Question Looking for a 9.5mm/12.7mm-thick BD-RE optical burner for my desktop tower

[BonzaiDuck]

Nobody told me I couldn't use laptop part technology in a PC, and I did -- for the first time four years ago, and with rave success as far as I'm concerned.

I'm using 2.5" Seagate spinners running at 5,400 rpm. For what I need in spinner performance, that's just fine. It makes my tower case lighter.

I also only had room for an ICY-DOCK 2x2.5"-hot-swap plus ODD device fitting a single 5.25" bay, and it also works great. At that time, I purchased an LG BU20N which I think is a Blu Ray reader and DVD/CD burner.

This time, I started looking for another, and now I figure I should have a BD-RE with Blu-Ray burning capability on top of the rest. I began looking around, and started feeling a bit panicky because most of the available units fitting my specification are off-name brands like "Valley-of-the-Sun" or "HAZYYO". I finally stumbled on an LG BU40N -- BD-RE-burner, handling DVD-R/RW, CDR/RW, etc. There are only about 14 customer reviews at Newegg, with a 4-egg average rating.

Amazon also has them, for $10+ dollars more -- one being offered for $18 more. They show 36 reviews with a 4-star average rating.

I can't keep up with the technology so well anymore. I think some people build desktops without ODDs in them, but I want an ODD in my computer just like I want a 12-CD-changer in my 26-year-old SUV, even though I've got about 500 albums available in the car from a USB source as well as an SDXC card in my Android tablet (which is mounted to the dash as semi-permanent).

When one has to look around a bit to find an LG laptop BD/DVD burner, one begins to worry. Other available units -- as I said -- are off-brand-names made in China. Which ones are good? Which ones aren't?

Anyway, I'll take a look at any recommendations forthcoming here before I pull the string on the BU40N.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Unfortunately, there isn't much choice left in ODDs. There are only Pioneer and LG left as ODMs. Others are just rebrands of their platforms. I'd give the edge to Pioneer, since they actually bother releasing new firmware for older drives, but I don't think they make slimline BD burners. They do make excellent external drives, if you're willing to consider those.

That said, you can't really go wrong with either. ODDs are pretty much commodity and very reliable today, so unless you get a Monday drive, you should be well of with the BU40N.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Unfortunately, there isn't much choice left in ODDs. There are only Pioneer and LG left as ODMs. Others are just rebrands of their platforms. I'd give the edge to Pioneer, since they actually bother releasing new firmware for older drives, but I don't think they make slimline BD burners. They do make excellent external drives, if you're willing to consider those.

That said, you can't really go wrong with either. ODDs are pretty much commodity and very reliable today, so unless you get a Monday drive, you should be well of with the BU40N.

Yeah -- I remember back around the late 90s and early 2000s when we were searching around just for a decent CD burner. Sometimes you would get one that would just "go south" after a few months use, and those damn things were pricey back then. Then, the DVD-readers and writers hit the market, and I remember going through the trials and tribulations choosing one of those -- again, pricey to begin with.

I was reticent at first using "one-a-them-slimline-laptop jobs". But the LG was and still is very reliable. I thought it was just "neato" to have a Blu-Ray reader, which I think defined the BU20N from LG. I never went goo-gah over the step-up to Blu-Ray. I mostly burn single and DL DVDs and CDs. These days, I just want to convert a music CD to MP3 or comparable digital format.

I've noticed in recent years that buying a "retail" Windows 10 Pro license brings it to you on a USB stick, as opposed to the usual optical install-disc.

It's hard to keep up with the changes anymore . . . . You figure on being buried in an old graveyard when you finally punch your ticket, but if you live long enough, they may shoot your casket into outer-space. Who the hell knows?

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Yeah -- I remember back around the late 90s and early 2000s when we were searching around just for a decent CD burner. Sometimes you would get one that would just "go south" after a few months use, and those damn things were pricey back then. Then, the DVD-readers and writers hit the market, and I remember going through the trials and tribulations choosing one of those -- again, pricey to begin with.

One sure-fire way to kill an IDE ODD was/is using it in PIO mode. Then just wait long enough. SCSI ones were more reliable, but also more expensive. Those where the days... not... don't get me started on how annoying buffer underruns were, or how often you got a coaster due to some random disk I/O...

I was reticent at first using "one-a-them-slimline-laptop jobs". But the LG was and still is very reliable. I thought it was just "neato" to have a Blu-Ray reader, which I think defined the BU20N from LG. I never went goo-gah over the step-up to Blu-Ray. I mostly burn single and DL DVDs and CDs. These days, I just want to convert a music CD to MP3 or comparable digital format.

Blu-ray are mostly useful for their capacity. The need for which has grown exponentially. I remember getting a (for the time) gigantic 20.4GB HDD, and going "right, I'll never fill that up". Today, my picture folder alone is 193GB. Same thing seems to always happen with disk upgrades, something always fills them up.

Further, unlike CD-R/DVD-Rs blu-ray media is phase change like old fashion DVD-RAM. That should give them an edge in longevity. At least they should last long enough it'll no longer be my problem.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

One sure-fire way to kill an IDE ODD was/is using it in PIO mode. Then just wait long enough. SCSI ones were more reliable, but also more expensive. Those where the days... not... don't get me started on how annoying buffer underruns were, or how often you got a coaster due to some random disk I/O...



Blu-ray are mostly useful for their capacity. The need for which has grown exponentially. I remember getting a (for the time) gigantic 20.4GB HDD, and going "right, I'll never fill that up". Today, my picture folder alone is 193GB. Same thing seems to always happen with disk upgrades, something always fills them up.

