www.makemkv.com

I have a LG WH16NS40 (FW 1.02) that is 5 years old and beginning to have errors on BD rips. I need a replacement internal drive for Makemkv rips of Blu-ray only, I don't care about UHD capability. Also, I have a max budget of about $100.

I could get another LG WH16NS40 probably with FW 1.04 or 1.05 but I am not sure if it would read BD's in Makemkv with these firmware. The Pioneer BDR-212DBK or BDR-212V also appear to be other options.

Your comments on these drive options or any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Hopefully you've seen the Flashing Guide post. In there is a list of recommended drives.

I know you don't care to rip UHDs, but you don't have to flash the drive to rip UHDs if you don't want to. Having a drive that can, however, gives you options if you change your mind.

In that post, there's also a list of sellers on this forum who will sell you a flashed and tested drive if you don't want to any of that on your own.

Currently, the LG BU40N and the Pioneer drives are held in high regard. The sellers on this forum have suggested that the failure rate of the other LG based drives is higher than it used to be. It doesn't mean that if you buy a new LG WH16NS40 you're going to get a bad drive, but that chances are probably higher than they were 5 years ago. Probably buying from a place with a good return policy even if it isn't the cheapest is the wisest move.

If you have intentions to burn optical discs, the Pioneer drives are considered the best.

Pioneer drives usually rip slower than the LG drives.

There's no need to throw your old drive away (unless it is truly broken). MakeMKV supports using more than one drive, even at the same time. In preferences there's a 'Ask for single drive mode' checkbox. Enable that and you can run multiple instances of MakeMKV, isolating each one to its own optical drive.

I have 3 different optical drives because in my experience, some optical drives just don't like some discs. Often, when a disc doesn't work in my 'main' drive, I try it in another drive and it works fine.

Internal 5.25 inch optical drives can be put in their own powered external enclosure and connected via USB. All three of my drives are this way. The Flashing Guide has a list of those as well.

dcoke22 wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 23, 2023 9:33 pm

Hopefully you've seen the Flashing Guide post. In there is a list of recommended drives.

I know you don't care to rip UHDs, but you don't have to flash the drive to rip UHDs if you don't want to. Having a drive that can, however, gives you options if you change your mind.

Thanks dcoke22 for your reply. I have indeed read the flashing guide. That is in part why my head is spinning. Based on that guide it looks like a Pioneer drive would be the way to go. However my budget will not allow for UHD capable Pioneer drive. That is why I listed the BDR-212DBK or BDR-212V as non UHD Pioneer alternatives. Both of those drives are in a similar price range of the WH16NS40 although I don't have any assurance that they would work well with makemkv for BD rips.

It's (ever so slightly) above your budget but I picked up an LG Slim BP60NB10 for $105 (it's currently $109.99 on the same site) and flashed it, I've had phenomenal success with it. It's only failed to read a single disc and that disc was a pretty mangled DVD.

If internal is a requirement for you this obviously isn't the way to go, but I've been really impressed with this thing (in reads, read speed, and some minor backup burns).

It also has UHD capability, and while that isn't something you're specifically after it feels like if you can get it nearly in budget it's worth it in case you do want to back up some 4K discs at some point. I did BD when I picked it up for the first month or so, then after flashing decided to dabble in 4K and I've really enjoyed the option at least. A lot of the time I'll still only do the 1080 but for certain items (nature documentaries, etc.) having the 4K option has been a huge win in my book.

Long story short, it was a bit confusing to me to start as well, but the BP60NB10 flashed easily and has worked nearly flawlessly.

$75 CAD 14ns40 from Amazon.
No flashing, nothing else but MakeMKV required for DVD and Blu Ray