LG - 8x External USB 2.0 Blu-ray Disc Double-Layer DVD±RW/CD-RW Disc Rewriter - Black

I just bought this Blu-Ray optical drive yesterday, I needed something to rip my Blu-Ray collection as my Apple SuperDrive is only capable of reading / writing DVDs. This was really the only one they had to offer at my local BestBuy and the reviews online were decent, so I thought I'd give it a try. A couple of things right off the bat - some reviews on here are confusing, after reading and doing research, I wasn't sure if this drive had two separate USB cables, or just one, the manufacturer's description wasn't helpful at all. However, I discovered that it is technically one cable, but it DOES SPLIT AT THE END into two USBs, one for data transfer and the other to provide additional power to the drive. The main drawback here is that the split in the cord itself is very short, only a few inches, so if you have a 15-inch MacBook Pro (like I do) this is a major problem because the only 2 USB ports are on opposite sides of the computer... At first I tried plugging both into one of my 4 port USB hubs, I thought it was going to work but then the rips kept failing because the drive didn't have enough power. So, HERE WAS MY WORKAROUND: even though every LG document says not to, I plugged the shorter split end of the cable into a USB extension cable, which I then plugged into one of my iPhone USB power adapters. It is working great now, have ripped 6 Blu-Rays and am doing more as I type. So basically even though LG advertises "No AC power needed! Convenient!" it's not exactly so, I'd almost rather they provide an AC cable, but my workaround seems to be doing just fine and I can live with it. I assume this will affect almost all Mac laptop users and probably a lot of PC notebooks as well. (SEE PHOTOS) Other than that I am pretty happy with the drive, I realize Blu-Ray drives in general are going to be more expensive, but honestly for $100 it does feel a little cheap. All plastic and the slot that pops out to put the disc into seems kinda flimsy, so I'll be extra careful about that. Oh and Mac users: I was able to plug and play with this drive, I am ripping the Blu-Rays using MakeMKV and it worked fine, no drivers to install or anything. I imagine if you download a Blu-Ray playing software for Mac you might have to download some drivers, but probably not. Shouldn't have any problems.

I had purchased a similar item on line, which would not play newer Blu Ray discs so I went to Best Buy, where the Geek Squad tested this one first, everything working just fine. My reason for only 4 stars instead of 5 is that it needs two USB ports to work properly.

Bought this today to use with my HP All in One computer . Very slim design taking up very little room on desk. Loaded super fast and works great. Love being able to play blu-ray DVD’s on computer!

Still Learning how use it, Thanks for asking, have a great day!

Be sure you know you have to buy a download for it to work. Product slot doesn't open easily.

This is a good external blue ray drive. It works great with my desktop and laptop PC. One thing to beware of is the data/power cable two USB 2.o type A connectors. They are close together and you will need the USB ports on your computer to be close. This will not be a problem for most desktop computers, but laptops it may be a concern. I attached a picture of the cable. The drive played my blue ray DVD without a problem. I haven't tried burning a Blu ray DVD. The included software will do the basic stuff, you want something better for more advanced things.

I grabbed this when the Superdrive in my eight year old iMac bit the dust. I didn't have the $80-odd dollars an external Mac drive costs, and was hoping that for the price I'd at least get SOME good use out of this one. And so far, so good. Admittedly, I've only had this burner for about six weeks. But in those six weeks, I've already burned over a dozen disks. The drive is reasonably quick and pretty quiet. And every disk so far has burned perfectly. I've also used it to watch a couple DVDs and to upload a couple CDs to iTunes. Again, so far everything worked fine. I haven't needed the included software as it was plug-and-play with my Mac. It is basically all plastic, so it's probably not realistic to expect a long life. But I'm one who usually treats his toys with kid gloves, so I'm hoping to get a decent run out of it. If I don't, I'll let you know!

Decent drive for those looking for blu-Ray capabilities. Did not yet install the software that comes with it as I was using different software already installed on my computer. But overall it’s a fast drive and runs pretty quiet. Only gripe - which I understand now is common with these sort of drives - is that it has a dual-USB with one needed plugged in for connection and another USB attached to the same end of the cord that also needs plugged in as the power source. So unless you have two USB ports right next to each other it’s not going to be possible to plug in both. Also a little pricey since blu-rays have been a household name so to speak for several years now.