LGElectronics WH14NS40 14X Blu-ray/DVD/CD Multi compatible Internal SATA Rewriter Drive, BDXL, M-DISC Support, Black

Updated with corrections 12/17/2012I have two of these drives. So far I have seen no problems reading or burning Blurays. I've written single density BD-R and BD-RE drives without a hitch. The resulting disks play flawlessly in my aging Samsung Bluray player. Most Bluray disks read at about 22 MB/s, but there are some that drop to 10 MB/s and some that exceed 30 MB/s.The drives also work well reading and writing CDs and DVDs at speeds a little slower than my older Samsung DVD drives. Consider keeping a DVD drive in your machine if you want the best performance possible.The only quirk I found is that "Exact Audio Copy"---a program written specifically to read audio CDs accurately---could not rip audio from any CD. No matter what the setting, that program rips nothing but silence. With other programs (including Windows Media Player, J River, Winamp) the LG drive rips audio just fine.The included software is an LG branded OEM version of Cyberlink Bluray Disk Suite version 10. The suite includes a reasonable 3D BluRay player, which plays Blurays and DVDs direct from the drive, but not from disk. It also plays videos from disk.The Cyberlink player plays Avatar 3D very well. On one of my machines, with an Nvidia 560 video card, I can play accelerated 3D w/o issues. On another machine, with an Nvidia 650, 3D video will not play correctly. Both machines have no issues with the Nvidia 3D test program at either 720p or 1080p.Fortunately, the player has a mode called "Micro Polarizer 3D (row interleaved)" which works with TVs (including LG and Visio) that use non-powered 3D glasses. (Local theater 3D glasses are compatible) These TVs polarize the even pixel rows on the screen in one mode, and the odd rows in another mode, so the player is able to render 3D by rendering two different images---in even/odd mode---w/o help from either the TV or the video card. Both my computers were able to display 3D movies in this mode. The downside is that the motion compensation is poor, and fast moving action appears a bit more jerky than it does in 2D mode.The Cyberlink player also has a mode that converts anything it can play in 2D to 3D. While this mode is far from the best 3D available, it works remarkably well. If you try it, you *will* be amazed.You must install your LG drive before you can install the Cyberlink software. Shortly after installation, the Cyberlink software prompts you to download an update. The first time you try to install the update, it fails. On the second try, it installs w/o difficulty.Also included with the software is an automatic firmware updater for your LG drive. The updater pops up a window every time the machine boots. If you get tired of the interruptions, you can uninstall the updater.The Cyberlink suite contains a number of other program I haven't tried. These include a Bluray burner, a label printer, and some movie creation tools.At the time of this review, on Amazon, the Cyberlink software adds $5 to the cost of the drive. In my opinion, the Cyberlink software is well worth the added cost.

This is my first Bluray reader, so i dont have to much to compare to, but until now its amazing! looks great, its lightweight (REALLY LIGHTWEIGHT), the instalation its easy as any dvd or cd rewriter just uses a SATA cable (Use de 6GB/s ones on this for better performance), and the power strips from your PSU.The package:Normal and simple, good protection. The weird thing is that it came with a software! dont know why but inside the box came an ASUS DVD SUITE, which comes with Nero 10 Essentials, E-Green, E-Hammer, Asus Firmware Update and Quick install guide! lots of weird stuff i maybe never use, but might come in handy for someone. (i havent used the disc, so i dont know if this software comes with serials and activations)This package does not come with the SATA Cable to conect the unit nor the power strip of course.Installation:Just turn off your computer, get the tray out or remove your old rewriter, put the bluray rewriter in place and secure the screws if your case, then connect the SATA cable and your power strip. Close your case and turn your computer on. It will display that annoying message that new hardware has been detected, it will look for the drivers and you are good to go.Let it roll!:I test it with the movie Super 8 Bluray on my pc and guess what? nothing happend when i close the tray! yes u need additional software to play your blurays! (NO VLC CANT! dont waste your time) The best one i found was Power DVD 11, so i downloaded it and applied an updated in order to play the bluray, and it worked great, looks awesome, no slowmotion during the movie, no glitches, no lag everything worked. The sound coming from the unit is minimum, less than my old DVD rewriter. Yes power dvd its kind of laggy, and really really bad optimized, but thats a software problem.I dont know if it plays 3D Blurays, for the price i dont think so, but i have a PS3 for that so i dont care.I havent burned a bluray yet so i cant tell, but ill update this when i doOverall im happy with it, great price and great unit. Im an LG Lover so its great for me :D

Excellent performing BD Drive. This drive easily installed, replacing a DVD-RW, giving the computer much greater capability in now that it will burn Blu-Ray discs as well as DVDs and CDs of all varieties. I might comment on the selection of blank BD discs, there are a couple brands that perform much better than the others (Verbatim or Panasonic). This drive handles both these blanks with ease and produces superb results. I have burned both video+music, but mostly I love the BD blanks for transfer of high resolution remastered 192/24 FLAC music files from the computer. These music discs can then be played on most Blu-ray players, and if the sound connections on the Blu-ray player are connected and can play through a high quality music system, the results can be stunning, music with greater fullness, detail, expanse, soundstage, clarity and just plain beautiful to hear, whether listening through speakers or headphones. With the correct Blu-Ray music burning software, fantastic listening can be achieved with burns from this good LG burner. And up to, and sometimes more than 5 hours of continuous music can be burned to a single Blu-ray blank. There is just no better way to listen to your favorite music, arranged in the order you like, than perhaps to stream the high resolution to your system. This LG drive can also play the music that you have burned, or the video that you have created, through your computer, and if the computer is capable of streaming to a higher quality system, that can be done too. So the uses and capabilities of this wonderful LG Blu-Ray internal burner are many, not to forget one of the best things about this drive, Amazon offers it at a great price. Certainly worth the money spent, and I can recommend it to anyone, regardless of their intended use. This drive is certainly one that gives much enjoyment and worth the money spent.