LG Super Multi Blue BE06-LU10

Review The LG Super Multi Blue BE06-LU10 external DVD writer's headline figure is its 6x Blu-ray writing speed. The rest of the specification also catches the eye: 2x BD-RE, 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW and 6x DVD-RW writing.

LG's Super Multi Blue BE06-LU10: stylish, kind of...

You need to read the packaging of the drive to get those figures as the LG website claims that the drive has DVD-RW and DVD+RW 16x write speeds. That seems unlikely, but the only way to be sure was to look at the drive inside the USB caddy.

After some swift work with a screwdriver, we were able to see that the drive inside the casing is the same GGW-H20L drive that we reviewed a while back, so the correct specification is:

You can buy the GGW-H20L for less than £150, while the BE06-LU10 sells for around £185 which means you’re paying a premium of £35 for the case and USB sub-system. Externally, the housing is a smart box that has a shiny white plastic top with shiny black sides. This cosmetic skin covers the GGW-H20L drive and also conceals an adaptor that plugs on the back of the drive. The GGW-H20L is a conventional SATA drive so the adaptor converts the SATA connection to USB and also feeds power from a small external power block to the back of the drive. A ribbon cable leads from the adapter to the front of the caddy where it powers the blue activity LED and the eject button.

This is one aspect of the BE06-LU10 that we strongly dislike. The shiny chrome button looks great but it's a soft-touch control that takes a moment to respond. The button is flush in the casing and doesn’t move when you press it so you can never be sure that you have put your finger in the correct position. Press too long and too hard, and there's every chance that the LG will interpret it as a double press so that the trays starts to open and then slams shut again. We found it easier to right click the drive in Windows Explorer but, honestly, it's amazing that something so simple could turn out so wrong.