I am new to the forum so I may have posted this in the wrong place at first, so will try here as well. I would like to post it wherever is both on topic but also where people may actually see it and be able to help, since I am already flirting with passing the deadline to return the drive. Here is the situation, I appreciate any help given the deadline!
I shopped for preflashed UHD drives. I told the seller I needed a drive that can playback the discs "live" as well as rip them and burn them. There was a miscommunication, and they told me the best drive they sell that does what I wanted is the the Asus BW-16D1HT with LG firmware, so that's what I bought. But now after I got it, they told me it can't play UHD discs, that you have to rip them first, and that the reason they sold me this one is because only the LGs can playback the UHD discs and there are quality problems with the LGs (they often die within a year). However they said they will swap the LG WH16NS60 for the Asus BW-16D1HT if I want if I pay the price difference, and as long as I don't turn on unlimited read speed on the LG, it should be fine.
But the plot thickens. A third party end user with the Asus told me it actually will play discs live if I use AnyDVD or DVDFAB or maybe PowerDVD. I'm not clear if the LG can do it without these extras, or what the difference is there why the seller would say the LG can playback discs but not the Asus, and I'm also unclear if the Asus can do it with the LG firmware that was pre-flashed on it already, or only the Asus regular firmwares (maybe only the older ones) and if not, how complicated for the PC-user equivalent of a media expert (see my account name) it would be to have to install a different firmware. In other words, I'm not knowledgeable with this stuff and I was hoping the drive would at least be plug and play even if setting up makemkv, anyDVD, madvr, etc, is not. If the LG will come "plug and play" without having to fix these issues, and the Asus will not, then maybe it's worth swapping for me, but there are so many variables that I would like you guys who know about this stuff to advise me on the whole picture, not just one or the other. There is not only Asus + anyDVD vs LG + anyDVD to think about, there is also Asus + powerDVD vs LG + anyDVD, and Asus + anyDVD vs LG + powerDVD, and every other combination (dvdFAB), to where we not only have to compare the drives themselves, but the software combinations also, and I have even less experience with these different softwares than I do with PC UHD drives.
Bottom line, my choices choices are keeping the Asus BW-16D1HT with the LG firmware (or installing the older Asus firmware on it that the person using AnyDVD, DVDFab, etc, used successfully with it uses), or, swapping the Asus out for an LG WH16NS60. Do you know if there's there any advantage to one or the other? My use case is to play live, rip and play, and burn UHD discs and 3D blurays on an HTPC. I want to play these with madvr and MPC-HC, and possibly use VideoProcessor also.
I'm not sure the seller ever clarified if either, both, or neither the Asus and LG drives can burn discs, either. If the LG can do burn discs and not the Asus, that would be a reason worth swapping for sure. But if not, would there be any other reasons?
I shopped for preflashed UHD drives. I told the seller I needed a drive that can playback the discs "live" as well as rip them and burn them. There was a miscommunication, and they told me the best drive they sell that does what I wanted is the the Asus BW-16D1HT with LG firmware, so that's what I bought. But now after I got it, they told me it can't play UHD discs, that you have to rip them first, and that the reason they sold me this one is because only the LGs can playback the UHD discs and there are quality problems with the LGs (they often die within a year). However they said they will swap the LG WH16NS60 for the Asus BW-16D1HT if I want if I pay the price difference, and as long as I don't turn on unlimited read speed on the LG, it should be fine.
But the plot thickens. A third party end user with the Asus told me it actually will play discs live if I use AnyDVD or DVDFAB or maybe PowerDVD. I'm not clear if the LG can do it without these extras, or what the difference is there why the seller would say the LG can playback discs but not the Asus, and I'm also unclear if the Asus can do it with the LG firmware that was pre-flashed on it already, or only the Asus regular firmwares (maybe only the older ones) and if not, how complicated for the PC-user equivalent of a media expert (see my account name) it would be to have to install a different firmware. In other words, I'm not knowledgeable with this stuff and I was hoping the drive would at least be plug and play even if setting up makemkv, anyDVD, madvr, etc, is not. If the LG will come "plug and play" without having to fix these issues, and the Asus will not, then maybe it's worth swapping for me, but there are so many variables that I would like you guys who know about this stuff to advise me on the whole picture, not just one or the other. There is not only Asus + anyDVD vs LG + anyDVD to think about, there is also Asus + powerDVD vs LG + anyDVD, and Asus + anyDVD vs LG + powerDVD, and every other combination (dvdFAB), to where we not only have to compare the drives themselves, but the software combinations also, and I have even less experience with these different softwares than I do with PC UHD drives.
Bottom line, my choices choices are keeping the Asus BW-16D1HT with the LG firmware (or installing the older Asus firmware on it that the person using AnyDVD, DVDFab, etc, used successfully with it uses), or, swapping the Asus out for an LG WH16NS60. Do you know if there's there any advantage to one or the other? My use case is to play live, rip and play, and burn UHD discs and 3D blurays on an HTPC. I want to play these with madvr and MPC-HC, and possibly use VideoProcessor also.
I'm not sure the seller ever clarified if either, both, or neither the Asus and LG drives can burn discs, either. If the LG can do burn discs and not the Asus, that would be a reason worth swapping for sure. But if not, would there be any other reasons?