ASUS 12X Blu-Ray Burner $49.99 FS MIR BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS
 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...135252-L0A

Shows up as $79.99 - use promo code EMCXVVV22 for $10 off, get another $20 off from MIR.

This post can and should be edited by users like you :)
 

This burner is a rebadged LiteON iHBS112. It can be crossflashed per the instructions here:
http://club.myce.com/f61/asus-bw-...er-323370/
Solid drive.

Beware when filling out the rebate:
what is that new "*Customer Service Telephone Claim: " Yes/No right above the individual/business radio check on the online rebate page?
2nd page after u click ACCEPT to the first page
http://asus.4myrebate.com/?oc=ASU-11339

Got one. Does this come with software for Bluray?

Got one for $40AR 3 months ago. I am still waiting for the $35 rebate.

LG 14x SATA Blu-ray Internal Rewriter [amazon.com]
I bought this one from amazon last night for $59.99 with no rebates to worry about. I did not shop around for any better prices like I normally do.




Edit: Price has gone up

rats. bought/PM'd at mircrocenter from fry's last weekend for $59.99 and it has a $20 rebate :(

Includes: Cyberlink Power2Go
E-Hammer
E-Green

^^This. Looking at the reviews you're never going to get your rebate, so it's actually $70.

I have purchased a number of these Asus Burners with the Rebate and had absolutly no problem getting the rebate. If you did not get your rebate you should check you paperwork & tracking # and make sure you did everthing correctly.
It is an online registration so it is a no brainer!

Internal.

My rebate has been validated and approved on 1/11. ASUS rebate is processed by 4myrebate which usually takes around 8-12 weeks of processing time. I never have problem with this rebate processor (including Asus, Patriot and Gigabyte rebates) although sometimes it takes a but longer than usual. As long as my rebate status is good, I don't worry about it. I have been doing rebate for over 15 years and I never have a unresolvable problem. After all, this $35 rebate is just 5% of the total rebate I submitted within last 3 months. Those who whined in the reviews are just impatient and new to the rebate game. :cool:

Keep in mind this is only a 4X DL reader. If you're ripping Blu Rays, its well worth the investment into a 8X reader.

It takes almost 3 months to get the rebate card the regular route. But if you chose the express rebate option (3$ extra) they process your rebate with high priority. I bought this same unit when they had the deal back in Nov/Dec and I got the rebate in second week of Jan.

Yeah, no rebates and no software from LG; but this one comes with software!

From what I gather, this does not include Blu-ray movie playback software. Is that correct?

I already have software, so I wouldn't need the junk software usually provided by the manufacturers anyway.

Sometimes Newegg ships the LG Blu-Ray Suite with the LG Burners, but it is a crap shoot. Probably 1 out of 5 times I will receive the Software seat, SATA Cable & Screws.

Cyberlink power2go is just a burning software. You need cyberlink powerdvd to play the movies. I think VLC plays it but they don't keep up with the new encryption.

That's quick. I bought this on 11/22, presubmit the rebate on 11/29 and mail it in on 12/3. Got it approved on 1/11 but the e-mail said it will take another 8-10 weeks (from 1/11) to receive the card. I am still waiting.

Got my rebate 2 days ago from November so there goes that theory.

Any recommended software for ripping/burning copies of our BDs for my kid who can't seem to keep his fingerprints off them?

Slysoft AnyDVD HD to rip, Nero is pretty good to burn them but they're not free.

Thanks. That's what I thought. Used Slysoft years and years ago, but was wondering if the scenery has changed since then. Repped.

I have two of these and love em! They have been awesome. Never had a single coaster. :)

I have one, but no rebate yet...still haven't even used it. I think I will soon. Trying to use it externally, but need some more cables. I hope the rebate comes. I need the money. I'll probably use the money to buy something nice for my wife, if she doesn't leave me by then.

Try makemkv. It's free

Bummer was looking for one for a laptop. Or maybe a USB connection.

I got the Nero 12 FAR, but it cannot rip/burn protected BD.

That's where AnyDVD comes in, did you not comprehend that?

Anyways, this is the wrong forum for ripping/copying discussion. Let's move it back to the deal at hand.

This BD burner looks like a decent deal, but I'd like to know if anyone can recommend another drive as a comparison. I would pay a little more for a faster, quality burner.

I posted that one, and I haven't gotten my rebate either. No software, but it had a free bluray disc too... Burner works great though.