Further, unlike CD-R/DVD-Rs blu-ray media is phase change like old fashion DVD-RAM. That should give them an edge in longevity. At least they should last long enough it'll no longer be my problem.

Thanks for your insight.

I had thought about that -- long ago -- doing backups to a Blu Ray disc. But then, if you can buy 128GB USB 2.0/3.0-whatever thumb drives for what seems like the price for a pack of Kool cigarettes, and you compare the write speed, it's too much trouble.

For video pleasure -- the subtle joys of 4K vs 1080p or i -- when I saw 4K coming, I couldn't get myself to see -- either in my mind's eye, imagination or just for comparing 1440 vs 1080 on this monitor -- what the hell difference does it make? I've got to go up to COSTCO today to initiate filling my new eyeglass prescription. There was a time when I could open up the two-volume set of the Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary and read the entries without help except for some decent light. The Compact OED came bundled with a rectangular Bausch&Lomb magnifier, which I user daily now at my desk. I suppose now -- I should test that magnifier again and see if it's actually possible to read those entries. I hope it is! My Compact OED is part of a collection! The print in my 3rd New International Webster's Dictionary -- the one they put on a sturdy book-stand in the library reference section -- is just a bit easier to read. Losing the ability to read those dictionaries when I want would almost be as devastating as not being able to drive my SUV anymore.

So . . . 4K? Blu-Ray? Vs DVD? I couldn't figure out what I was missing ten years ago, before I started needing an annual eyeglass prescription. Used to be able to put six .22 cal LR slugs in the black label of a Coors can at more than 100 feet with nothing but a target sight -- just a hole in a little metal circle. There are reasons to feel loss for having your youth slip away. For me, trouble reading the dictionaries is worth a lot more than target practice . . .

 

[SamMaster]

That reminds me that I'll need to do some BD-R backups.

I had a slim LG BD-R drive I bough a while ago for a laptop that was the main PC in the house. I think it was the same model as you mentioned. Worked well enough until recently where it stopped playing DVDs properly. I replaced it with a full-sized one for that, but it can still read/write blue rays fine.

If you want a blue ray drive for movies (in addition to data), you'll need adequate software player for it because it needs a bunch of "software thingies" to make sure you're not hacking the video feed or what not. It is very annoying and prevents software like VLC from reading them easily if at all. You might also look into USB BD-RE drives if you intend on keeping things slim. You can find a few reputable manufacturers that make them.

Also be sure to have a SATA power to slim SATA Power adapter if you go slim internal (if you don't already have one).

 

[Insert_Nickname]

I had thought about that -- long ago -- doing backups to a Blu Ray disc. But then, if you can buy 128GB USB 2.0/3.0-whatever thumb drives for what seems like the price for a pack of Kool cigarettes, and you compare the write speed, it's too much trouble.

Trouble with thumbdrives is long term reliability. You shouldn't trust them further then you can throw them. Which might be a considerable distance, but YMMV. They're great for temporary storage of course.

Blu-rays are only really useful for archiving cold infrequently accessed data. Things like important photos, videos, documents, that sort of thing. Optical media is just too slow for general use, particularly random access plain sucks. As a last level backup they also work well, since you can't alter data already burned. So that gives protection from getting infected with malware or accidental deleting.

For video pleasure -- the subtle joys of 4K vs 1080p or i -- when I saw 4K coming, I couldn't get myself to see -- either in my mind's eye, imagination or just for comparing 1440 vs 1080 on this monitor -- what the hell difference does it make?

That depends on a lot of factors. Monitor/TV size, resolution, how far you're sitting from it, etc. It's not an easy thing to answer, since it's also highly subjective, and people have different levels of "quality tolerance". And different eyesight.

One thing blu-rays have going for them is the audio part. Since there is a lot more storage available it's easy to fit in high quality multi channel audio tracks. But that doesn't matter if you're on a couple of stereo speakers.

I had a slim LG BD-R drive I bough a while ago for a laptop that was the main PC in the house. I think it was the same model as you mentioned. Worked well enough until recently where it stopped playing DVDs properly. I replaced it with a full-sized one for that, but it can still read/write blue rays fine.

Sounds like the infrared laser head has given up, or become dirty. Have you tried cleaning it?

If you want a blue ray drive for movies (in addition to data), you'll need adequate software player for it because it needs a bunch of "software thingies" to make sure you're not hacking the video feed or what not. It is very annoying and prevents software like VLC from reading them easily if at all. You might also look into USB BD-RE drives if you intend on keeping things slim. You can find a few reputable manufacturers that make them.

Cough... makemkv... cough...

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Well, here I revisited an experience I had building my rig 4 years ago, when I bought the BU20N LG.

It was an "ultra" slim drive, or 9.5mm high or thick, however you want to put it.

And -- I bought this ICY DOCK 2x 2.5" hot-swap plus ODD device for a 5.25: drive bay. I don't think I even figured it out at the time, but the device is made for "Slim" ODDs as opposed to "Ultra Slim". This time around, I remembered too late, that I was able to make it work 4 years ago with two of the four (tiny, tiny) screws that secure the ODD to the ICYDOCK ODD tray, and double-thick two-sided 3M adhesive foam tape (total 3mm thick). It works like a charm, and few would take note of the 3mm gap for the ICY DOCK being made for a 12.7mm "Slim" ODD.

They make another model -- almost identical -- which is made so the four screws work for either a 9.5mm or a 12.7mm-thick ODD.

Anyway, the "ultra-slim" BU40N is "installed" and ready to hook up.