Reddit reviews LG Electronics 14x SATA Blu-ray Internal Rewriter without Software, Black (WH14NS40)

Mac Mini (2018 model), named NOSTROMO

• 3.2 GHz Hexa-Core Core i7 CPU
  
• 32 GB of RAM
  
• 256 GB PCIe boot volume
  
• 2 TB external rotating drive for Time Machine Backups, connected via Thunderbolt 3 / USB-C
  
• Dual 8 TB Western Digital Elements USB 3.0 drives for content, VOL1 and VOL2. VOL1 is replicated to VOL2, both are connected via Thunderbolt 3 / USB-C. These handy adapter cables allow you to connect a traditional USB 3.0 device into a Thunderbolt 3 port.
  
• Single 4 TB SeaGate Plus USB 3.0 drive which contains the majority of my media content, VOL5. It is a "floater" drive which I always carry in my backpack to have the majority of my content with me at all times.
  
• Running Mac OS 10.14.6 Server
  
• Dual 27” Apple Thunderbolt Displays connected to the Mac Mini, daisy-chained off a single Thunderbolt 3 port using a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter.
  
• This Mac Mini is what I use to host all of my iTunes content to the three Apple TVs in my home
  
  
  

  Mac Mini (2010 model), named SPUNKMEYER
  

  
  

• 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo CPU
  
• 16 GB of RAM
  
• 100 GB SSD boot volume
  
• 500 GB traditional drive for Time Machine Backups
  
• Running Mac OS 10.13.6 Server
  
  
  

  MacBook Pro Retina 15” (2015 model), named SULACO
  

  
  

• 2.2 GHz Quad-Core Core i7 CPU
  
• 16 GB of RAM
  
• 256 GB SSD
  
• Running Mac OS 10.14.6 Client
  
• Time Machine Backups are being taken both on the 2018 Mac Mini as well as the 2010 Mac Mini
  
  
  

  Mac Mini (2012 model), named FERRO
  

  
  

• This Mac is located at Mom & Dad’s about 1,000 miles away. It is a complete offsite backup of all of my content, it is also used for Time Machine backups of my mother’s Mac Mini and my niece’s MacBook Pro. I have both Remote Desktop and SSH access via the magic of port forwarding. Whenever I add a new movie, I place it is my Shared Dropbox folder, then about 30 minutes later it is available on the backup Mac Mini. I then move it over to VOL3, and all of my content is always in sync.
  
• 2.5 GHz Dual-Core Core i5 CPU
  
• 16 GB of RAM
  
• 120 GB SSD boot volume
  
• 500 GB traditional drive for Time Machine Backups
  
• Single 8 TB Western Digital Elements USB 3.0 drive for storing and hosting content, VOL3. It is a complete duplicate of VOL1/VOL2.
  
• Running Mac OS 10.14.6 Server
  
  
  

  Mac Mini (2012 model), named AURIGA
  

  
  

• This Mac is located at my sister's house about 1,000 miles away. It is a complete offsite backup of all of my movies and TV shows, it is also used for Time Machine backups of my sister's MacBook Pro and my other niece’s MacBook. I have both Remote Desktop and SSH access via the magic of port forwarding. Whenever I add a new movie, I place it is my Shared Dropbox folder, then about 30 minutes later it is available on the backup Mac Mini. I then move it over to VOL4, and all of my content is always in sync.
  
• 2.5 GHz Dual-Core Core i5 CPU
  
• 16 GB of RAM
  
• 256 GB SSD boot volume
  
• 500 GB traditional drive for Time Machine Backups
  
• Single 4 TB Seagate Backup Plus USB 3.0 drive (VOL4) for storing and hosting content, VOL4. As it is only a 4 TB volumes, it contains only the moves and television shows which are on VOL1, VOL2, and VOL3.
  
• Running Mac OS 10.14.6 Server
  
  
  Both the 2012 Minis and the 2010 Mini are completely headless. Unfortunately, this means that accessing them via remote desktop gives you a measly 800x600 resolution. I use this handy little gadget on both of them to replicate a 1920x1080 display being connected. So, when I connect via Screen Sharing I get a nice big display.
  
