Advice for new optical drive purchase

[Grendizer]

Hello there! I'm a forum newbie!
I'd like to get your advices for a new optical drive I'd like to purchase. I'd like it to : ...
- Be new, released in 2025 or 2024 (or 2023)
- Able to burn all kind of discs including 100 and 120 Gb blu rays
- Able to read 4K Blu rays on my Windows PC. Do I need to flash it with LibreDrive for that?
- Not interested in DVD or Blu-ray ripping.
Thanks for any tips!!
Gz

[Woodstock]

Your requirements are rather specific, and hard to complete.

Released in 2023 or later can cover both LG and Pioneer drives.

Able to burn 100GB disks means you want a Pioneer. LG drives aren't reliable writing above 50GB.

Able to read 4K disks on a Windows PC will exclude the Pioneer unless you modify its firmware... which you currently cannot do. The LG (and related) disks also require firmware updates, but those are still available.

Reading DVD and BD aren't a big factor, as any disk can do those as long as the two lasers are still working.

[Grendizer]

Hi Woodstock, thanks for the info. I've read elsewhere about it and yes the LG drive are not advised.
But I found a recently released Pioneer burner that is said to be able to read 4K blu-rays discs on Windows 11 through PowerDVD : https://pioneer-blurayodd.eu/products/b ... /index.php . It does not seem to need a firmware modification. What do you think about it?
It seems to be out of stock but perhaps Pioneer has similar drives?

[dcoke22]

Pioneer no longer makes optical drives unfortunately.

https://forum.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=173980#p173980

Pioneer drives are the best but finding a legitimate one now is hard. There are lots of counterfeit drives for sale in China - they're not recommended.

Asmcom might have some left when they reopen their store.
Billycar11 is preparing what is most likely his last ever batch of Pioneer drives for sale.

[MartyMcNuts]

Hi Woodstock, thanks for the info. I've read elsewhere about it and yes the LG drive are not advised.
But I found a recently released Pioneer burner that is said to be able to read 4K blu-rays discs on Windows 11 through PowerDVD : https://pioneer-blurayodd.eu/products/b ... /index.php . It does not seem to need a firmware modification. What do you think about it?
It seems to be out of stock but perhaps Pioneer has similar drives?

Also, the more recent versions of PowerDVD do not read UHD discs. The removed this feature a couple of years ago. Apparently it can play 4k files though (so ripped, decrypted files), just not discs.

[Grendizer]

Oh These are very sad, sad news. I'm an old school HTPC guy and I still purchase blu-rays regularly! I wanted to purchase a new drive to try 4K blu-rays.
So Pioneer pulls out of Blu-ray drive manufacturing? What about other brands ? LG? Asus? They're pulling out too?
About blu-ray discs, Copilot said : "Yes, Blu-ray discs are still very much alive in 2025. Studios continue to release new movies and TV shows on Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray formats, often with collector-friendly packaging like steelbooks and bonus features." So if blu-ray discs are still alive, why is Pioneer pulling out?
I hate streaming!
PowerDVD does not read UHD discs anymore?
Billycar11 does not ship to Europe?
What will happen when Asmcom and Billycar11 stop selling drives? What will I do?
Are standalone bluray players the way to go now? Even if, as an HTPC enthusiast, I wanted to avoid standalone players I wanted to have everything available from my HTPC : movies, music, games... perhaps I need to get a standalone now?
It’s an absolute full-blown disaster catastrophe of epic proportions! unbelievable!

[dcoke22]

Most people on this forum are still buying blu-rays and UHDs.

LG is still making drives but they're not at as nice as a Pioneer drive.

I haven't burned a disc in years. There's almost no reason to actually burn discs these days. Why do you want to burn a disc?

If you want to rip a 4K UHD the optical drive must be able to read 4K UHDs and must be LibreDrive enabled.

If you think you want to regularly put a 4K UHD in an optical drive and watch a movie right off the optical disc… you're asking for a bunch of unnecessary pain and suffering. There is no official way to watch a 4K UHD on a modern computer. Intel removed the hardware support necessary from their CPUs generations ago and AMD never support it.

It is much easier to rip a disc and watch the resulting .mkv file.

[MartyMcNuts]

Oh These are very sad, sad news. I'm an old school HTPC guy and I still purchase blu-rays regularly! I wanted to purchase a new drive to try 4K blu-rays.
So Pioneer pulls out of Blu-ray drive manufacturing? What about other brands ? LG? Asus? They're pulling out too?
About blu-ray discs, Copilot said : "Yes, Blu-ray discs are still very much alive in 2025. Studios continue to release new movies and TV shows on Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray formats, often with collector-friendly packaging like steelbooks and bonus features." So if blu-ray discs are still alive, why is Pioneer pulling out?
I hate streaming!
PowerDVD does not read UHD discs anymore?
Billycar11 does not ship to Europe?
What will happen when Asmcom and Billycar11 stop selling drives? What will I do?
Are standalone bluray players the way to go now? Even if, as an HTPC enthusiast, I wanted to avoid standalone players I wanted to have everything available from my HTPC : movies, music, games... perhaps I need to get a standalone now?
It’s an absolute full-blown disaster catastrophe of epic proportions! unbelievable!

Yep, pretty much nobody burns discs anymore. That's so 20 years ago!! I think the last time I burned a disc was maybe 2007?

99.99% of us rip our movies and store them on a NAS for streaming to any and all devices in a household. Personally, I store mine on my NAS and stream movies to my HTPC in my theatre room. I also watch TV shows etc on my ipad in bed. My wife streams what she wants to watch on the TV in the living room and also uses her ipad when in bed.

I also ripped all of my music CD's to my NAS. This way, I can use my phone or ipad (with headphones) to listen to music in bed and my HTPC receiver in the theatre room to listen to music around the house.

[Grendizer]

Hi all, well yes, I'm still burning discs for long term backup. As I work in 3D/Video/Games, I handle huge files, and each projects can easily reach 100 or 200 Gb. When I finish a project I need to archive it to clear space on my PC. That's why I need burning on 100 and 120 Gb Blu-ray discs. I've been thinking about purchasing an enormous NAS for long term archiving, but it might be pricey and it might fill up quickly...

I also got a NAS for short term backups (saving the projects I'm currently working on). I also use it for storing movie video files, and music and other stuff. But I never rip the blu-rays and DVD I purchase because I just need to insert them in my HTPC's optical drive to watch them using Kodi and PowerDVD.
But as you all said, thing are different with 4K Blu-rays.

I don't know about you but when I purchase a movie on disc, I watch it once. Then the next time I will watch it would be perhaps 5 years later, or when I want to re-watch it with friends... which doesn't happen often. Don't you think that making a rip for a movie I watch only once every 5 years is a bit too much work?
Then again, if it's the only way to go...

[dcoke22]

For me it is a cost saving measure since I am no longer throwing my remote at the TV in anger at unskippable previews, idiotic menu systems, and laughable FBI & Interpol warnings.

On a more serious note, I do strongly prefer the interface to a movie or TV show being click the button on my remote and 3 seconds later the movie is playing. After living this way for a few years it is hard to imagine going back to the old way. But it does take a bit of time to manage and set up and that is something that not everyone wants to spend their time doing. In the end, there's no single perfect way to enjoy movies at home and that's okay.

[Grendizer]

OK I understand what you mean. It's true that starting a blu ray disc with PowerDVD is painfully long. Let's go for this "rip before playing" method!
I'll check with some online stores for the best available drive.