ASUS Black 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 8MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS

Pros: It works perfectly.

Cons: none.

Pros: Can't beat if for the price. Burns blue rays using Cyberlink software just fine.
Great for backup as well

Cons: Doesn't do my dishes.

Pros: See below

Cons: See below

Other Thoughts: First it doesn't support M-DISC, but how can it when LG has a deal with them? I have a 2003 Toyota Avalon and unfortunately I didn't test this until recently but burned CD's using this drive won't play in my cars CD player. It makes no sense.......... I burned playable CD's using my external USB burner that play FINE. It just makes absolutely no sense IMO. I have read info on this but seriously it's the same DATA so yea......I suggest an LG with M-DISC support but anyways I had to order a separate high-class cd burner without bluray support now.

Pros: none

Cons: It is not a reader! Bad form ASUS!

Other Thoughts: It is not a reader! Bad form ASUS!

Manufacturer Response:

Dear kb,

This optical drive can read BD-ROM, DVD-ROM and CD-ROM discs. If you’re trying to play a Blu-ray movie, you’ll need an application or a codec installed on your OS. Should you require further assistance, please reach out to me at cl-celeste@asus.com and include ref#1072-11177 in the subject line.


Sincerely,
Celeste
ASUS Customer Loyalty

Pros: Blu-ray drive that always works when I need it to work.

Cons: It hasn't yet become autonomous, although that may be a pro depending on it's intentions.

Other Thoughts: Does exactly what I expect. Blu-ray burner at a decent price.

Pros: Fine for DVD

Cons: Doesn't playback blu ray movies. Probably should have read reviews on that, but totally expected it to come with software for playing movies. Don't see the point of getting this one over the LG or any other drive that actually comes with PowerDVD

Pros: it looks nice and it can play dvds

Cons: I have spent the last couples hours of my life trying to get the blue ray to work but every time I press play on the drive it say something about windows media not being able to play it. I mean are you kidding me ASUS I just spent about 60 $ more on this drive just so it could play blue ray and now you are telling me that it wont work. That I need to go out and purchase extra content that could cost upward of 50 $ are you serious im not rich and when this happens to me I am furious so thanks alot ASUS

Manufacturer Response:

Dear QuadMcbadass,

Please install a blur-ray codec to your computer and try again. You may want to try download.com and type-in "Blu-ray playback" in the search box. Should you require my assistance, please email me at cl-celeste@asus.com and include ref#1072-10696 in the subject line.

Sincerely,
Celeste
ASUS Customer Loyalty

Pros: It works, looks nice

Cons: Very very disappointing that it does not come with blu ray playback software...what the heck is ASUS thinking!? It is like $50 dollars more to get powerdvd software. Can't get vlc player to work with blu ray yet..supposedly possible

Other Thoughts: I just hate it when a company sells a blu ray player that does not play blu ray movies out of the box...kind of the main point. Don't have a day to day need to burn a full blu ray of data, could use it on a day to day basis for movies though

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for choosing the BW-12B1ST model. Blu-ray player software is not included so that the overall cost of the product will remain reasonable and doing so will allow you to select the Blu-ray playback of your choice. The good news is that there are several Blu-ray players available for download. Please visit download.com and type-in "Blu-ray playback" in the search box. Should you require my assistance, please email me at cl-celeste@asus.com and include ref#1072-10694 in the subject line.

Sincerely,
Celeste
ASUS Customer Loyalty

Pros: This is the NON-OEM version. Works great and plays/burns DVD/Blue Ray formats

Cons: It said that it came with some software but the software was only for burning blue ray disks. It does not do any playback. So if you want to watch a blue ray movie you either have to download VLC and do some modifications to it so you can play some (not all) blue ray movies OR you need to buy another third party program.

Pros: Performs as needed

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: I should have read the reviews more carefully. My old dvd drive was acting funny, so I got this one to replace it, thinking I could play blu ray movies on the computer. Well windows media player does not support blu ray playback (for good reasons that I won't go into here). I don't have the time, skills, or inclination to utilize the additional software to make it work. But for my simple needs the drive works well enough and my experience with Asus components has been consistently good over the years. I've even learned their rebate routine well enough to make it work with no problems.