Archgon MD-3102S-U3 USB 3.0 External Blu-ray Combo

So far, I am super impressed with this blu ray drive. It's small, feels very solidly constructed. And the cable is a little weird looking, but also solidly constructed. The tray sometimes catches on the frame, making it difficult to close. I do also worry it that I'll lose this cable and not be able to find another one. I bought this external drive to share between my desktop PC and my laptop that has no optical drive. The Drive: This disk drive is BD-ROM, DVD-RW, and CD-RW; it will NOT burn blu-ray discs, but it will burn everything else. It comes with a single CD-ROM containing Cyberlink Media Suite 10. It also comes with a funky-looking USB cable, with 3 ends. One goes to the BD drive, the other two to your computer. If using USB 3.0, you only need to plug one of the ends into your computer. It has fairly standard speeds of 6X (BD), 8X (DVD), and 24X (CD). It is nearly silent while playing video, and when it spins up to full speed, it's noticeable, but still not very loud. It seems to work beautifully on my 10 year old Dell XPS 410, running Windows 10. I am right now watching Captain America: Winter Soldier on it. It also appears to work fine on my much newer Dell Inspiron 13 7000, also running Windows 10. Cyberlink Media Suite 10: First off, after reading other reviews, I was concerned that the included software would not run on Windows 10. I've seen it posted under several different products, but this is only a rumor. The program works fine on Windows 10, but it won't play newer blu ray discs. I even read a number of reviews that stated that version 10 won't play your discs. Instead, you can install several patches which surprisingly will upgrade PowerDVD 10 to version 12 (at no cost)! If you see anyone say "won't play movies without buying additional software," this is not true, that reviewer just didn't try to run the updates! This software is for Windows only and WILL NOT WORK with Mac! I installed the included "Media Suite 10" disc, and tried to play my Captain America bluray disc on it, so I opened "PowerDVD 10" and attempted to play my disc. No go. It told me it required an update, to which I would click "Yes" and then it would tell me "update applied," and then continually repeat that process. I'm pretty sure it wasn't applying any updates. So I tried it another way. I clicked the little up-arrow at the top of the window that said "Upgrade," and then clicked the "Patch" tab, and it took me to a site that let me download a patch for PowerDVD 10. I ran it, and tried to play my movie again. Same thing happened, only when I clicked yes to the update, it took me to yet ANOTHER Cyberlink page, and told me to download another patch. I ran it, and found that it had upgraded PowerDVD 10 to PowerDVD 12. NICE, right? My DVD played fine, with no playback problems whatsoever. Setting up Cyberlink Media Suite took a surprisingly long amount of time, but it it does work quite well, even with Windows 10. For anyone who still can't seem to get the included software to work, check out "Leawo Player", and also "DAPlayer." They're not as nice as PowerDVD, but they are free, and I have tried both of them with success.

I love the sleek design, and nice finish. The product, even though very small, still seems very sturdy and well built. I'd recommend getting this drive for anyone who's traveling, or just needs a drive once in a while. It stores away nicely, and runs quietly. The only issue I ran into was the software. You get a disc with PowerDVD software, but your required to install, then upgrade a few times, and even then I found myself tinkering with it some. Also it installs a handful of additional software that you probably won't need, and unless you know what your doing, you'll end up adding a bit of junk to your computer. Once I got through the frustration of setting up the programs, it ran fine. The hardware is excellent, the software let me wanting something a LOT more light-weight.

Just arrived today. I plugged into my Win10 laptop (using only one plug) and it immediately recognized the drive. I popped in a DVD (Apollo 13) and it played perfectly. So far the process has lasted 2 minutes tops. Nice. Okay, since it is widely known that Windows wont natively play bluray discs, I already knew that a bluray disc would not play without me setting up the included software. To save time, I followed the guidance in the review of this product that gargamel314 posted on March 21, 2016. I progressed through the process without issue, almost exactly as he noted in the review. It took about 5-7 minutes. Once done, I now had PowerDVD 12. Again, exactly as he noted in his review. I put in a bluray disc (The Force Awakens) and it played perfectly and the drive was surprisingly quiet. I have a 4k screen on my laptop, and the bluray media looked awesome. So far all is well with the drive, but as I noted it only arrived today. I gave a tentative 5 stars, but will adjust if needed after I've used it more. I might have given 4 stars based on the software install process, but that's on Cyberlink and not the manufacturer of this drive.

I have a lot of issues with this device. Does not read the mayority of burned cds even original cds. I need to unplugged and plugged the device several times and other times restart the computer, the computer simply does not recognize this device. I have a cheap $18 LG which is not bluray but reads all the burned cds or original cds that I placed in this archgon. In the first months the device works fine but later it was a nightmare, I am in the breakpoint with this. I purchased the device on January 2016, less than a year. I do not know if the double usb that comes with the device is damaged, I cannot test with other because is a proprietary cable (or not common).

Product seems well made at first. Software was a bit of a pain to install. Once installed everything started out ok. The unit is not forgiving at all. If you have the slightest scratch or fingerprint remnants it freezes. I know you are telling yourself “Well, clean your disc!”. Well I can tell you that it simply freezes on anything. You can forget about watching your favorite movies... slightest wear makes it freeze. It does not try to move past it... just locks up. I got it so I could watch blu-Ray movies but is a pain. The unit may not seem expensive to some people but it was for me. In the end you get what you pay for I guess. Maybe I can get a better one later. I refuse to be the one to pay shipping to send it back for exchange or repair so I am stuck with this piece of trash. I even bought the extended warranty but is not active until factory warranty runs out. Buy something else or you will be stuck with trash.

Compliqué à utiliser

other than needing the included software on every device (search for Leawo for 2nd device) this works as expected, ALSO, if using with a SS USB 3.0 port, u can use a single micro USB cable (ex. the ones u charge your phone with)

Great product.

Very good!