HLDS BU40N Ultra Slim 9.5mm UHD 4K Blu-ray SATA 3.0 GB/s Optical Drive for PC

If you've been trying to back up your UHD/4K discs, you have probably already found out that the BR drives you have previously used to back up your HD BluRay discs fail at least half the time. When I first got into UHD/4K, I tried using my trusty LG Electronics WH16NS40 drives to rip them. I'd ripped literally hundreds of BluRay discs with them without issue. Apparently, UHD discs are a whole different beast. I thought my old drives were failing. Reasonable assumption as I'd literally ripped hundreds of discs. So I bought a new pair of LG Electronics WH16NS40 drives and flashed them appropriately. Check out the makemkv forums, if you haven't already. Nope, same issue. I'd read that the BU40N is the gold standard for ripping discs. At twice the price of a normal BR drive, plus the cost of the drive bay adapter to house the drive in a standard PC case, it's quite an investment. By the way, you want the Icy Dock adapter, here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0756MZTPG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1 After flashing the firmware appropriately, I can rip 4K discs with about a 95% success rate. Out of about 20 discs I've ripped so far I've only had one failure, which may or may not be due to the disc itself being damaged. So far I'm very happy with this purchase. Working great. Buy once, cry once.

Got this for my monster ThinkPad T440P specifically so I could watch BluRays on-the-go. Sounds like a weird, not-often scenario, but having the additional ability to use BluRay disks on something other than my desktop or PS4 is great. The drive is libredrive compatible, so it can be flashed to unlock the R/W speeds and other features for use with MakeMKV. I was able to confirm the drive works under Windows 10, Linux Mint and MacOS Ventura. VLC is able to open and play BluRays as well with the right settings! I will say the ONLY thing that I dislike about the drive is that it feels a bit flimsy compared to the stock CD/DVD drive from the T440P. Not a huge deal, just something you notice when opening and closing the tray.

I ordered this because new pc's do not come with blue ray drives and external drives have impossible software systems. Since this is SATA and it fits nice it works with the largest pain in the ass ever, Windows 11. Installed ina Dell 3020.

I wanted to start backing up my Blu Ray library, so I decided to do some research into recommended drives. My research eventually led me to this drive and a matching external enclosure to make the drive connect over USB. I didn't really want a full-sized 5.25 inch drive, so I looked into slim drives and this one was recommended by a few people. The only complaint I have so far is that the drive is a little bit loud, but otherwise it performs well! For some reference, it takes around an hour to back up a 4K Blu Ray which is around 60-80GB in size, and regular Blu Rays take less than half that time as they usually have less than half the data stored on them.

Out of the box it just worked. I purchased an external drive enclosure to put this in. I installed it in the enclosure, plugged it into a USB slot and in moments it was up and running. The viewing software I had on my PC recognized the BR disk and there was no issues. After verifying all worked well I flashed the firmware to be able to rip my own disks to my Plex system to watch in the house on various HDTV's. This is one of the models recommended on the makemkv forums. The seller shipped it in a sturdy box. Since this is actually an internal drive it comes with mounting screws and a replacement face front if needed. If flashing the drive, all I will say is read the instructions well on the forums as they can be confusing. I would absolutely by this again from this seller.

Other than that, mounted right into the New Inspiron 3030 Tower with no difficulty whatsoever. Picked up and identified CD, DVD, BD-RE, and UHD discs with no issue though it does take some time to get UHD movies rolling but they work. As previously stated, not to use long "small" screws. It interferes with the drawer's opening and closing

Purchased this item on 8/1/2024, and installed it on 8/10/2024. I was able to play maybe 8-10 disks on the player, and I never had the opportunity to use it to write to a disk. On 12/5/2024, it suddenly stopped being recognized by the system (Dell XPS 8940 running Windows 11 Pro). I pulled the unit out, fiddled with it a bit, then reinstalled it. It was again recognized, but only for the single action of ejecting the tray. After inserting a disk, it was no longer recognized by the system. I purchased a second unit on 12/12/2024 - same make and model, Hitachi-LG BU40N - and the new one is now working fine, at least so far. So, I batted .500 with mine, but I was unable to return the first unit because it was outside the Amazon return window. Oh well... it became an expensive disposable.

I bought this to upgrade my Dell XPS 8950, which came with a DVD-only drive. This fit perfectly (if you carefully follow Dell's instructions for replacing the drive and bezel - it's a bit tricky). The one I received came with 1.01 unencrypted firmware. I had no problem flashing MKV 1.01 firmware, making the drive fully functional for UHD and region-free for Blu-ray discs and DVD's. Using MakeMKV software, I can now rip all my discs to my home theater movie server. It works great. I'm very happy with this drive.