference files i could locate hasn't solved the crashing issues, nor has upgrading the system, performing disk repair, zapping the PRAM, etc. makemkv for windows, though, might behave altogether differently.
Click to expand...

I'm on Windows so can't comment on the Mac problem. Did you ever search or post in the forum to see if there was a fix? I'd be surprised if this software would cause your machine to lock and freeze just from installing, but then again stranger things have happened.
 
Q2 said:
I don't, and I don't know what limitations you're referring to. I've never had any problem ripping or burning discs with it.
Click to expand...

Have you ever had problems with burning double-layer Blu-rays with it? And have you encountered any severe riplock? 

Also, have LG drives ever given you trouble with burning double-layer Blu-rays? I've read claims that the LG WH16NS40 always fails to properly burn double-layer Blu-rays.
 
Does it have to be internal? I use an external Memorex, model 98839 I believe. I only use it for ripping discs though. It has been reliable.
 
hbenthow said:
Q2 said:
I don't, and I don't know what limitations you're referring to. I've never had any problem ripping or burning discs with it.
Click to expand...

Have you ever had problems with burning double-layer Blu-rays with it? And have you encountered any severe riplock? 

Also, have LG drives ever given you trouble with burning double-layer Blu-rays? I've read claims that the LG WH16NS40 always fails to properly burn double-layer Blu-rays.
Click to expand...

I've only burned DL BR's a couple of times but it's never been a problem with either drive, well, not until my LG burner died.
 
Q2 said:
I've only burned DL BR's a couple of times but it's never been a problem with either drive, well, not until my LG burner died.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the information.
 
OK, I have enough money to buy a blu-ray ripper. Anyone know any good ones (and having it be available on Amazon.co.uk would help)?
 
I'm assuming you're meaning hardware, not software?
 
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