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I also recently ditched the streaming services I was paying for (Netflix, Youtube, and Max). I'd love a recommendation for an external Blu-ray drive for ripping

I also recently ditched the streaming services I was paying for (Netflix, Youtube, and Max). I'd love a recommendation for an external Blu-ray drive for ripping media onto a streaming server. That said, I recently discovered Tubi, which is completely free, has a crazy amount of shows and movies, and ad blockers seem to work fine. Re-watching Andromeda while I finish up my dissertation. It's been great fun.

doublepg23 3y ago
With regular Blurays it's pretty easy to find a good USB3 model on Amazon for MakeMKV. I have the prior model of the Pioneer BDR-XD08 and it works great - the current model uses USB-C even! On the other hand UHD/4K drives require flashing firmware to get them to rip with MakeMKV and manufacturers have been seemingly patching them. I've not given it an honest try yet.
- account42 3y ago
  > On the other hand UHD/4K drives require flashing firmware to get them to rip with MakeMKV and manufacturers have been seemingly patching them. I've not given it an honest try yet. I haven't had any problems with a random ASUS drive I picked from the libredrive compatibility list (internal with SATA connection though, but you can always get a USB adapter). But was a couple of years ago so it is possible the avilability situation has gotten worse. The only issues I have had were with brand new releases where the decryption keys weren't yet in the list MakeMKV pulls. But that is always only a short-lived problem.
  - doublepg23 3y ago
    > But was a couple of years ago so it is possible the avilability situation has gotten worse. I was doing research and that is what I found. Seems like a gamble if you order on Amazon- could get old stock with older firmware, but it is random.
andsoitis 3y ago
How much do you pay per Blu-ray Disc? When you compare to the subscriptions you cancelled, are you getting more value for money?
- account42 3y ago
  Hard to compare them when you are getting entirely different kinds of services. Being in control of my collection without the risk of having things I like becoming unavailable (or being silently edited) is worth a lot to me.

doublepg23 3y ago

With regular Blurays it's pretty easy to find a good USB3 model on Amazon for MakeMKV. I have the prior model of the Pioneer BDR-XD08 and it works great - the current model uses USB-C even! On the other hand UHD/4K drives require flashing firmware to get them to rip with MakeMKV and manufacturers have been seemingly patching them. I've not given it an honest try yet.

account42 3y ago
> On the other hand UHD/4K drives require flashing firmware to get them to rip with MakeMKV and manufacturers have been seemingly patching them. I've not given it an honest try yet. I haven't had any problems with a random ASUS drive I picked from the libredrive compatibility list (internal with SATA connection though, but you can always get a USB adapter). But was a couple of years ago so it is possible the avilability situation has gotten worse. The only issues I have had were with brand new releases where the decryption keys weren't yet in the list MakeMKV pulls. But that is always only a short-lived problem.
- doublepg23 3y ago
  > But was a couple of years ago so it is possible the avilability situation has gotten worse. I was doing research and that is what I found. Seems like a gamble if you order on Amazon- could get old stock with older firmware, but it is random.

andsoitis 3y ago

How much do you pay per Blu-ray Disc? When you compare to the subscriptions you cancelled, are you getting more value for money?

account42 3y ago
Hard to compare them when you are getting entirely different kinds of services. Being in control of my collection without the risk of having things I like becoming unavailable (or being silently edited) is worth a lot to me.