External Blu ray drive help/questions/recomensdations.

[flashheart85]

Hey there!

Last year I built a PC (with the help of you guys <3) but stupidly, i purchased a case not realisng there wouldn't be ANY opening for my Blu-ray drive! At first I thought "it's 2025 i doubt i'd need one" but sadly theres been quite a few times i've really missed having one. Mainly when I am working/sorting out house work etc and want to watcha DVD on my second monitor or if i'm installing older PC games.

I still own my old Blu-ray drive (It was £89 about 5 years back) and did look at enclosures but i've read quite a few 'horror' stories about them. Some (from Ali express) even damaging USB ports. I've looked at external ones but some of the cheaper ones have reviews that suggest they 'buffer' or jump during playback and some say that this is expected using USB drives..

So, i have a few questions:

1: Is skipping and jumping to be expected with USB blu ray playback?
2: Are enclosures a no go/more trouble than their worth?
3: If i only want a drive to read disks (Blu-rays/dvds/Old back up cds/Music albums etc) and have ZERO interest in writing discs I haven't done that since 00's lol. how much would you expect to pay for a semi decent one?

thanks for any help and advice!

Woof!

 

[adrichardson81]

I've been using USB blu ray drives for years - skipping and jumping isn't an issue, but noise can be. I'd recommend going for a dedicated blu ray drive rather than an enclosure - I currently use a Pioneer USB C drive (think it's an XD08TS).

Enclosures are an option, but you're at the mercy of the controller and the quality of the drive you use. 5.25" enclosures are quieter but usually need external power and aren't exactly portable. Slimline enclosures don't need external power, but the drives can be less reliable (depends heavily on what drive you stick in it).

 

[SqualidChimp]

I'm in the same boat - have a blu-ray / dvd-rewriter in my old computer that hasn't been on in a while, but think I might bite the bullet and just buy a neat little slimline dedicated unit. A multiregion dvd standalone player is like £29 and the cheapest standalone blue ray seems to be closer to triple that.