Hi there, new person here, can someone help me figure out what's a good internal drive to get?
Sorry I know this probably gets asked a lot, but I've tried reading the forums but there's like a lot of information and it's a bit overwhelming
I already have an external 4k Verbatim 43888 drive which works fine, but I'd rather have an internal drive. It's annoying having it take up space on my desk; the fewer dongles and things I need plugged in and the more I can have built into the computer the better (why I also bought an internal card reader).
I want a drive capable of playing and ripping up to 4k UHD discs. Being able to burn up to blu-rays at least (idk if you can burn 4ks) would be nice too, but not a necessity. Idk if they even make read-only, non-burning drives actually.
I'm currently running Windows 11 on an AMD Ryzen 7900 processor if that matters.
I have tried to do some reading up about this, but some clarification and other opinions/experiences would be nice. So the opinion I see a lot is that Pioneers are the best, but recent firmware causes issues? Next to those, LGs are also good? But then I've got a bit lost with all the info tbh
The Pioneer drive I was initially looking at was the BDR-212BDK (just what I found first), but then I saw there's 213EBK, Is that much different? Also there's the S13EBK and S13E-X which seem to be the pricier "premium" drives or something, but are they much better? The issue I read about Pioneer drives is if they were made after like 2022, they have some firmware lock on them restricting certain things? Is this right? What exactly does it do? It seems buying any new Pioneer drive is a gamble whether you get one of those or not so idk
The LG drives are also a bit confusing. As far as I can tell, the WH16NS60 is the latest model, but has a similar issue with recent units having some firmware lock? Is that right? Then there's the older WH16NS40, which is apparently the same hardware just with older firmware and without the UHD branding? AND THEN there's the BH16NS40 which I think is the same drive, but it just doesn't come with some bundled software? Is that correct?
Those are drives I saw on their site, but then searching elsewhere there's also the NS55 and 58, are they different? Why are there so many variations, it's confusing ;o;
So are any of these actually particularly better than the others? Or is there not that much noticeable benefit?
I've read that like no matter which you get you might have to flash some firmware anyway, so does it make much difference?
Is that what some of those more recently produced ones prevent?
Speaking of, what does the firmware flashing actually do? Like the current Verbatim drive I have has been working perfectly fine for me straight out of the box without having to flash any firmware. All I had to do was download makemkv and that let's me watch blu-rays and uhds in vlc or Mpc-hc just fine. Have also ripped some blu-rays no problem (haven't tried ripping any UHDs). Am I missing something with this? I did get that in July 2023, so maybe that was just an older one and I got lucky? Idk
Any help with this would be much appreciated
Help choosing a drive?
Help choosing a drive?
Last edited by Teilz on Sun Dec 07, 2025 2:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Help choosing a drive?
Pioneer drives with firmware dated from December 2022 onwards can not be flashed. However, MakeMKV was recently updated to enable LibreDrive on those optical drives anyway. So, if a Pioneer drive has native support for reading 4K UHDs, then with LibreDrive support MakeMKV can rip 4K UHDs.
If a Pioneer drive does not have native support for reading 4K UHDs, then even with LibreDrive support, it will not be able to rip 4K UHDs.
If a Pioneer drive has firmware older than December 2022 and it does not natively support reading 4K UHDs, then it might be able to be cross flashed to a model that does support reading 4K UHDs (and then with LibreDrive support will be able to rip 4K UHDs).
Pioneer no longer manufactures optical drives. They got out of that business a little while ago. The worldwide supply of Pioneer drives is dwindling fast. If you can get one, you should do it soon.
Most people here will recommend you do not play your discs via your optical drive. Just rip them and watch the rips. This minimizes the wear on the drive. The same is true for burning discs. It generally isn't cost effective to burn optical discs and it wears out your optical drive faster. Also, there's not a lot of high quality burnable media that you can buy anymore.
If a Pioneer drive does not have native support for reading 4K UHDs, then even with LibreDrive support, it will not be able to rip 4K UHDs.
If a Pioneer drive has firmware older than December 2022 and it does not natively support reading 4K UHDs, then it might be able to be cross flashed to a model that does support reading 4K UHDs (and then with LibreDrive support will be able to rip 4K UHDs).
Pioneer no longer manufactures optical drives. They got out of that business a little while ago. The worldwide supply of Pioneer drives is dwindling fast. If you can get one, you should do it soon.
Most people here will recommend you do not play your discs via your optical drive. Just rip them and watch the rips. This minimizes the wear on the drive. The same is true for burning discs. It generally isn't cost effective to burn optical discs and it wears out your optical drive faster. Also, there's not a lot of high quality burnable media that you can buy anymore.
Re: Help choosing a drive?
Ah I see, thanks for the info.
So, most Pioneer drives with a manufacture date before Dec 2022 should be somewhat safe then? Is there much difference in quality between the various models?
And yeah taking a look more recently, they are getting kind of expensive 0_0
What about the LG drives, they seem a bit more available maybe. The main complaint I've seen about those is they're maybe a bit more noisy, but is there much difference besides that? And there's wh16s and wh14s, is the 14 still able to read UHD discs? Or only the 16s?
I have been seeing some Asus drives around while searching, but I don't really know much about those tbh, are they any good?
Also yeah, currently what I mainly use my external drive for is playing region locked imports, I don't really have the storage space for ripping a whole lot of Blu-ray just yet, but hopefully eventually. Generally I watch Blu-rays using my Playstation though, so I wouldn't be using it to watch things all the time.
So, most Pioneer drives with a manufacture date before Dec 2022 should be somewhat safe then? Is there much difference in quality between the various models?
