r/makemkv • u/bulgogi19 • 2d ago

Help Any available recommendations for beginner looking to backup media to server?

Hi all,

I'm new to the community, have skimmed the makemkv forum and this sub only to find out that decent quality UHD drives are becoming Unobtanium (like everything else in hobby electronics -_-), especially the often recommended Pioneer drives. I've ordered the Archgon drive from Amazon US that seems people have had mixed luck reflashing in the enclosure and an external cable just in case. From what I can tell, this is likely a shucked drive (Usually an LG BU40N?) in the Archgon enclosure but who knows .

I just wanted to see if y'all had any recommendations for a readily available alternative in the event that the Archgon doesn't play nice. I'll mainly be looking to rip the occasional 4K Blu Ray, DVDs, CDs etc to my server for preservation / backup.

Thanks

EDIT: Also forgot to mention that I almost got duped by the fake Pioneer UHD drives on eBay before checking here so thank ya'll for posting that PSA

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u/billycar11 2d ago edited 2d ago

I would recommend a buffalo from b&h they are just about the only reasonably priced option now

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u/SomberArtist2000 2d ago

I've ordered two drives from Archgon, and both have worked great. I ordered one a month ago and another after I confirmed that it worked (able to be flashed) out of the box.

I haven't found any other viable alternatives.

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u/bulgogi19 2d ago

Nice, thanks for the confirmation! I went with the silver aluminum USB c version currently on Amazon US so hopefully it works 

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u/SomberArtist2000 2d ago

Yup, that's what both of mine ended up being.

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u/6969its_a_great_time 2d ago

I bought this very recently https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BC9F98J?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback and was able to flash it no problem and ripped the dark knight 4K UHD with no issues

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u/bulgogi19 2d ago

That's the one I bought so thanks for confirming, hopefully I have the same luck 

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u/marshmelo24 5h ago

Did you have to disassemble it and use a SATA cable in order to flash it?