www.makemkv.com

I purchased a drive from Billy several months ago and it has been working flawlessly!

The entire process from initial email, to venmo transaction to receiving the actual drive in the mail was simple, fast and professional.

Thanks Billy, I appreciate how quick you responded to my first request to buy the drive!

I placed my order for a Pioneer BDR 212 last Friday after work. I received the drive in the mail this afternoon! The whole process was incredibly fast, and the drive works great. Installed it in a Vantec external enclosure and it went through a UHD/4k disk in about 40 minutes.

I definitely recommend Billy's services if you're looking to get a drive.

Thanks, Billy!

Sir,

Before I purchase a drive from you I would like to find out if most laptops will connect and play movies from most DVD players, basically Plug and Play, nothing additional needed to do. My laptop information is below and I have already purchased two DVD Read/Write external DVD players and neither player will work. The Dell player will show what is on the disc that came with the drive which is simply software for that has nothing to do with playing movies. There are no drivers or setup files needed from the disc. Any other disc that I put in, from a UHD 4K to a standard DVD is not recognized. The drive does it's spinning and reading thing for about 30 seconds and then stops. I can see the drive in under devices but not under Windows Explorer. When I click on it under devices the door opens and asks me to insert disk even though there is a disk already in the drive. If I close the drawer the drive does the same thing as before, 30 second read and spin and then stops. So, I was about to order a new drive from here and thought that what if the other drives were at a minimum supposed to show up under Windows Explorer and show the contents that are in the drive. If I purchase a drive and plug it in, then I'm in the same position where it doesn't read any disc. Maybe I am wrong by thinking that external drives should simply be plug an play when it comes to viewing contents on a disk or playing a movie. Does it sound like I have a problem with my laptop, or will the drive I purchase here work and the other drives aren't setup like you setup your drives, which is why they don't work. Hopefully this wasn't too confusing.

DVD Drive:
Dell DVD +/- RW Optical Drive DW316

HP Spectre x360 15t Premium Convertible Laptop
Intel 8th Gen i7 Quad Core
32 MB RAM
1 TB SSD
Nvidia Geforce MX150
15.6 4K UHD 3840x2160 Touch
Windows 11

ok for the first time since the holidays all pioneer drives are instock and ready to ship
and i now have simplified the paypal option with buy links just email me for them

Billy comes through again. This recent Pioneer BDR-S13U-X is the second drive I've purchased from him. I thought I'd be waiting a while for it to ship but my timing must've been good. Billy shipped within 24 hours. The drive has worked perfectly inside the Vantec NST-540S3-BK enclosure I got from Amazon.

My reason for paying the premium for a BDR-S13U-X was largely anecdotal. I wanted a drive known for its reliability in reading UHD discs, obviously, but also one of higher quality in terms of hardware. Who knows how long they'll continue making these things, so I went with the drive I thought would last the longest with its improved dust and heat resistance, more robust tray mechanism, etc. (although I didn't find any MTBF ratings to support my theory).

As for the PureRead capability, I guess it's nice to know this drive was engineered with audio in mind. I do rip a lot of CDs. However, I rarely deal with damaged discs so I doubt PureRead will ever save the day. Also, I strive for an exact rip and wouldn't want anything interpolated. I think PureRead defaults to ON so I'll probably need to grab the utility that allows me to turn it off.

It's also worth mentioning that the Vantec case is of high-quality as well. A stout aluminum case with tall, shock-absorbing rubber feet. It also comes with its own 12V/3A power supply so I don't have to worry about all that USB power bs anymore.

Anyway, thanks, Billy!

I'm extremely happy with my BDR-S13U-X bought from Billy back in December. I've been re-ripping all my Blu-rays and 4K UHD discs to lossless on my NAS, replacing all my older compressed and encoded older rips.

I've put 200 discs through it already with no issues at all. It's quiet, fast, and built well. Working exactly as hoped. Hooked up to an M2 MacBook Pro.

I recently purchased (2) BDR-S13UBKs from Billy to replace (2) ASUS BW-16D1HTs. The Pioneers are higher quality units with a really great mechanism. They have no issues reading any except the most damaged discs. The ASUS units were not as reliable at reading discs.
The down side is that the Pioneer's read speed is half (UHD 4x) versus the ASUS (UHD 8x).
Billy is great to work with and offers terrific and responsive support.

scottdleslie wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 24, 2024 11:59 pm

The down side is that the Pioneer's read speed is half (UHD 4x) versus the ASUS (UHD 8x).

You may be able to change that for it may be attributable to the default policy of the drive. This page contains download links to Pioneer's drive utility software. I recommend users of Pioneer's drives to download the compatible software and set mode to Performance Mode. By default it is set to another mode which limits its maximum potential. Also set the other option whose name escapes me at the moment to Perfect instead of Master. This will ensure perfection instead of lack thereof via interpolation. Even still it may be more slow comparative to drives by other manufacturers. Personally I care about accuracy and precision only – not speed.

4x is the max for UHD but im sure we are all saving time in the long run compared to an lg or asus having to restart the rip after cleaning a disc or exchange discs
its only an extra 15-30 mins per disc
they do 8x on regular BD

Billycar11 wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 25, 2024 12:23 am

4x is the max for UHD but im sure we are all saving time in the long run compared to an lg or asus having to restart the rip after cleaning a disc or exchange discs

Yesterday I noticed a long time for titles on a BD-ROM FHD disc to load which is unexpected behaviour now. I removed it from my BDR-S13U/J-X, wiped it in a wheel-and-spoke pattern using a clean soft microfibre cloth, then repeated the process and all was well with it. Even with BD-ROM FHD discs that peculiar behaviour is the semi-norm for LG drives and after wiping as explained changes nothing.

Billycar11 wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 25, 2024 12:23 am

its only an extra 15-30 mins per disc

It matters so little to me that I never actually compared speeds of my BDR-S13U/J-X and WH16NS40. I turned them off and considered to put them in their boxes for I use them no longer – even with BD-ROM FHD discs.

I purchased a BDR-212 from Billy a little over two months ago for a new PC build. I just tried it out this evening for my first makemkv decode on the new machine (The Flash). I'm happy to report that it worked awesome!

The transaction was easy (Zelle) and the drive arrived quickly. Thanks so much, Billy!

I purchased a Pioneer BDR-212 a few months ago, after my previous drive that I'd sourced and flashed myself crapped out on me. I didn't want to deal with all the research into drives and revisions and making sure store listings on places like Amazon were for the drive I wanted again, so I'm really glad that this options for buying pre-flash drives where all of that was already done for me is available. Quick responses, quick shipping, easy payment, couldn't ask for anything more. Thanks, Billy!

I bought a Pioneer BDR-S13U-X 5.25 SATA from Billy and it’s been working great. Easy to order, good communication from Billy, and fast shipping. Plug and play LibreDrive. Highly recommend!

Received my drive from Billy and I've used it for some movies I bought from Amazon. Both Blu-Ray and 4K UHD HDR discs. Worked great and the drive arrived quickly.

Are these drives region-free for regular blu-rays and DVD?