What is the cheapest Ultra HD Blu-ray compatible drive?

[YouAcheDee]

I have been shopping on and off for a UHD drive for quite a while now, and I would like to know what the cheapest drive is for ripping discs that is verified to work. I don't mind to flash them myself as I have some experience with modifying devices. I would also prefer it be an external, USB type drive as I do not have access to a desktop computer with an empty drive bay, though an internal drive would be fine as I might be able to purchase some kind of enclosure or adapter. I also know that recently the prices for some verified LG brand disc drives have gone up significantly with the brand discontinuing some of their models, so maybe a non LG brand drive would be best.

[MartyMcNuts]

I have been shopping on and off for a UHD drive for quite a while now, and I would like to know what the cheapest drive is for ripping discs that is verified to work. I don't mind to flash them myself as I have some experience with modifying devices. I would also prefer it be an external, USB type drive as I do not have access to a desktop computer with an empty drive bay, though and internal drive would be fine as I might be able to purchase some kind of enclosure or adapter. I also know that recently the prices for some verified LG brand disc drives have gone up significantly with the brand discontinuing several models, so maybe a non LG brand drive would be best.

Verbatim 43888. It contains a LG BU40N inside.

[YouAcheDee]

Thank you for the recommendation. I have done some research and found that the Verbatim 43888 is roughly $130 on Amazon (US) and an LG BU40N is roughly $85 on Amazon, but can be bought on ebay for around $50. I do have access to an old, Dell Latitude E6430s computer with a slim drive port that seems like it would be compatible with the SATA connection type of the LG BU40N, but the computer I am using currently is much more powerful than the previously mentioned, older computer, so I would think that the older device would end up not being able to handle the intense process very well. I say this may be the case because I seem to remember it being quite slow with tasks that were much more intensive than the typical load from a simple app like Google Chrome. I may not need to use the other device however, because relatively cheap SATA to USB power and data adapters, like the attached model from Walmart, seem to be easy to come by.

My question, considering the information about the available Dell computer, is would I be able to easily use the LG BU40N on that device without running into compatibility or speed issues, should I go with using an adapter for the LG drive, or should I just go with the Verbatim?

Thanks
YouAcheDee

Mentioned links:

Amazon LG BU40N drive
[https://www.amazon.com/LG-DVD-RAM-BD-RO ... 071CPRK74/]

Amazon Verbatim 43888
[https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MTP9VKX/re ... =UTF8&th=1]

Walmart SATA adapter
[https://www.walmart.com/ip/SATA-to-USB- ... om=/search]

Ebay LG slim drive
[https://www.ebay.com/itm/226583382377?c ... 2WEALw_wcB]

[dcoke22]

Not all SATA-to-USB adapters support flashing. There's a list of some that are known to work in the Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide.

[YouAcheDee]

Thanks for mentioning that. I don't think I'd ever fully read that flashing forum post until now, so I didn't know that some converters aren't compatible with flashing. I see the easiest adapters to get your hands on are the Alxum brand converter and the Unitek adapter, but is there some way to tell what adapters support flashing without having to test it out by buying first and likely not being able to return it? A quick Google search shows many different options for adapters other than some already verified models that are at a much cheaper price. Would any of these be able to work for flashing, and if so what hardware spec would show that? Another interesting thing I noticed is that the Unitek adapter has a different model that is called "USA A to SATA," yes, that is spelled right, that is roughly half of the price of the "USB A" model, so would this be able to work with flashing as well, or is it just the "USB A" model that is compatible?

Thanks
YouAcheDee

Unitek SATA adapter
[https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-UNITEK-U ... L41MA?th=1]

Other SATA to USB adapters with power connections
[https://www.amazon.com/Mueuton-Adapter- ... B0CYY7L4FS]
[https://www.amazon.com/FEMORO-Adapter-C ... 0DDT4W5LS/]

[MartyMcNuts]

Thanks for mentioning that. I don't think I'd ever fully read that flashing forum post until now, so I didn't know that some converters aren't compatible with flashing. I see the easiest adapters to get your hands on are the Alxum brand converter and the Unitek adapter, but is there some way to tell what adapters support flashing without having to test it out by buying first and likely not being able to return it? A quick Google search shows many different options for adapters other than some already verified models that are at a much cheaper price. Would any of these be able to work for flashing, and if so what hardware spec would show that? Another interesting thing I noticed is that the Unitek adapter has a different model that is called "USA A to SATA," yes, that is spelled right, that is roughly half of the price of the "USB A" model, so would this be able to work with flashing as well, or is it just the "USB A" model that is compatible?

Thanks
YouAcheDee

Unitek SATA adapter
[https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-UNITEK-U ... L41MA?th=1]

Other SATA to USB adapters with power connections
[https://www.amazon.com/Mueuton-Adapter- ... B0CYY7L4FS]
[https://www.amazon.com/FEMORO-Adapter-C ... 0DDT4W5LS/]

I don't think any Unitek one's work for flashing anymore. It's hard to know for sure as they sometimes change the chips used but keep the same model numbers. The easiest one's to get are the Alxum AX-S109A and the Fideco S3G-PL03. These are currently known to work with flashing.