I got this for $42 AR. I paid the $2 to get it faster. Received my rebate in less than a month too. Good burner for the price.

Ripping and then burning to discs (which scratch much easier than the original) is a bit dated. Storage is cheap these days. Like the other guy mentioned, MakeMKV is a good option. If the original file size is too large for you, run them through Handbrake and reduce file size drastically by reducing the resolution to 720P (almost indistinguishable from the original).

Another word for that $3 payment is "extortion" or maybe "bribe." And then when it's all said and done you done get cash, you get a gift card that you have to figure out how drain & will start charging you bogus "maintenance fees" if you don't use them soon enough.

Not news to anyone here I'm sure, but just wanted to say out loud that it's this kinda crap that's made me go out of my way to avoid rebates.

I couldn't agree more with you on this. The whole industry is total BS. This is just another way for the damn banks and rebate people to make their money back if people don't start using their rebate funds. Before it was a check you can get cash from, now it's a stupid piece of plastic that not only wastes resources (even if 100% recycled) but can also end up landfill. I'm not a tree huger but seriously why can't we have paper checks again? It's safer to recycle and we get real cash. That's my '$3' up front rant.

As to the deal, building a new miniITX system and wife wants a BD drive in it :)

I'm in, thanks! Also there are these for $5.99 after a $10 rebate, in case you need some...
memorex 25GB 4X BD-R 15 Packs Spindle Disc Model 97854
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...6817501029

I love comments like this. Copying discs is a bit dated? How could you possibly know how he plans on using the disc? Maybe he has a bluray player in his kids room and it's the only thing they are allowed to use? We all know there are many ways to get a video file from a computer to a display but stating that burning discs is a bit dated is ridiculous.

"OMG don't do it. Burning discs is too old school. You're not hip and cool if you don't store your files on some other form of storage media other than those easily scratchable burned discs that people used to use way back in the day. Come on man..."

I agree with the bribe or extortion part. but I prefer to get my 35$ (or 32 after 3$ processing fee) in 3-4 weeks instead of waiting for 12 weeks and totally forgetting about it!

But I disagree with other stuff... you don't get a 'gift' card, it is either master card or visa, that I use the same week to buy groceries! If you don't use it within 4 months or so, they will start charging maintenance fee... are you sure you won't spend 35$ in groceries or food in 4 months??

I am responding to your comment that Nero is not free. Anyway, I am using DVDFab for ripping BD. I usually just rip it to HD mkv and put it on the NAS. There is really no need to burn it on BD anyway, but an option if I want to.

Still don't see why so many people do MIR's that take 3-4 months to get back...

Because its money you get back?

Most studies indicate the average redemption rate is ~20%. Those on the high-end say ~50%.

If consumers simply stopped buying based on rebates that ~50% - ~80% of them will never receive... Companies would probably stop doing MIR and just have normal sale prices...

Or at least it might force companies to institute a reasonable turn around time...

To each his own. I just chose not to do MIR's anymore.

Most consumers receive their rebates who apply for them. The redemption rate is how many actually submit them. I'm part of that "~20%".

Fixed. And how do you know that? MIR companies do not release any of that information so it's very hard to make that type of overall distinction.

I know that in my previous experience, it was a PITA to keep track of which companies you could count on to receive rebates from, what the rules were, save all the paperwork/copies, track the rebates over months, yadda, yadda, yadda.

I've had plenty of rebate companies state my rebate was declined for this reason or that reason only to pull the copy of what I provided and find out it was indeed included or documented correctly. Thee submit it back to them again and finally weeks/months later receive it.

All to support a system that is entirely in the favor of the company/retailer (rather than the consumer).

I have no idea if the MIR industry is better than it was 2-3 years ago... but if it is the same (which is likely) it's not for me.

I just use the card to buy an Amazon or Cabelas e-gift card for the exact amount that is on there. I have even found old ones I had with less than a dollar on them and converted them into Amazon e-gift cards.

the fee is almost never actually charged. I have rebate cards from way back that still oddly have money on them (like 47 cents to 5 dollars).

as for the gift card... you have a car,d on't you?

What is the physical media thing I keep hearing about?

I'm glad it's not a problem for you. I have had the fee charged, so though it may be true of some cards, it's hardly a fiction. If you like it, and you don't care, and you just want to assume that cards won't charge the fee even though they tell you explicitly they will, then ... fine. But I call "BS" on this claim that "it's hardly charged, and I am going to say that out loud here, so no one is falsely lulled into complacency about these by your post." I *know* better.