  
  

  MacBook Pro (2018 model), named APLC02XV5W1JGH5
  

  
  

• 2.2 GHz Six-Core Intel Core i7 CPU
  
• 16 GB of RAM
  
• 500 GB SSD
  
• Running Mac OS 10.14.5 Client
  
• This is my work-provided laptop, mostly used for remote access. It is pretty locked down, I am not a local administrator so I cannot even rename it to fit my naming scheme
  
  
  

  iPad Pro 10.5", named APONE
  

  
  

• 2.38 GHz Apple A10X CPU
  
• 4 GB of RAM
  
• 256 GB of storage
  
• Running iOS 13.0 Public Beta
  
  
  

  iPhone X, named RIPLEY
  

  
  

• 2.4 GHz Apple A11 Bionic CPU
  
• 3 GB of RAM
  
• 256 GB of storage
  
• Running iOS 12.4
  
  
  LG Blu-Ray reader/writer in connected to NOSTROMO via USB 3.0, used for ripping Blu-Rays and DVDs
  
  Sabrent USB 3.0 Dual-Bay Hard Drive Dock, also connected to NOSTROMO via USB 3.0
  
  The microphone is a Yeti Blue with a Nady Pop Filter, coupled with a Logitech HD C310, used for Google Hangouts and FaceTime calls with the fam, and the occasional podcast. It is mounted on a RODE PSA1 Swivel Mount Studio Microphone Boom Arm and a RADIUS II Microphone Shock Mount.
  
  The mousepad is an XTracPads Ripper XXL mousepad
  
  The chair is a Raynor Ergohuman ME7ERG desk chair
  
  I use Dropbox to expertly keep my content in sync. Due to the amount of content I keep in there, it is well worth the $100 per year for a Dropbox Pro subscription.
  
  
  Additionally throughout the house, I have...
  3 Eeros for my Mesh Wireless Network WiFi System
  2 Apple TVs (4K), named ASH and CALL
  1 Apple TV (4th Generation), named BISHOP
  1 Apple HomePod, named DIETRICH
  1 Nest Hello Video Doorbell, named HELLO
  1 Nest Learning Thermostat, named NEST (yeah, original af, I know)
  2 WyzeCam Pans, named WYZE-Kitchen and WYZE-LivingRoom
  4 WeMo Smart Plugs, named WEMO-Foyer, WEMO-SpareBedroom, WEMO-MasterBedroom, and WEMO-LivingRoom
  1 Amazon Echo Plus, named ECHO-LivingRoom
  2 Amazon Echoes (First-Generation), named ECHO-MasterBedroom and ECHO-Kitchen
  2 Amazon Echo Dots, named DOT-Office, and DOT-SpareBedroom
  4 Google Home Minis
  1 Brother HL-L2395DW Wireless Laser Printer, named LV426
  1 PlayStation 3 Slim 120 GB, named HICKS
  
  I have a total of 31 IP reservations according to my Eero app. This makes it a lot easier to manage my network, set up port forwarding, etc.

I bought this one for delivery in the USA last year, works fine.

LG Electronics WH14NS40 - $59.99

It looks like the price went up since last week, but here you go.

I know of them, it's not my favourite idea. I prefer to keep it self contained, though it wouldn't be hard to just stuff it elsewhere on my desk when not in use.

One thing that's not entirely applicable is that we make fun of apple products for removing functionality from the device and giving it back as a dongle/adapter. But remove CD/DVD drives from PC's and use external ones.

It's not a 1:1 comparison though because apple does it to make their computers more unnecessarily thin as well as to sell you more of their overpriced shit, and PCs do it for more fans or other internal space.

Also, I'm not sure how an external blu-ray drive works. But I know you can get VLC to play discs off internal blu-ray drives, and the ability to quickly take snapshots like this at source quality using VLC without having to faff about with other shit is one thing I particularly like having.

