Which Blu-ray drive to buy for HTPC?

[gigy]

Hi all,
Which is the recommended drive for pc considering it should be able to play region free.
Pioneer BDR-206BK Internal Blu-ray Burner 10050/-
LG WH10LS30 Super Multi Blu-ray oem 8250/-
Asus BW-12B1LT 3D Blu-ray Burner 8700/-
LITEON 4X BLURAY ROM iHES108-292 5000/-

I am thinking of the asus model since its 3d. Any usage reviews on it?

Asus BW-12B1LT 3D Blu-ray Burner
Thanks in advance

 

[venkatcr]

i would order them as

Lite-On
LG
Asus
Pioneer

Cheers

 

[baijuxavior]

Hi all,
Which is the recommended drive for pc considering it should be able to play region free.
Pioneer BDR-206BK Internal Blu-ray Burner 10050/-
LG WH10LS30 Super Multi Blu-ray oem 8250/-
Asus BW-12B1LT 3D Blu-ray Burner 8700/-
LITEON 4X BLURAY ROM iHES108-292 5000/-

I am thinking of the asus model since its 3d. Any usage reviews on it?

Asus BW-12B1LT 3D Blu-ray Burner
Thanks in advance

The liteon model is not a writer. If you want a bd writer then skip this. I will recommend Asus 3D BD burner which is future proof.

 

[marsilians]

Hi all,
Which is the recommended drive for pc considering it should be able to play region free.
Pioneer BDR-206BK Internal Blu-ray Burner 10050/-
LG WH10LS30 Super Multi Blu-ray oem 8250/-
Asus BW-12B1LT 3D Blu-ray Burner 8700/-
LITEON 4X BLURAY ROM iHES108-292 5000/-

I am thinking of the asus model since its 3d. Any usage reviews on it?

Asus BW-12B1LT 3D Blu-ray Burner
Thanks in advance

I personally don't have one but my friends who have HTPC are very happy with ASUS and Samsung drives.

 

[spirovious]

Liteon had bad experience (online)& wld die early.
LG are the better one & so the asus which I own.Even with 4X speed,BD reading is fast.

 

[gigy]

Will this asus be region free or can it be made region free?

 

[Kittu]

Bluray writers are default region free.

 

[spirovious]

My asus is not(BD reader),I use anyDVD HD.

 

[venkatcr]

Will this asus be region free or can it be made region free?

You have to use external programs to 'make' Blu-Ray drives on PC's region free. Internally you can change the region 5 times after which it is locked.

Cheers

 

[venkatcr]

Liteon had bad experience (online)& wld die early.
LG are the better one & so the asus which I own.Even with 4X speed,BD reading is fast.

I am surprised. Lite-on is supposed to be rock solid, and many people consider it to be reference standard for drives. Even EAC speaks very highly of Lite-on.

Cheers

 

[arindamcc]

Liteon is best

 

[soulforged]

Even I've been looking out for an external BD drive but they are so darn expensive. Can I pick up a decent internal drive and use a casing?

My only use would be to rip the BDs and play them using my Xtreamer.

PS: Apologies to the OP don't mean to hijack the thread.

 

[manniraj]

Yes you can get a good external casing from SP Road for less than 500. But I think you need to compromise on the connecting cable as the external casing comes with only usb and not sata port. But I do not find much of the difference. I am not sure whether an external casing is available with sata connectivity.

 

[soulforged]

Thanks, I am okay with a USB port. I would connect it to my laptop and rip the BD and then transfer it to my Xtreamer's drive.

Any pointers on where in SP road? What to ask for? What to look for?

 

[manniraj]

You can go to any of the shops (i think i brought it from Jain or Meenakshi computers, sorry i do not remember the name correctly as there are so many shops in a crowded locality like SP Road) and ask for DVD writer external casing. I have a slim blu-ray drive (LG CT21N bulk brought from 20north) similar to a laptop drive. So I had to compromise on the external casing as this would not fit in my htpc case. I am actually planning to get a regular internal drive with 5.25" bay and sell off my slim drive.

Edit: Also i forgot to mention that my external casing came with 2 usb cables one for power and the other for data. So be prepared to have 2 spare usb ports in your laptop.

 

[spirovious]

I am surprised. Lite-on is supposed to be rock solid, and many people consider it to be reference standard for drives. Even EAC speaks very highly of Lite-on.

Cheers

Liteon used to be my favorite,but I read some user reviews(when I got mine)that they have short life span.-
Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 4X BD-ROM 8X DVD-ROM 32X CD-ROM SATA Internal 4X Blu-ray Reader Model iHOS104-06 - Blu-Ray Drives
Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 4X BD-ROM 8X DVD-ROM 32X CD-ROM SATA Internal 4X Blu-ray Disc Reader Model iHOS104-08

The chance can be newer may be better.

 

[venkatcr]

Well, the reviews do look bad, so it it is best avoided.

Cheers

 

[sam9s]

Lit-On is no way near and as good as ASUS. This is how it should be ,....

Pioneer BDR-206BK Internal Blu-ray Burner 10050/-
Asus BW-12B1LT 3D Blu-ray Burner 8700/-
LITEON 4X BLURAY ROM iHES108-292 5000/-
LG WH10LS30 Super Multi Blu-ray oem 8250/-

Personally I would go for ASUS for 8700

 

[venkatcr]

Sam, I have had very bad experience with Pioneer drives. I have been using a LG for about a year, and it has performed flawlessly.

Given Asus's background as a motherboard company, I feel they have just bought the drives from someone and stamped their name. A Sony, LG, or Samsung maybe?

Cheers

 

[gigy]

I am using asus dvd drive without any issue for last two years but all previous sony, samsung ones had tray closing issues. So decided to go with asus blu-ray drive.
I don't need a writer but a 3d will be preferred. Didn't find a 3d read drive till now locally