Good buy or no so good buy?

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NutFlush920
Posts: 94
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2011 8:26 pm

Good buy or no so good buy?

Post by NutFlush920 »

Looking at buying this Blu-ray drive and wanted some opinions. It's only $85 and even burns BD-R discs. I plan to use it with my MacBook Pro.

I was going to buy just a 2X Blu-ray readable drive for $65 but, found this for only $20 more and it's 6X read speed and let's me burn Blu-ray discs too.

What do y'all think? Buy or pass?

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-SE-506AB- ... roduct_top
crowfax
Posts: 972
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 5:55 am

Re: Good buy or no so good buy?

Post by crowfax »

I have that drive hooked up to my eeeBox, starts off ripping at about 2.4x and goes up to about 4x on duel layer discs.

I have yet to rip a single layer disc with it, but i'd expect it to be a little faster.
Home Theater PC: Assassin HTPC, XBMCbuntu 12.0 (Frodo), Intel i5 3570k 3.4 GHz Ivy Bridge w/ HD 4000, LG BD-ROM
Playback Devices: Mede8er MED600X3D, MyGica EnjoyTV 120, Xtreamer SideWinder 3, Crystal Acoustics MediaMatchBox
NutFlush920
Posts: 94
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2011 8:26 pm

Good buy or no so good buy?

Post by NutFlush920 »

The other one I was looking at was this one but, the Samsung looks awesome at that price not to mention the A/V mode feature allowing me to hook the drive to my USB's port and watch movies if I want.

http://www.amazon.com/Blu-Ray-USB-Exter ... VM1MTX9C07
NutFlush920
Posts: 94
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2011 8:26 pm

Good buy or no so good buy?

Post by NutFlush920 »

So I should buy it hey? LOL
crowfax wrote:I have that drive hooked up to my eeeBox, starts off ripping at about 2.4x and goes up to about 4x on duel layer discs.

I have yet to rip a single layer disc with it, but i'd expect it to be a little faster.
crowfax
Posts: 972
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 5:55 am

Re: Good buy or no so good buy?

Post by crowfax »

I have that other drive too. It never goes above 2.0x on DL discs. I did a review of it here:
http://www.amazon.com/review/RK40NSW53E9TK

Depends how much speed you want.
Home Theater PC: Assassin HTPC, XBMCbuntu 12.0 (Frodo), Intel i5 3570k 3.4 GHz Ivy Bridge w/ HD 4000, LG BD-ROM
Playback Devices: Mede8er MED600X3D, MyGica EnjoyTV 120, Xtreamer SideWinder 3, Crystal Acoustics MediaMatchBox
NutFlush920
Posts: 94
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2011 8:26 pm

Good buy or no so good buy?

Post by NutFlush920 »

I think for a $20 difference it's a no brainier for me knowing the Samsung works well with Make MKV.

Thanks man!
crowfax
Posts: 972
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 5:55 am

Re: Good buy or no so good buy?

Post by crowfax »

I haven't tried the A/V mode. I honestly have no idea what it does. It's for plugging into Samsung TV's or something to use it as a blu-ray player?
Home Theater PC: Assassin HTPC, XBMCbuntu 12.0 (Frodo), Intel i5 3570k 3.4 GHz Ivy Bridge w/ HD 4000, LG BD-ROM
Playback Devices: Mede8er MED600X3D, MyGica EnjoyTV 120, Xtreamer SideWinder 3, Crystal Acoustics MediaMatchBox
NutFlush920
Posts: 94
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2011 8:26 pm

Good buy or no so good buy?

Post by NutFlush920 »

Basically yes from what I've read but, that's not my main purpose just an added bonus. I think I'll place my order for the Samsung tonight. I can't imagine the price going much lower.
NutFlush920
Posts: 94
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2011 8:26 pm

Good buy or no so good buy?

Post by NutFlush920 »

Placed my order. Thanks again for your input.
crowfax
Posts: 972
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 5:55 am

Re: Good buy or no so good buy?

Post by crowfax »

You're welcome. I hope you enjoy it!
Home Theater PC: Assassin HTPC, XBMCbuntu 12.0 (Frodo), Intel i5 3570k 3.4 GHz Ivy Bridge w/ HD 4000, LG BD-ROM
Playback Devices: Mede8er MED600X3D, MyGica EnjoyTV 120, Xtreamer SideWinder 3, Crystal Acoustics MediaMatchBox
NutFlush920
Posts: 94
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2011 8:26 pm

Re: Good buy or no so good buy?

Post by NutFlush920 »

I got my new drive today. It works very nice. The consistant read spead was 2.2x throughout the whole Blu-ray rip I did in MakeMKV on my wife's Windows 7 Sony Vaio. That was a little slower then the Pioneer drive in the laptop which was about 2.9X for the same rip.

I haven't tried it yet on my MacBook Pro though but, will tonight and will keep y'all updated on the results.
NutFlush920
Posts: 94
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2011 8:26 pm

Good buy or no so good buy?

Post by NutFlush920 »

Well I tried the same movie on my Mac and got areas speed of 1.3X. I tried another movie and got up to 2.4X.

Although not the fastest, it is acceptable and could be much worse. On my wife's Sony Vaio the fastest I ever seen was 3.2X.

Also, very pleased it only needs 1 USB connection not 2. My MacBook Pro only has 2 USB ports so having the 2nd port available for my external hard drive lets me write to a HDD so I'm not constantly writing to my SSD when I get it.
crowfax
Posts: 972
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 5:55 am

Re: Good buy or no so good buy?

Post by crowfax »

I've only tried it on my eeeBox, I'd say the average speed was about 3.0x.

I've noticed it's slower on DVD's that I would expect. I've looked to see if there is any information about riplock on the drive, but I have yet to find a firmware for it to download and try and fix with MediaCodeSpeedEdit.

Let me know if you find any firmware for it and we can try it.
Home Theater PC: Assassin HTPC, XBMCbuntu 12.0 (Frodo), Intel i5 3570k 3.4 GHz Ivy Bridge w/ HD 4000, LG BD-ROM
Playback Devices: Mede8er MED600X3D, MyGica EnjoyTV 120, Xtreamer SideWinder 3, Crystal Acoustics MediaMatchBox
NutFlush920
Posts: 94
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2011 8:26 pm

Good buy or no so good buy?

Post by NutFlush920 »

After some more test it appears you're correct. The drive appears to have rippock and won't go over 10.9 M/s.

I searched all over the web for a patch or updated firmware but, was not successful. I hope you have better luck. I'd love to see this drive at its fullest potential.
crowfax
Posts: 972
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 5:55 am

Re: Good buy or no so good buy?

Post by crowfax »

I found the firmware but it doesn't open in MediaCodeSpeedEdit. Not sure what to do next.
Home Theater PC: Assassin HTPC, XBMCbuntu 12.0 (Frodo), Intel i5 3570k 3.4 GHz Ivy Bridge w/ HD 4000, LG BD-ROM
Playback Devices: Mede8er MED600X3D, MyGica EnjoyTV 120, Xtreamer SideWinder 3, Crystal Acoustics MediaMatchBox
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