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

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.

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=1After 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.

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.

The process to change an optical drive caries by brand and model. Typically, you need to open the tray before you shut down your laptop. Then you remove one or more screws and the old drive should slide out without too much drama. BEFORE you close the tray on the old drive you need to remove the bezel. It is best to watch some videos regarding this process because there are several tabs that hold it in place that are easy to break. The old bezel should snap onto the new drive. Then you slide the new drive into the slot, reattach the screw(s) and turn the laptop on. If you are installing this drive into an enclosure, you probably do not need to switch bezels, but expect to remove a lot of tiny screws. Windows should detect the new drive and you are good to go. I was able to flash the firmware back to v 1.03 without issue making this drive MakeMKV friendly.I'm removing a star because there is no documentation regarding install. I have replaced many optical drives making this task fairly simple. For those who have never done this before, it will take time.

If your goal is to use PowerDVD to play UHD movies and you have jumped through all the hoops to make sure your computer supports UHD playback this is for you. Any other use involving UHD movies… Run.. Run fast! I tried twice to get a drive with the promised 1.01 firmware which will work with MakeMKV and both times got drives with 1.02 encrypted firmware. Good luck flashing to a UHD friendly firmware, that encrypted 1.02 firmware is gonna make that really fun. With the 1.02 firmware MakeMKV just errors out while trying to open the disc. Looks like the only way to get a UHD friendly slim drive without messing with flashing firmware is to buy one of these off eBay that somebody else has flashed with UHD friendly firmware or see if you can find an older used BU40N that hopefully the previous owner didn’t update the firmware on…. Good rule with optical drives is to never update unless your have problems that update fixes, often those updates are not “fixes” or improvements. They are further locking down the drive to stop piracy or at least make it difficult. This makes exercising your right to make a backup copy for personal use hard or impossible. In my case I am digitizing my movies and placing them on my personal PLEX server. Making the digital copy is perfectly legal for personal use…. The legal grey area is defeating and removing the DRM(digital rights management) from the movie which is necessary to make a copy. DRM is funny because it only has the movie studio’s rights in mind and tramples yours. It’s a grey area because copyright law doesn’t expressly forbid it but it doesn’t expressly allow it either. I’d argue I’m just applying my own DRM to protect my rights to freely use my purchase for personal use on my terms. It’s the criminals that copy and sell movies that ruin it for the rest of us and i fully support the movie industry doing what they need to do to stop that. particularly with copyright law it’s impossible for these studios to enforce their rights without making it very hard for us to exercise ours.