[Coopervid]

This one works also for flashing.

https://www.amazon.com/BENFEI-Drive-Ada ... r=8-1&th=1

[YouAcheDee]

Thank you for the recommendations. I discovered today that my old Dell E6430S laptop works flawlessly for ripping normal Blu-rays over a USB drive. This information has made me think that my old laptop would be able to also work well with the LG BU40N slim drive for UHD discs. The only question I have is is there any way to tell if the SATA connection on that device would support flashing?

I attached 2 pictures that show what the slim drive port looks like on this device.

Credit:
Parts-People Dell Laptop Experts
[https://youtu.be/LcPViZ0LA0c?t=27]

Amazon (attached version is edited)
[https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Latitude-E6 ... B09THT4T9V]

[MartyMcNuts]

Thank you for the recommendations. I discovered today that my old Dell E6430S laptop works flawlessly for ripping normal Blu-rays over a USB drive. This information has made me think that my old laptop would be able to also work well with the LG BU40N slim drive for UHD discs. The only question I have is is there any way to tell if the SATA connection on that device would support flashing?

I attached 2 pictures that show what the slim drive port looks like on this device.

Credit:
Parts-People Dell Laptop Experts
[https://youtu.be/LcPViZ0LA0c?t=27]

Amazon (attached version is edited)
[https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Latitude-E6 ... B09THT4T9V]

The BU40N is a 9.5mm drive. You need to check what size the current drive is. It's hard to tell from the image but it may be a 12.5mm drive. For us to advise on the SATA connection you need to remove the drive and show us the back of it.

[YouAcheDee]

Thanks for the instructions. Attached are 2 images from an Amazon listing of the replacement drive for reference and a section of the Dell Latitude E6430 owner's manual that contains information on the original DVD drive is linked below. In the owner's manual, pages 20-22 are the only pages that may contain relevant information. The owner's manual section may not be needed; I only attached a link to it incase the information is useful.

I do not currently have access to the DVD drive that goes into this computer as it was removed quite a while ago, however some information on Google has me believe that the laptop is compatible with 9.5mm. I was, however, able to get some of the dimensions of the drive port. The currently empty optical drive port is 5.25 inches in length, 0.25 inches tall, and I could not take a depth measurement. I could not find very much information online about what defines a drive's mm measurement, example 9.5mm or 12mm, but linked below are some information sources.

A have also attached a picture that I took of the inside of the computer's empty optical drive port.

Amazon Dell Latitude E6430 replacement DVD drive listing
[https://www.amazon.com/Player-Drive-Lat ... B0BXJM4CQ3]

Original Dell Latitude E6430 owner's manual source
[https://dl.dell.com/manuals/all-product ... _en-us.pdf]

Drive mm measurement source
[https://dstockmicro.com/en/optical-disk ... de%20E6430]

[MartyMcNuts]

Thanks for the instructions. Attached are 2 images from an Amazon listing of the replacement drive for reference and a section of the Dell Latitude E6430 owner's manual that contains information on the original DVD drive is linked below. In the owner's manual, pages 20-22 are the only pages that may contain relevant information. The owner's manual section may not be needed; I only attached a link to it incase the information is useful.

I do not currently have access to the DVD drive that goes into this computer as it was removed quite a while ago, however some information on Google has me believe that the laptop is compatible with 9.5mm. I was, however, able to get some of the dimensions of the drive port. The currently empty optical drive port is 5.25 inches in length, 0.25 inches tall, and I could not take a depth measurement. I could not find very much information online about what defines a drive's mm measurement, example 9.5mm or 12mm, but linked below are some information sources.

A have also attached a picture that I took of the inside of the computer's empty optical drive port.

Amazon Dell Latitude E6430 replacement DVD drive listing
[https://www.amazon.com/Player-Drive-Lat ... B0BXJM4CQ3]

Original Dell Latitude E6430 owner's manual source
[https://dl.dell.com/manuals/all-product ... _en-us.pdf]

Drive mm measurement source
[https://dstockmicro.com/en/optical-disk ... de%20E6430]

So it appears to be a 9.5mm drive, same as the BU40N. It should fit but ther may possibly be gaps around the drive bezel as the original drive/laptop has it's own bezel. You won't know for sure until you try...

[YouAcheDee]

Ok, great. So now, the only thing I don't know is if the SATA port on the Dell laptop work for flashing or not. We do know that the drive will likely fit, but not if the SATA port is compatible with flashing. Is there any way to know for certain if that port will work without having to test it out by buying the LG drive first?

[MartyMcNuts]

Ok, great. So now, the only thing I don't know is if the SATA port on the Dell laptop work for flashing or not. We do know that the drive will likely fit, but not if the SATA port is compatible with flashing. Is there any way to know for certain if that port will work without having to test it out by buying the LG drive first?

It's extremely rare that a SATA port doesn't support flashing. You will just have to try.

[YouAcheDee]

Great. Thanks for the replies, I will keep you posted for when I get the drive sometime soon.