I am with you on this one. A lot do not understand that HDD storage is NOT cheaper than burning it on a media disc (assuming each movie is ~25GB). I back up my BD movies because my nephews do scratch a couple of them up and so they can watch movies on another BD player in the house. It is also a lot more practical to bring a back up disc to a friend's place to watch movies or let them borrow that instead. Not everybody is equipped with an HTPC nor do they like having to turn on a computer just to watch a movie!

If you want to talk about rebates, why not talk about the *reason* that companies do them. I assume it's to sell my information along with the item I'm buying, a profile of sorts, to intertested parties that then use my information however they want.

I'm still a sucker, and will continue to do rebates, but I don't whore myself for cheap. I only go for the expensive ones! Doesn't that somehow make me smarter(er)???

You either replied to the wrong post or you can't comprehend, or both. I said nothing about Nero and nothing about cost. Try again amigo.

Hi SDers! Are there any free software that will play BD? Or what is a good software to buy? TY.

Why all the hate for rebates? I have done hundreds and never failed to get ONE, even from difficult places like Xigmatek. If you are diligent about doing them correctly and keeping copies of everything just in case, you should not have a problem. Are they a pain in the Neck sometimes?...sure. But that is why we get all these great FAR deals. What other way are you gonna get something free or even MM ? Not that many! Also, I dont know why people have such a problem with Rebate cards. I find they actually come in handy for the occasional online deal where I don't have to worry about them having real CC info or charging me recurring fees. You can easily get of the last few cents by buying Amazon E-Gift cards....not to mention the dozens of free Redbox rentals I have gotten from rebate cards as well....they are a win-win in my opinion.

This is a rebadged Lite-On iHBS-112 and can be crossflashed (got in on the BF deal for $55 with a 25 pack of BD-R media). Once crossflashed, it does do bitsetting for DVD+ media. All in all, pretty solid.

See here for crossflash instructions:
http://club.myce.com/f61/asus-bw-...er-323370/

yea my rebate for the asus monitor from january got declined TWICE included everything both times.

I won't do business with 4myrebate com AGAIN

Now I see. You get into other people's conversation. No wonder you don't know what I am talking about. You are the one replying to me by mistake first. And please,. don't try again. LOL.

English [youtube.com] :nod:

This thread has been taken over by 12 year olds. :rolleyes:

My apologies, idiots get the best of me sometimes.

I read some reviews, it said that this burner won't play blu ray. Can anyone clarified, can it play 3D bluray movies???

Unless someone can come in with something better, seems to be the same as before as you said. Cool beans, thanks.

It looks to me that this drive writes to bd-dl at 4x, but reads bd-rom at 8x. Wouldn't anything you would rip be a bd-rom and thus have 8x read? Could be wrong been awhile since I researched drives.

I'm glad that you liked my comment! Copying discs is a bit dated. It's as ridiculous as buying a CD and then making a copy of it. I'm sure that 5% of the population still uses CDs on a daily basis, but the other 95% use the portable, compact version known to most as MP3s. Maybe I've just been messing with this crap a little longer than some of you guys so I feel differently about it, but CDs to MP3s = DVDs/Blurays to MKVs. And how do I know how he intends to use them or for what reason; because he stated so. The reason that he gave is the exact reason why I started ripping and converting movies. It's so much more convenient scrolling through hundreds of movies rather than shuffling through piles discs. It is possible that he doesn't want his kids on computers (who am I to judge, but I think all kids should be on computers) so there's other alternatives to bluray players like western digital boxes that play media files. They often sell for less than a bluray player in case you wanted to go there.

And one last point to anyone who burns media as a way of "archiving"; I mentioned before that writable media usually scratches much easier than the originals, but it also ages (warps or rots) after just a few years. Just something to consider.

I have to use my MP3 analogy again, but how many people actually rip their CD collections in FLAC? Most are gonna rip them at a decent bitrate that sounds very close to the original like 192kbps. It's the same way with HD movie rips. I mentioned Handbrake before, but with bitrate settings like 4000kbps, a resolution reduction of 1280x720, and HD audio reduced to DTS, I end up with MKVs between 4 & 5GB. You would be hard pressed to see or hear the difference between the original. Likewise with DVD rips; I use audio passthrough (usually DD), full resolution, and a bitrate of 1700, the resulting file size is just a little over a gig per movie. It ends up being a little cheaper ripping them to drives for me, but the biggest thing is the convenience of having all my movies in one place and not having an unsightly pile of discs. And who isn't equipped with a "HTPC"? Sorry, but I have to call BS on that one. If you have a PC capable of ripping and burning blurays, then you most definitely have a PC capable of playing a video file.