At the end of the day it comes down to personal preference, and my personal preference, outdated and impractical as it is, is to have it all internal rather than external.

EDIT: After checking the cost of an external blu ray burner, they're almost double the price of an internal drive as well.

It is a type of optical media, there are DVD versions and bluray versions. Basically rather than a laser burning the organic dye stuff for a normal one, it is a slightly stronger laser burning a rock like material. It is supposed to last at least 1000 years.

You can get it off amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-Internal-Rewriter-WH14NS40/dp/B007VPGL5U

https://www.amazon.com/Verbatim-M-Disc-BD-R-Branded-Surface/dp/B011PZALWA

There have been some reports of things going strange with the multilayer, so I only trust the single layer (25GB) discs.

Edit: switched amazon link to write drive. linked to dvd only one at first.

i have the optical drive on my desk since my case doesnt have a place for it

i have this drive with this sata to usb powered adapter, literally haven't had a problem with it for over 2 years now

keep in mind also that the original quality rips off the blu ray are going to be massive in file size, i'd very much recommend picking up an external HDD as well to store files if u plan on running something like plex, or go balls deep and build an entire server like i did

Unfortunately that seems for me £57.95. That's $81.47. Or at least the one I think is the UK Amazon equivalent. The original price was already pushing it. I may have to find another.

Sure, happy to help!

1. Minimal. A few % faster on memory intensive tasks, but not much compared to a faster CPU or using an SSD. I use faster RAM because that's where the higher-binned, higher-quality chips go, and the particular set I chose has excellent heatsinks. It is also more tolerant if I decide to overclock.
   
   
2. No optical drive needed. I did eventually install this blu-ray drive, just because I want to be able to rip media, but it's completely unnecessary for daily use or installing the OS.
   
   
3. This article should tell you what you need.
   
   
4. A backpack for the keyboard/headphones/mouse/cables/etc. For the monitor and the PC, they each get their own GearGrip, one hand each. Overpriced for straps, yet worth every penny.
   
   
5. You could, but just get a GearGrip strap. Trust me on this one. The body of the case is metal, but the loops themselves are plastic. They're durable enough you can carry it with them if you want.
   
   
6. Already built in, and excellent quality.
   
   
7. Closing thoughts: You've got a fine build. There is nothing wrong with the SSD you chose, but I do recommend getting an M.2 drive instead if you can. Having the hard drive mounted underneath the motherboard saves needing to run a power and data cable, and you can completely pull out the drive cages, saving quite a bit of weight. (You can also mount an SSD on one of the side panels, and still pull the cages, but of course still need to run power & data lines.)
   
   No need to spend extra on a heatsink- retail CPUs come with excellent ones. You can scrape of the thermal material they ship with and use Arctic Silver or the like for a small boost in performance.
   
   Nothing wrong with the power supply you chose, but one with removable, flat cables would be easier to work with. Not a game-changing issue at all, just a nicety.

Don't quite know how it figures into things, but I just got some new LG Blu-ray burners that support M-Disc, so I did a bit of research. Company claims 1000 year life. The discs are ~$3 a pop though.
I mention this because I ASSUME it takes some higher quality optics to burn Blu-ray, and to burn on the M-Disc media, so my assumption was that these would last me a bit longer.
I've had them for a couple weeks and burned maybe a half-dozen regular DVDs that were all good, but that's not exactly a huge test group to extrapolate long-term data from.

The size depends on how many movies you want to be able to store but as a reference my Blu-ray directory is 7.19TB for 206 movies and 4K Blu-ray directory is 7.18TB for 117.

Unfortunately you cannot use the Oppo to back them up but I use this drive, which doesn't break the bank and then I use MakeMKV to do a full disc backup. It takes up more space than putting it in a MKV container and stripping extra language streams and whatnot but you retain full quality, lossless audio, Dolby Vision, all menus, etc.

