Question 1

Will this work on USB 2.0 connection?

Accepted Answer

Use it on my 2006 iMac, which has USB 2.0.  Works fine.

Question 2

Can this unit be used as a Blu-ray player?

Accepted Answer

This can be used a Blu-Ray player on either Mac or PC. I know on Mac that you need a 3rd party application to read the disc. I think the same is the case for a PC, but if you Google it, you'll find the answer for both operating systems.

It will not serve as a stand alone Blu-Ray player hooked to a TV in case you were planning on using it in that fashion. It must be connected to a computer.

Question 3

This is shown standing up in a support stand.  Can it be used laying on the side?  I don't have room for it unless it can lay flat.

thank you.

Accepted Answer

Product can be used on its side, as is typical with external optical drives.  However,  the top of the drive in this orientation is slightly sloped.  So, it will work fine on its side but is not well suited to have other devices stacked on top of it.

Question 4

can it be hooked up to a laptop ?

Accepted Answer

Yes, as long as you have an available compatible USB port. The device requires it's own electrical outlet for power. Please also note that playing a bluray disc requires significant processing and memory resources and may be slower on laptop. I recommend an I5 or I7 processor, and I3 might not cut it. I also recommend  4mb or more of RAM. The more memory, the better the performance. The device and software are great products. It will play DVDs and CDs too. When all things are right, the transfer speeds are awesome.

Question 5

Will this drive work with an iMac and is the software compatible?

Accepted Answer

I'm using it on a Windows box and it works great, but I couldn't say if it works on a iMac. The software is from Cyberlink (Cyberlink is the typical free software with drives), they are famous for being quirky, so don't base your purchase on software.

Question 6

a review states that writing software is not Windows 7 compatible; 
is the software Windows 7 compatible?

Accepted Answer

I an running Windows 7 Ultimate (64 bit).  It is VERY compatible.  This reads disks that my old stand-by Samsung can't read.  The selling factor on this for me is the USB 3.0  The software that comes with this is also VERY top Notch & impressive - You can even encrypt your discs if you like.

Question 7

is the tray powered?

Accepted Answer

This is a great question??  I do not know how to manually open the tray. 
The machine installs itself as a BD-RE Drive on my Desktop Computer running Win 8.1 OS. If I right click on the Drive Icon, a dialog box opens, select "eject" & right click to open the tray. You then have to manually push the tray to close it.
Note: The included documentation is written in many languages & is not very good.
In spite of this it is a great machine that works very fast using a USB 3.0 port.
Hope this answers your question.

Question 8

Has anybody tried this with a Mac and Toast 11 (with the blu ray option) for burning? How about for play back of a blu ray disk? Which software did you use for the playback?

Accepted Answer

I use it exclusively on a Dell PC.  It burns 25GB Blu-Ray disks using Nero 12 suite, (purchased separately) and also plays Blu-Ray disks using Nero 12.  I have used it to burn HD video I captured off the HD TV cable box, like college ball games.  I have not tried it on a MAC.

Question 9

Jay S. reports that the supplied software is "not compatible with Windows 7."  Is this true?

Accepted Answer

I use windows 7, so no problems here.

Question 10

Can this be used with USB 2.0?

Accepted Answer

Yes - I am using mine with a 2006 iMac, which has USB 2.0.  It may not run as fast, because of the USB 2.0 speed limit, but it works fine.

Questions & Answers