I assume it is because they can advertise a low after rebate price knowing that a large percentage of people either won't bother to file the MIR, will forget to do it, won't follow all of the directions correctly, and/or won't keep copies of their submission. On average, this allows the company to make much more per unit than the advertised price after MIR.

The only free software combo I've found that has played every disk I've tried without requiring you to rip the Blu-Ray first is Daum PotPlayer [softpedia.com] with DVDFab Passkey [dvdfab.com].

MakeMKV [makemkv.com] is a good free way to rip Blu-Rays to your PC. You can then play them back (with PotPlayer, VLC, etc.) &/or re-encode them to save space with another program (like Handbrake); you just have to re-download the newest version once every 60 days since it is technically a beta trial.

+1^^^

Just found this combo as well. Works perfectly although there's some funkiness with banding in PotPlayer in .mkv's, but not in BluRay. Passkey is sweet. Thanks DVDFab!

What you do with YOUR media fits YOUR purposes, and not everybody else's. And I actually rip my CDs into FLAC/ALAC and stash my CDs away. As I said earlier, I prefer physical discs over a single video file for many reasons: 1) I can pop them into another BD player in the house or take them over to my friend's house when we have movie nights without having to worry about losing or scratching up the original 2) I do not have a PC dedicated to watching movies or listing to music. The only computer I have which I use for ripping and burning BD is a midtower which I keep in my room on a computer desk and not next to a TV 3) When you compare BD to HDD, it is cheaper when you compare $/GB 4) I know what I need to do to compress a movie into BD25 and. I like keeping original audio and subtitles. This is what I am happy with and I do not see why you need to try to persuade others that converting BDs to MKV is better than having a BD25 backup. And one more thing... if I wanted to be even more stingy, I can make a BD5 version and burn it on a DVD5 to play on a BD player. Not every BD player supports MKV.

Bottom line, you do whatever you want with your media but don't tell others how they should back up their media.

Sorry if I came off as trying to tell people what to do; I'm just trying to explain that there is an easier/ more modern way of doing things. I used to burn a lot of media a few years back and got tired of it. You still end up with stacks of media so I don't see how you end up ahead. It certainly doesn't simplify things. If you want to argue about cost per burning, lets go there. For one, the software to burn is far from free. Plus BD burners usually cost more than just the BD-ROM readers. Then you have to hunt for deals on quality media (you end up paying just as much for the cheap stuff because you end up with coasters). Like I said, storage is cheap. There's been a few deals lately on larger drives (3 & 4TB). You can put quite a collection on a 4TB drive unless of course you're obsessive compulsive about keeping it in it's original format with extras, subtitles, etc (which most have little use for and if you keep the original discs anyway, you can always go back to revisit it later). And as I and others have mentioned, you can get all the software for ripping/converting and playback for free (DVDFab passkey, MakeMKV, Handbrake, VLC player, etc). Like I said, been there done that and ripping converting is a cheaper way to go in the long run.

I don't know if you said that one just have one PC to be contrary, but you don't have a laptop kicking around? It's as easy as plugging in a HDMI cable these days. Hell, even my parents have 3 PCs (more if you count laptops). They even have a couple of streaming media devices that have media playback capability.

You're also a minority if you rip CDs as FLAC (I knew that I would ruffle someone's feathers by mentioning FLAC). You either have some fairly high end gear if you can really hear a difference or have OCD. You're not going to hear the difference on a $1000 sound system. It's pretty much the same with audio tracks on a bluray; most people who say they can hear a difference between DTS and DTS-HD are full of crap. It's more of a placebo effect than anything else. Do a blind taste test and check out the results.

well i was gunna fill out the rebate and now there is this new field in the questionnaire form for the rebate... does anyone know what this is:

what is that new "*Customer Service Telephone Claim: " Yes/No right above the individual/business radio check on the online rebate page?

that looks new to me and seems like another way for them to deny your rebate if u answer wrong.... seriously WTF is this BS?

http://asus.4myrebate.com/?oc=ASU-11339 its on the 2nd pare of the REBATE page after u click ACCEPT