And yeah taking a look more recently, they are getting kind of expensive 0_0
What about the LG drives, they seem a bit more available maybe. The main complaint I've seen about those is they're maybe a bit more noisy, but is there much difference besides that? And there's wh16s and wh14s, is the 14 still able to read UHD discs? Or only the 16s?
I have been seeing some Asus drives around while searching, but I don't really know much about those tbh, are they any good?
Also yeah, currently what I mainly use my external drive for is playing region locked imports, I don't really have the storage space for ripping a whole lot of Blu-ray just yet, but hopefully eventually. Generally I watch Blu-rays using my Playstation though, so I wouldn't be using it to watch things all the time.
Re: Help choosing a drive?
ASUS rebrands someone else's optical drive. Some ASUS used to have a Pioneer drive inside them. Everything else is an LG drive. For the last few years, it was only Pioneer and LG that made desktop drives. Now it is only LG. And they really only make 1 drive. The difference between a 14 and a 16 is firmware. Generally speaking, Pioneer drives are better. If you're going to buy an LG internal drive, get the cheapest you can find from a place with a reasonable return window in case the drive is DOA.
Re: Help choosing a drive?
Oh I see, that's interesting then.
There is one Asus drive I see, the ASUS BW-16D1HT, that seems relatively in-stock some places, I guess it's one of the LG drives inside? Would this be an alright choice?
It's just that flashing guide that says in big bold words right at the start "The recommended drives are Pioneer's they are much better than Asus and LG" gives me some pause...
Are they really that much better? The only Pioneer ones that I can really find available at non exorbitant prices are on like some Japanes sale and auction sites and I can't imagine I'd have a very easy time trying to return one if something was wrong with it.
Manwhile I see that ASUS one being sold on Amazon, which would give me some protection at least.
I just don't want to regret buying something just because it was the safer option, but worse quality or the better quality one, but with much more risk :/
There is one Asus drive I see, the ASUS BW-16D1HT, that seems relatively in-stock some places, I guess it's one of the LG drives inside? Would this be an alright choice?
It's just that flashing guide that says in big bold words right at the start "The recommended drives are Pioneer's they are much better than Asus and LG" gives me some pause...
Are they really that much better? The only Pioneer ones that I can really find available at non exorbitant prices are on like some Japanes sale and auction sites and I can't imagine I'd have a very easy time trying to return one if something was wrong with it.
Manwhile I see that ASUS one being sold on Amazon, which would give me some protection at least.
I just don't want to regret buying something just because it was the safer option, but worse quality or the better quality one, but with much more risk :/
Re: Help choosing a drive?
I have an ASUS BW-16D1HT and an LG WH16NS60, both are older from back when LG's quality control was higher than it is now (before the COVID pandemic). Those drives are fine. I have two newer Pioneer drives from before Pioneer stopped making drives. My Pioneer drives produce successful rips more often than my LG/ASUS drives.
When ripping 4K UHDs, Pioneer drives max out at 4X read speed. It often takes an hour+ to make a decrypted backup of a 90GB+ 3-layer disc. My LG drives max out 6X speed, so in a perfect world, they'll read a disc faster. But since getting a Pioneer drive it has naturally become my default drive because I'm more interested in successful rips than racing to a failure.
In my experience, no single drive will read every disc. Some drives just don't like some discs. Having multiple drives means in the rare case that my default drive can't read a disc, the first thing I do is try the disc in a different drive. More often than not the disc reads fine in a different drive. If that doesn't work, then I'm on to cleaning the disc and very rarely replacing a disc.
If I were only going to have 1 drive it would be a Pioneer. If you have a serious quantity of discs to rip and plan to get more in the future, adding a second drive (or more) will make your life easier. This forum is filled with people being highly frustrated that their latest purchase or favorite movie won't rip. There are also lots of posts of people mentioning that a second drive allowed them to rip a big chunk of the discs their main drive couldn't rip.
There are sellers on this forum that'll sell you a properly flashed and tested drive. In the US, Billycar11 has some Pioneers for sale. In Europe, Asmcom is currently closed for holiday break but has said they'll have a few more Pioneer drives for sale when they reopen. In Australia MartyMcNuts is selling drives. I don't know if he's got any Pioneers left.
When ripping 4K UHDs, Pioneer drives max out at 4X read speed. It often takes an hour+ to make a decrypted backup of a 90GB+ 3-layer disc. My LG drives max out 6X speed, so in a perfect world, they'll read a disc faster. But since getting a Pioneer drive it has naturally become my default drive because I'm more interested in successful rips than racing to a failure.
In my experience, no single drive will read every disc. Some drives just don't like some discs. Having multiple drives means in the rare case that my default drive can't read a disc, the first thing I do is try the disc in a different drive. More often than not the disc reads fine in a different drive. If that doesn't work, then I'm on to cleaning the disc and very rarely replacing a disc.
If I were only going to have 1 drive it would be a Pioneer. If you have a serious quantity of discs to rip and plan to get more in the future, adding a second drive (or more) will make your life easier. This forum is filled with people being highly frustrated that their latest purchase or favorite movie won't rip. There are also lots of posts of people mentioning that a second drive allowed them to rip a big chunk of the discs their main drive couldn't rip.
There are sellers on this forum that'll sell you a properly flashed and tested drive. In the US, Billycar11 has some Pioneers for sale. In Europe, Asmcom is currently closed for holiday break but has said they'll have a few more Pioneer drives for sale when they reopen. In Australia MartyMcNuts is selling drives. I don't know if he's got any Pioneers left.