Which Blu-Ray writer? (LG H20L, LG BH08LS20, Buffalo BR-816FBS)

Hi there!

Now buying an Oppo BDP 83 for my home cinema I am looking for a Blu Ray writer for my PC.
Here in Austria there is (strangely) not that much choice... I can not find any actual Pioneer burner for example. The burner should not cost much more than 230 Euros (~340 USD), so I have three writers in my focus:
LG GGW-H20L
LG BH08LS20
Buffalo BR-816FBS (most expensive one)

What writer would you buy? I think that the H20L is one of the older models right? But I have read that the BH08LS20 does have some writing problems on Blu-Ray Media. The Buffalo may be good, but costs 50 Euros more than the other two.
I am not planning buring on no name media, but on TDK, Sony, Verbatim, depending on which I can get cheap ;-)

So, I am happily waiting for your suggestions / experiences.
Thx
C-Man

For GGW-H20L prices increase, there are only a few in stocks.
And it seems this drive won't get any new firmware.

Buffalo is a rebranded LG BH08 and here around 80 Euros higher than BH08. (80 Euros for a slightly modified firmware?!)

BH08(LS/NS)20 costs in germany around 160 Euros and just got an update in firmware (korea-site of LG)

So I would go for BH08LS20.

I'm in the market also for a pc BD burner. I live in the US so those who are in the US, any feed back is appreciated. It seems to me, the only available options to buy here in the us comes down to:

LG WH08LS20
Lite-on DH-4B1S-08
Pioneer BDR-205BKS

All of the above are from newegg.com

I can also get the LG BH08LS20 from bestbuy.

A couple of questions, is there a difference between the LG WH08LS20 and the LG BH08LS20? Both appear to have pretty much the same specs.

Second, anyone else know of any other makers which sell drives in the US? I though Sony (Sony BWU 300S) used to make one, but I can't seem to find it available anymore or in the US.

CORRECTION!

BR-816FBS = Matshita SW-5584 = Sony BWU-300S
BR-H816FBS = LG BH08NS20

There's no question whatsoever in my mind: you should go for the Pioneer!
It has better writing quality than the LG drives and it is newer and higher speed too!
I've got a Pioneer BDR-S03 (BDR-203) and a BH08LS20 drive and the Pioneer burns (much) better than the LG on all Blu-Ray media I tried so far!

If those 3 drives are your only choice I would go for the BH08LS20 ... but I would strongly advise trying to find an 8x Pioneer BDR-S03 / BDR-203 / BR-PI816FBS or the newer BDR-205 instead ...

I would stay away from any MatSHITa drive ...

Also have a look here: http://club.myce.com/f142/8x-blu-ray...-chart-273897/

I just want to add a word for the Pioneer BDR-205, it is a great writter - it is available thru www.newegg.com for $209 right now - I haven't checked but I think they may ship to your neck of the woods - I should really have checked - but the writter is so good that I would try to find a way to get a hold of one - or wait till it is available in your area, it is a relatively new drive - it uses the same chipset as the new LG BH10Xs30 - which is a 10x writer, but I have tried it(BH10xS30) and it doesn't write as well as the Pioneer - which does a better job (error values) and at a higher speed (up to 12x) - I had a LG BH08 and yes I had problems with bad burns, especially with TDK media. I also have a Buffalo BR816SU2 which is the same drive as the BR816FBS - and it is a fast reading drive - it has 66.7 MB/sec burst rate - but as a writter it is not the best and I have heard, as cvs said that Matshita is not a trustworthy drive. See this thread for quality scans of the Pioneer BDR-205: http://club.myce.com/f142/pioneer-bdr-205bk-303237/

good luck!

I've always been a fan of the NEC/Optaric DVD burner drives because of the quality of the write capabilities, the frequency of firm ware updates, and the fact they can be made region free and riplock removed with a patched firmware.

I haven't followed the blu-ray burners closely enough, but between the LG BH08LS20 and the Pioneer BDR-205BKS, how do they compare as to:

-Burn quality (seems like everyone is of the opinion the pioneer is better)
-frequency of firmware updates (media compatibility is only as good as the firmware updates available)
-do either of these drives have firmware patches that allow for riplock removal or to make the drive region free (sort of like the Optaric DVD burners)?

First off the BH08 is now superseeded by the Bh10xS30 - a 10x writter - it and the Pioneer BDR-205 use the same chip, but IMO the Pioneer is a better writter (quality of burn) and is a 12x too. Here is a list of supported media - it is fairly complete: http://www.mediafire.com/file/xmzmdo...ER BDR-205.pdf

The Pioneer - if like the past doesn't have frequent fw updates - neither did the LG BH08 - Buffalo put out some updates which worked with MCSE - then LG just recently put out a fw update (for the BH08) for win7 compatability and as ala42 said added some rare media types and maybe improved write stragies. The LG BH10 already is supported by MCSE - if you can find the fw - it is a new drive - and the patch doesn't improve - I'm not quite sure about the exact details - but something is not quite ready for the patch yet - you would have to do some looking into that - but the Pioneer probably will not be supported by MCSE - but you would have to ask ala42 about that - I'm just guessing - but the great burn quality and the speed of burns is so much better than the LG - I think it wins - hands down.

Sorry, what is MCSE?

I presume that aside from the official updates by the hardware manufacturer to correct bugs and system compatibilities, the firmware will also include additional compatibility for blank media. If there aren't updates, future media compatibility isn't assured.

Thx for all the answers!
That is what I had in mind, that the Pioneer Blu-Ray writers have very good quality. I checked again and in Austria there is nearly no Pioneer Writer available. In Germany they have the 202BK in stock, but no 203! Well, I will keep my eyes open for an Pioneer 205. Hopefully I can get one for Chrismas ;-)

Hmmm, what I have read in another thread is (Dee said that) that Pioneer does not offer any Optical-Disc-Drives in Europe anymore... Thats why I can not find any :-(
I could get a Pioneer 205 on ebay, but what about warranty if something happens :-(

Ok, lets say I take the LG BH08LS20. What media brand would be good for the drive? What I have heard TDK would not be very good to use with the LG BH08LS20...

thx
C-Man

MCSE = Media Code Speed Edit - it is a tool for increasing read speed for supported drives and for swapping write stratigies or adding new media codes by renaming an existing media code - also there as a RPC patch. The read speed patch is a removal of the riplock that exists in the firmware - if my description is incorrect - please excuse me ala42 (the creator of MCSE). Look for more information at the main thread concerning MCSE: http://club.myce.com/f61/mediacodesp...riters-114269/

and for LG drives:
http://club.myce.com/f91/mediacodesp...riters-133858/

thru these links you will find out exactly what MCSE is and how to use it. It is a useful tool, but as the disclaimer states - it's use will void your drives warranty - I have never had a problem due to the use of MCSE - and for the LG BH08 - it increased my read speed from @ 7-8 MB/sec to 15-18 MB/sec when decrypting with AnyDVDHD.

I bought two of these""LG WH08LS20"" on BF for $129 each. Any links to FW?

Have a look in the first thread: "Post new drives firmware and tool ANNOUNCEMENTS here" ... The link you need is there!