LG Electronics 14x SATA Blu-ray Internal Rewriter without Software, Black (WH14NS40) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007VPGL5U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_J6SMAbBQ0D9NJ

[This] (https://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-Internal-Rewriter-WH14NS40/dp/B007VPGL5U/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1521026838&sr=1-2&keywords=internal+blueray+drive+for+pc) plus [this?] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014OSN2VW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

You can get a portable USB DVD drive like this one:

https://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-Portable-External-GP65NB60/dp/B00ODDE33U/

They are small, and easy to swap between machines.

However, I don't do that. Personally, I use one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Benfei-Adapter-Compatible-Optical-Support/dp/B07JGT17B8/

to connect my old Bluray drive to my PC whenever I need to:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007VPGL5U

It is much faster, but the trade off is that requires wall power and is larger.

I have one that I can no longer put inside my new case (opted for no 5.25" bays this time). I never thought about selling it because I wasn't sure if I would get an external adapter, but I don't actually think I'll need it. It's an LG (pretty sure this one). What are you looking to spend?

EDIT: You can PM me if you want.

Ah. No BD-ROM drive on my computer.

Looks like they're still about $60. (Amazon link, no referral.) Last I heard, computer Blu-ray drives can't even play Blu-ray movies, at least not for free, you have to pay for a decoder. Computer Blu-ray drives are just used to burn data discs at up to 25GB per, but due to the costs involved, flash drives are a better deal 100% of the time, considering only a Blu-ray drive can read the created disc. Read and write speeds are super slow. A 32GB flash drive is cheaper and reads and writes faster, and works on virtually all computers, and Android phones with an adapter.

Getting real technical here, but I think an Android phone could read data from a Blu-ray data disc if you had an external burner/reader that used USB and you have the adapter. You run into two problems: one, is the Blu-ray drive getting enough power? Maybe a splitter is needed. Two, does Android have the drivers? Before you say "probably not," consider that it does have mouse drivers and if you connect a mouse the same way, you get a pointer. Android uses the Linux kernel, which supports a lot of hardware.

Yes, the case is what is keeping ODs from populating on PcPartPicker. If you want an optical drive you'll need to either buy an external usb powered one or find a case with a 5.25" bay. I have the Phanteks Enthoo Pro M with tempered glass side and an LG blu-ray drive. One similar to this one.

From what I could tell when doing some research while I was building my system most external drives a far more expensive than internal, but those are American prices. Don't really know about UK or Euro prices.

Optiplex:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Optiplex-7010-Core-i5-3470-3-4ghz-16x-DVDRW-NO-HD-MiniTower-Computer-used/223597044587?hash=item340f6c236b%3Am%3AmmCYchPZralPc3FUgpohyCw&LH_BIN=1

Blue ray drive:

https://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-Internal-Rewriter-WH14NS40/dp/B007VPGL5U/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=blu+ray+drive&qid=1564694274&s=gateway&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&sr=8-3

Total is ~150usd

So can a PC?

I didn't ignore the articles at all.

Again, the issue is not with the interface - and I've never claimed it doesn't do what it does.

Yet again, Einstein, the issue is your claim of superiority of this product, not with what the product offers. As far as a computer with those items, my own pc is running over half of it (1080p camera, Bluray drive, HDMI in), and what I do have is miles more powerful than what xbox one claims to offer (I burn blu-ray, capture 4 channels, recording studio level microphones, much more powerful graphics cardS, etc). But again, I have not once denied that xbox one has that hardware, but most of those things are not even the "interface" that everybody is complaining about and definately not exclusive to xbox.

And that's just my personal desk computer. Don't get me started on the systems I build for work...

Back to my actual point again: Your claim that xbox one is offering the ULTIMATE interface solution is laughable.

You (repeatedly) sound like a pothead proclaiming the superiority of White Castle cheeseburgers without ever having been to 5 Guys. Don't waste my time by arguing that the cheeseburger is ULTIMATE by trying to twist it and claim I'm denying a cheeseburger has cheese. Of course a cheeseburger has cheese. There's simply better burgers than White Castle sells.