Recommendation for Blu-Ray Player

PS3++

lg blu-ray internal drive or pioneer.

What about the LiteOn 401S? Do LG and Pioneer make better drives? If so, why?

Thanks again for you comments!

I heard some of the Lite-On ones don't play the dual layer discs, I'm not sure though. I don't know how many movies use dual layer discs but I imagine more and more will as Blu-Ray becomes more main stream. Just something to be careful of.

Interesting. Do the pioneer/LG models play dual layer? Given that prices for stand alone units have fallen below 300, what's the advantage of having an internal unit in my PC?

Also, does anyone know if sound will play through my tv speakers if I plug my comp to my tv via GPU? What would I need to do to use my tv speakers? Thanks.

There are different ways to use your TV speakers playing Blue-ray/HD-DVD movies from PC

1) USE AMD/ATI video cards that supports audio through DVI/HDMI connectors. Video & Audio is feed directly to the TV
2) USE optical or coax audio link from motherboard going to the TV.
3) Use regular audio-cable from the sound-card to the TV.
You need to make sure you this feature in your hardware ...
1) HDMI inputs for your HD-TV
2) Coaxial or Optical Audio inputs in your TV

Motherboard and or soundcard
1) Check if optical or coax audio link is available


HD Drives for Blue-Ray....
I'm using LG and don't have isses with it.

i hope this helps

Leon, that helps a lot, and you answered a question I've had for days now. I play audio from my cable box straight through my hdmi. Given that I've now purchased the ASUS 4870 video card, I think I will be able to get audio through a DVI-HDMI cord (correct me if I'm wrong).

I am now thinking of knocking out my cd/dvdr/w/blu-ray player by getting the Pioneer BDC-2202B. Anyone have any experience with this drive? It seems to do everything I need (play BD, play and write DVD). Is there any good reason I should get two internal drives? A dvd and a blu-ray?

Thanks again.

4870 can support audio through the HDMI.

When you puchase the Blue-Ray disc player it normally comes with a POWERDVD player. That software is to enable you to play Blue-ray/HD-DVD/DVD. There are things to take note on the PowerDVD software that comes with the disc
1) Most of the time it will need an update to recognize your Graphics Card & video Driver. The 4870 is fairly new and most likely you will have that problem. To address this you need to run PowerDVD Advisor. If it PASS you are OK if it fail you need to email Cyberlink to get a software update or patch. Thats the only time you can play Blue-Ray without issues.

2) The PowerDVD that comes with Blue-Ray drives are only STEREO VERSION. To get 5.1 or 7.1 audio Cyberlink will ask you to purchase an upgrade.

Optical Drives:
1) I'm using LG and i don't have an info on you pioneer Blue-Ray.
2) Optical drives is one of the most under-utilized hardware on a PC. Most of the time its doing nothing consuming power. I normally have one for my PC. Thats a personal preference, you need to decide for yourself.

I would just get the Pioneer only. Let us know how you liked the drive after using it for a little bit.

I read up on the Pioneer you are planning on purchasing. I'm also in the market for a BD drive. Why is there such a price difference from newegg and tigerdirect? its 400 at tiger and 160 at newegg. Am I missing something? I did notice in the pictures that the one at tiger had no writing at the bottom but the pictures from newegg show "Pioneer" and "BD-ROM DVD/CD Writer" written at the bottom but the model numbers are the same. Where are you getting your drive and for how much?

EDIT: Forgot to add, I was planning on purchasing the LG GGC-H20L. It has very good reviews on newegg and it's in the same price range (depending on what you're paying) as that Pioneer.

I've actually changed plans: I want to get the sony for a few reasons: (1) its the newest of the 4 I considered (sony, pioneer, lg, lite on), (2) blu-ray is their format, so playback should not be an issue, (3) its well reviewed, especially on amazon, and (4) it retails for 150 at staples, which is offering a 12% discount this week, so I should be able to get it for 130 or so. The only con is it does not write dvds, but I think it makes sense to get a dedicated dvd writer because (1) they are dirt cheap, and (2) they are faster than the dvd combo writers.

As for the pioneer, the price disparity is probably due to one being a blu-ray writer. In any event, I believe Provantage had the best price on that unit (it should be 159 or so).

I plan to buy the sony player this weekend, so if anyone has any mission critical negative info, please let me know! Ultimately I'm guessing these units are all the same, but man, such dillemmas!

  lol i feel the same way...Now I'm looking at the ASUS drive also just because it looks nicer, physically. The Blu Ray logo really stands out and it matches well with any black case. The sony drive also looks nice but I read mixed reviews on the drive. Let me know how it works out for you. Good luck.

Ok, so my brilliant idea to purchase the Sony player at staples with a 15% discount didn't pan out: they only carry it online. Sounds about par for the course.

So back to square one. Asus drive you say...?

lol yea square one it is...these are the 3 drives I'm looking at (in no particular order):

1) LG GGC-H20L
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
This drive is very similar to the Pioneer you were considering. The only reason I don't like it is because it looks like any other DVD drive. On the other hand, it has over 200 reviews (mostly positive) on newegg.

2) Sony BDUX10S
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
This drive I'm sure works great but it doesn't burn DVDs or CDs and although it stands out, it doesn't match well with my black case.

3) ASUS BC-1205PT
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
This drive is also similar to the LG and Pioneer but matches well with my case and also stands out a little since the Blu Ray logo is blue. Only like 10 reviews though.

I'm pretty sure all 3 drives come with cyberlink software so whether its good or bad software doesn't really matter I don't think. All 3 are also almost the same price. About $10 difference between all 3 drives. Right now I'm leaning towards the LG, or maybe the Sony....AH i dont know.......

I am not worried about the software. The latest version of PowerDVD is available on ebay from ostensibly reputable sellers for 30-40 bucks. AnyDVD is also affordable. I won't bother installing anything that comes with it, aside from the drivers if windows 64 doesn't recognize the drive.

I decided to go with the ASUS. In the review below they took the unit apart and reported that it had the same chip as the Pioneer drive so I imagine their performance is quite similar. Also, as I said before I like the blue blu ray logo and its the cheapest of the 3 drives.

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?A...