Packaging and Accessories:

The LG BH10LS30 10x Blu-ray burner provided by Geeks.com is new, so don't let the "plain box" style packaging trick you in to thinking that it might be refurbished. As you can see in the images below, there are no retail style markings on the box, and other than one label with a model number, bar code, and a few other characters, there is nothing to identify what is in the box. The below right image shows that the drive has been adequately protected thanks to an anti-static bag and some form fitting foam blocks.



Tucked in to the box with the LG BH10LS30 we find a small collection of accessories. As shown in the image below, you get an owner's manual, a disc with the CyberLink suite of software, a SATA data cable, and a SATA to 4-pin power adapter cable. The software is key since many systems might not be setup to play Blu-ray movies, plus it also covers the utility functions for burning to Blu-ray and creating Lightscribe disc labels.



The Basics:

The below left image shows the front of the drive, which doesn't reveal anything too exciting or anything out of the ordinary. It is prominently marked as an LG product, but also features fainter print that reads: "Super Multi Blue", "BD Rewriter", and "Blu-ray Disc". If you look closely around the lower right corner you will find the typical eject button, a pin-hole emergency eject, and a small LED indicator.



The above right image, and the promotional image below, show the backside of the drive. While the SATA data and power connections are typical, the material of the back face seemed odd to me. I am used to a solid sheet of plastic or metal, and the translucent, somewhat waxy plastic found here was something new to me.



The final image in this section shows the top of the drive, where a small label provides some more details on the unit. The model number and serial number are confirmed, the ROM version that the drive shipped with is provided, and we see that the drive was manufactured in May 2010. One of the utilities installed with the suite will automatically check for ROM updates, but about a year later 1.00 is still apparently the latest.