Recommendations for Internal Blu-Ray Drive for iMac 27" 2009

[Dadioh]

My internal DVD Drive is acting up in my iMac 27" 2009 i7 2.8GHz model. It has trouble reading many DVD's. Kind of hit and miss. I removed the drive, opened it up and examined the laser under my microscope and it was very clean (which surprised me). I have resurrected many Macbook DVD drives by simply cleaning the laser. I cleaned it anyway and, as expected, I still have flakey operation so there must be something else causing the issue.

However, the reason for the post is.... since I am going to replace the drive anyway, I might as well put a Blu-Ray reader in there. I currently use an external Blu-Ray drive for ripping my Blu-Ray collection so putting an internal drive will save one extra peripheral hanging off my iMac.

Just to clarify, I am not playing Blu-Ray on my iMac so discussions of OS X not supporting Blu-Ray playback is not applicable to me. Also, I am very experienced repairing Macbooks and iMacs so discussions about not voiding warranty and "why would you open your iMac" are also not at all applicable.

What I want to know is if anyone has a specific model number of Slot Loading Blu-Ray drive that they "know" works internally in the 2009 iMac. I don't need a Blu-Ray burner since I have no reason to burn Blu-Rays, only read them.

I found a Pioneer BDC TS02 TS02PB drive on eBay that they claim has an Apple label on it which seems really weird since Apple has never supported Blu-Ray so I find it hard to believe there are official Apple drives out there???

Any first hand success stories of people who have upgraded their iMac with a Blu-Ray drive would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[mattwood87]

Any luck

Hi,

Unfortunately I can't help but I'm looking for the same information as you, have you found anything from any other sources since you made the post?

Cheers

 

[Dadioh]

Hi,

Unfortunately I can't help but I'm looking for the same information as you, have you found anything from any other sources since you made the post?

Cheers

Further digging seems to indicate that, as long as it physically fits, it should be OK. The one interesting tidbit related to the Sony Blu-Ray writer was that it was necessary to remove the eject button from the drive so that it was not permanently depressed which would cause loading issues. That seems to also be the case with at least one other drive.

So if you can find a drive that fits, and has no eject button, or the eject button can be removed, then I think you are alright.

I have not pulled the trigger on buying one yet since I have a perfectly working external Blu-Ray reader and this is a lower priority at the moment. But I definitely will at some point.

 

[Dadioh]

I ended up ordering an LG CA30N Blu-Ray reader off eBay for $53 including shipping. The CA30N is a 6X reader compared to many of the others (like CA10N) that are 2X readers. Probably something to pay attention to if you are in the market. This model comes without the eject button or bezel so it should just mount straight out of the box. Coming from China so it will probably be 20-30 days before I receive it but I will let you know how the installation goes.

 

[Dadioh]

Just a quick update. Finally received my HL-CA30N BluRay drive today. Installation was very straightforward but then again I have taken apart quite a few iMacs. The drive fit perfectly. No eject button to interfere with the installation.

I did forget to do a PRAM reset when I first started it and the drive did not get recognized correctly in the OS. So I restarted and reset the PRAM and that was resolved. I ripped a BluRay using AnyDVD HD in Windows under Parallels and worked perfectly. The 6X BluRay read speed was quite a noticeable improvement over the 2X external drive that I had been using.

The first BluRay disc I put in there inserted just fine and ejected well. The second one I tried it did not draw it in properly when I slowly inserted the disc until the mechanism caught it. I slid it in a bit faster the second time and it loaded OK. So it may require a little more aggressive disc insertion. Time will tell as I try more BluRays to see if this is a consistent observation.

So I would say this is a good BluRay update candidate if you are looking to add the capability to your 2009-2011 iMac.

 

[mrkapqa]

Just a quick update. Finally received my HL-CA30N

...

So I would say this is a good BluRay update candidate if you are looking to add the capability to your 2009-2011 iMac.

Hello , would you still recommend this item for an Imac9,1? i would like to playback also 3D Content , probably with Windows under Bootcamp.
Thanks

 

[Trebuin]

I use an LG drive that is really compatible with Macs. It's an external, but I'm sure it can be swapped internally to make it better.