SONY Black 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 8X DVD+R 5X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 8MB Cache SATA Blu-ray Burner BD-5300S-0B - OEM

Pros: None worth mentioning.

Cons: Drive can't read discs any longer. This is with minimal use (played less than 50 movies) and never used it for burning.

Other Thoughts: Run. Run away. I barely used this drive and it croaked within a few months. Possibly from neglect? I don't know, but I've never had a drive die so fast and with so little use.

Pros: None.

Cons: Stopped reading discs after 5 months.

Other Thoughts: Loading tray always closed very noisily. Began to not read discs, BD/DVDs, more frequently. Purchased from NewEgg in September 2011 and stopped reading discs in February 2012. Worst optical disc drive I have EVERY owned. Will be testing Sony's return policy.

Pros: Handled 50gb dl optical quantum 6x bd-rs that LG would not even recongnize

Cons: I was very excited that this burned DL 50gb optical quantum discs at 6x speed flawlessly - but then after 5 burns, it crapped out and it is making a clicking sound. Going back to newegg.

Pros: Great price, got what I expected.

Cons: It's not solid gold, I was really hoping for that.

Other Thoughts: No problems, works great.

Pros: Firmware installs fine. Drive requires no additional drivers, it plugs-n-plays like most drives.

Cons: After six months, the drive started burning nothing but junk. I tried several different Blu-Ray discs from different manufactures, and it made coasters of them all.

Sony support is AWFUL. I had to call four numbers to get answers. In the end, Sony turned me over to Newegg. They said that the Optiarc version drives are only supported by the distributors.

I bought this drive based on the reviews I read from online hardware zines and from Newegg customers. This drive is TOTAL GARBAGE.

Don't buy it. Don't buy any Sony. Stick with companies like Samsung and LG that care about customer support. I have RMA'd drives with Samsung before; they go out of their way to help their customers. Sony picks up the "customer appreciation baseball bat" and works you over.

Other Thoughts: I am on hold waiting for Newegg. It has been 10 minutes and I am still waiting. Not a steller showing this time NE. It is unusual to wait so long.

Pros: I hooked it up and it works. Reads and writes as advertised.

Cons: It wasn't free...

Other Thoughts: My Build:
Phenom II 1100T on GA-990FXA-UD5
16GB Corsair Ram
570GTX 2.5GB EVGA Graphics
4 1-TB HDD in RAID 10

Pros: -Quiet and fast

Cons: -None

Other Thoughts: Still haven't burned a Blu-Ray yet, but it burns DVD perfect and plays blu-ray with Cyberlink without a glitch

Pros: I really like this drive but I think it is a bad move for Sony to put their name on someone elses product. I've had really good luck out of Sony products so I hope this non Sony product with Sony's name on it will prove to be the same :)

Cons: None that I can think of.

Other Thoughts: Drive reads really well contrary to some other reviews. It also performs well and meets or exceeds all my expectations.

Pros: After one month the product works exactly as advertised.

Cons: none yet

Pros: Blends in very well with black cases
Worked right out of the box, no drivers needed
Works great

Cons: Wouldn't open on initial computer start-up to install an OS, may want to hold on to an old one for a brand new rig build, then swap after

Other Thoughts: Haven't tried writing anything yet, but it's been going strong for a couple weeks now, great product. Have the HAF-X case and it blends in beautifully