4x vs 8x Blu-Ray

[BlueCat57]

I'm building an HTPC. I have seen lots of posts that use a 4x Blu-Ray drive. At newegg they have a 4x Blu-Ray drive for $49.99 and an 8x one for $89.99.

What is the difference?

And is that difference worth $40 for someone who doesn't watch a lot of Blu-Ray movies?

 

[Mimoso]

The difference is speed.

1x Blu-Ray = 4.5 MB/s so 4x = 18 MB/s and 8x = 36 MB/s
However, not all discs can be read or written at the maximum speed.