LG BE12LU30 External Blu-ray Re-Writer

I thank jono & i.ferguson for their reviews & also agree with many of their points. Opening the box on Christmas morning then searching for the non-existent UK adapter is not the best introduction to this product. However, once a travel adapter was found, the LG was ready for action.

I have 3 Windows platforms on my PC, so I started with Windows 7. No problems with 7 picking up the LG & loading the basic drivers. However, this software takes for ever to load, & doesn't really tell you what the progress is. Consequently, I removed the installation disc after 5 minutes & found that it was still loading!

Next, you have a choice of USB or SATA connections. I tried the USB & it was fine, so I tried the SATA just to make sure it worked. It works well, but you have to power the LG up before booting your PC, or it won't pick up the SATA. As the performance differences aren't too dissimilar (for data transfer to disc), I normally use the USB connection. I guess that if you're transferring 50Gb of files to disc, the SATA might have a distinct advantage.

These comments also apply to Windows Vista. No major snags, but leave at least 10 minutes for the software to load.

Windows XP users can also use this drive, but a word of warning: If your motherboard doesn't give you a PS2 mouse & keyboard option, be VERY wary of loading the software. There is a tick-box of options that you can install, one of which is a USB2 upgrade. If all you have is a USB keyboard & mouse, I advise you to un-tick the upgrade option in the installation menu. If you install this upgrade, (I use an ASUS motherboard & it's fairly bomb-proof in every other way but this) you may totally lose all your USB ports. You can't restore your PC, as you can't use the keyboard & mouse to access anything! This may not happen with other motherboards, but why take the chance when the standard USB2 is fast enough anyway?

The aesthetics of the LG are very good, & one of the features on the front panel is a touch-button for drawer operation. Great idea, but when the drawer is open, you have to contort your hand to get under the drawer to close it again ! Who on earth thought of that one??

Next, & I agree with the other reviewers again here: unless you absolutely KNOW that your PC can play Blu-ray, be wary of any Blu-ray drive. Fortunately my graphics card, processor & memory are all up to it, & the LG software tells me this (nice point). However, my monitor isn't HDCP compliant, so I can't play a Blu-ray disc unless I go to the analogue input on the monitor. This gives me horrible Lo-definition, but at least it works. Check your hardware out before purchase of a Blu-ray writer. I think that this comment will apply to all makes of Blu-ray writers.

I can't comment on the transfer of Blu-ray films, but I can state that the transfer of data files & every other function is excellent, & I love using the software. The LG is (naturally) downward compatible, & will write DVD's & CD's too. It works well on all my Windows platforms, so whether you use XP, Vista or 7, you should be fine. You will grow to love this product, & just maybe LG will develop software updates that remove some of the negative points we have made.

Now, has anybody got a spare HDCP compliant monitor??

First of all, my unit (not bought from Amazon) came with a UK plug - not sure why so many of you were missing one.

I have to say, this is a very nice piece of equipment. The high-gloss plastic case, touch-sensitive eject button and quiet operating volume confirm that it's money well spent. The unit is a little on the large side - for some reason it's 26cm deep, which is more than twice the diameter of a DVD.

I've installed it onto an iMac and it runs beautifully with Toast 11 Pro. I've used it to back up my massive digital media libraries, and made a proper Blu-ray disc with all my HD home videos on it. No problems there.

I also run Windows 7 under Boot Camp, and found that all of the supplied LG software installed fine and plays my Blu-ray movies with 5.1 surround - again, no problems.

However, if you access your Windows/Boot Camp through VMWare Fusion, you won't be able to play Blu-ray discs in OS X. This is due to Blu-ray licensing issues: PowerDVD will only run if a specific video card is installed, and although you might have a compatible nVidia card in your Mac, under VMWare, it's presented to Windows as a "VMWare SVGA 3D" card.

All is not lost though - if you really want to play Blu-ray discs on your iMac and can't bear the thought of rebooting into Windows, you can simply install "Make MKV" and "VLC", and watch them with relatively little hassle. Once you've learned how to do it, it's about 4 clicks and a copy/paste of a link... and far quicker than playing a Blu-ray the conventional way, as you skip all the trailers and menus, accessing the main movie file directly. I've tested this on several Blu-ray movies now and had no problems so far.

All in all, it's a fantastic product and I would not hesitate to recommend it to PC or Mac users.

Using this little unit with a Mac, Toast Titanium 11 and also DiscLabel - for writing LightScribe discs.
Everything works perfectly, despite there being no official support for the Mac.

I wrote a review on here about 3 weeks ago, but Amazon UK did not publish it because I criticised the fact that my unit did NOT come with a UK mains plug.

So, Amazon UK, please note that I am not being critical by mentioning this, I am merely bringing it to the attention of people who read these reviews.
No UK mains plug as at July 2011.

For a few pounds, you can easily purchase an adaptor - one word of warning though - do NOT buy one of the cheap ones in a supermarket for "shavers only" - they have a tiny 1-Amp fuse in them which this unit will blow immediately - AND - you can't just put a larger fuse in it, because the 1-Amp fuses are much smaller than standard 3, 5 and 13 amp fuses.
So, just make sure that your adaptor has at least a 3-Amp fuse in it.

I hope this will now get published and that people find the information useful.