What to look for in a Blu-ray player?

[TopGun]

Hey guys,

Can anyone link a good article covering what to look for in a Blu-ray disk player?

If you get one, will it take the place of your DVD/CD burner...or will you still need that too?

Is this still an early adopter technology (highish prices) and you can easily wait to add one, or is now a good time to buy?

What is a good price-point to target if you suggest getting one now?

Are there any brands that are seen as better than others or do you just get the cheapest one like you would with a DVD/CD burner?

Thanks,
-TG

 

[wannaturnuptheheat]

Bump, as I have a similar question.

Unsure of what disk read speed one should look for. $50 gets a 4X BD-ROM drive, but I guess (reading reviews on Newegg) that this can result in stuttering? For $10 more, you get 10X speed, and $20 gets 12X (but only a 2MB cache, as opposed to the $60 models' 4MB cache -- is this important?) Then, the $70-$100 range seems to be all 8X drives... it's confusing, to say the least.

Additionally, am I correct in understanding that you also need to buy special software to play BD-ROM movies? And how much does that software set one back?

 

[RetiredChief]

(1) You only need one drive, you can get a Blu-ray Player/DVD-RW drive. It will play the Blu-ray disk, and DVDs and write to DVD-/+R, DVD -/+RWs and CDs.
(2) Pay more attention to quality than read speed for the Blu-ray. The read speed will only be an issue if you are ripping the video off of the disk. I shy away from Liteon - Like LG, pioneer. Read newegg reviews (But take with a grain of salt). Also do a googe search to see if any independent reviews exist.
(3) Yes you need to BUY blue-ray software player - No free-bees UNLESS the drive comes with the software, retail box normally does, OEM versions are a Hit/Miss. Both of my Blu-ray drives came with cyberlink's software.
(4) make sure that the Drive is in DMA mode and not PIO mode!!!

I replaced both my laptop DVD-RW drives with a sony Blu-ray reader/DVD-RW drive. works fine. Have Two Blu-ray writers in desktop.

 

[wannaturnuptheheat]

^ I wasn't trying to get "freebies". Anyways, how much does the software set you back? I was browsing it like a month ago, I think I remember recommended software going for like $100?

 

[RetiredChief]

I like freebies, but for Blu-ray there is a problem - license for the CODECs.

The three that come to mind are Arcsoft total theatre, Cyberlinks and WinDVD.
Can periodicly catch on sale for around 60 bucks, but yes normally close to $100.

I have Cyberlink ver 7 (BU Desktop) and ver 9 on Primary desktop. Both my laptops use arcsoft Total theatre. Not sure about WinDVDs version.

http://www.arcsoft.com/estore/featured_products.asp
http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdvd/overview_en_US.html?gclid=COLnueH-o6cCFVFx5QodzRnFBA
http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Product/1189528458632#versionTabview=tab1&tabview=tab0

Added:
I'd go for this one. May or may not get cyberlink ver 9 (Might find retail version for maybe $10 more which would have the player software)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151222

 

[TopGun]

Yay, finally some responses...are there any guides/reviews about Blu-ray players and what everything means/what to look for?

 

[RetiredChief]

Might try CDRInfo.
ie for the drive I provided a link to:
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=28410
or
http://www.testfreaks.com/blog/review/review-of-samsung-sh-b123l-12x-bd-romdvd-writer/

Just google the drive/model and see if any reviews pop up.

 

[TopGun]

Best answer selected by TopGun.