www.makemkv.com

I possibly have the chance to get a (used) Pioneer from a friend living in Japan and would like to know
what I need to consider when making him look out for a drive for me:

As I understand libredrive is a no-brainer... it just works for all of the Pioneer now. Right?

But: What about firmware? Is it a problem if the drive was manually updated to a post-2022 firmware
or does it not matter as long it's UHD drive? (i.e. No crossflash).
Is there any difference between E/U/J-models?

Which of the drives is the most recommended?

Thanks!

As long as the drive is an UHD drive the firmware date doesn't matter.

Only pre-Dec. 2022 non-UHD drives can be crossflashed for UHD.

The X13 comes with an enclosure, the S13 i a bare drive.

Regarding quality they are equal.