Blu-Ray drive upgrade

I'm using an Asus G51VX-X3A that has a DVD-RW drive in it. With the demand for Blu-ray constantly increasing, I thought I'd add the Blu-ray capability to the system that I use the most...my laptop. A quick google and newegg search lands me with these:

Panasonic UJ-110 Slimline Laptop Blu-ray DVD±RW/BD-ROM Drive

Sony Optiarc BD-5730S - BD-RE drive - Serial ATA - 24x (CD) / 8x (DVD) / 6x (BD) 24x (CD) / 8x (DVD±R) / 4x (DVD±R DL) / 6x (BD-R) / 4x (BD-R DL) 10x (CD) / 6x (DVD-RW) / 8x (DVD+RW) / 5x (DVD-RAM) / 2x (BD-RE) / 2x (BD-RE DL) - Internal - Black

I'd assume the normal things for installing a new optical drive in a laptop will carry over to this, but any advice for going about purchasing these? Have any others gone this route instead, and how were your experiences? I'm just not much of an entertainment center kind of person, and I watch all my movies, TV and DVD's on my laptop.

 

You don't want a Panasonic/Mats1ta drive.
Also you should decide if you want BD writing, or is BD reading/playback is sufficient.


Michael

 

which sites had blu ray laptop drives especially bd writing?

 

You should check e-bay. You can find Lite-on drives for around $60 (Blu-Ray reading/DVD Writing). BD burners cost a lot more of course. Just make sure to get the right interface and drive type. I am assuming your laptop is a tray-loading drive with SATA interface.

 

Also see if it comes with software to play blu-ray movies if you intend to do that, because otherwise you're out $100 for software too.

 

HP HDX-X18 BLU-RAY BURNER DVD BURNER SATA LAPTOP DRIVE - eBay (item 260727351172 end time Feb-01-11 01:30:13 PST)

There's that one, but what's this about blu-ray software? Seems most of the ones on google or ebay are oem.

Hmm. Is such a venture really going to be close to $250? What blu-ray compatible software is there?

 

you need a software decoder which comes with paid software such as stuff cyberlink sells.. it has to do with the drm that the companies use on their disks... imo I would wait for the next type of media to come out do to the price (going to be near 2-250 for the drive and software) because compared to vhs tapes and dvds...blu ray and dvds were not a large leap

 

Where can you find the drive and software bundled and is this next media even realistically on the horizon in the next few months/years/decades/centuries?

 

Blueray come ... blueray went ...

There is just no reason for me to get 1 .... and not recommending it to anyone.

The price of the 25Gb and 50Gb disks are just lol.

Unless you own a 50"+ screen with 1080p and surround sound no point to watch blueray movies.
With dvd getting close same experience for everything under those stats.

Calculate the hdd prices vs the blueray disk prices to fit the same TB on.

Optical drives are dead until they reach 1Tb+ with close hdd speeds.

 

Just out of curiosity, why not Pana/Matsua?

 

when buying a laptop internal drive your not going to get bundled software since the drive your buying is either oem or pulled from another machine

 

Well yeah if you buy OEM or used. But new retail drives are hard to come by. I guess my point is you need to expect to spend a good $80+ more for the blu-ray player software if you buy a player. But if you can find one bundled with software you're in good shape.

 

To the OP:

I have been using ArcSoft Total Media Theater (TMT, TMT3 and now TMT5) for over two years for Blu-ray playback on my desktops and laptops. I have been pretty happy with it.

Once you experience Blu-ray, it's hard to go back to DVD. I usually use a 23" external monitor for Blu-ray movies, but even on my laptop's 1366 x 768 monitor, Blu-ray is much better than DVD as DVD is only 480p.

I have used a Panasonic external slim BD-ROM drive for about a year and it worked perfectly. But, I have heard some people have some playback problems with it. I guess that's because they don't frequently update the firmware. I would go with a Sony drive. You can also check myce for Blu-ray drives.

Blu-ray Hardware, Software and Media - Club MyCE

As for the Blu-ray media, I'm using 4x RiDATA BD-R media ($1.59 ea). I don't use their blank DVDs though (I use Taiyo Yuden DVDs BTW.), but their Blu-ray media is good. And they are supported by my Pioneer Blu-ray burner.

Newegg.com - RiDATA 25GB 4X BD-R 15 Packs Cake Box Ridata logo Disc Model BDR-254-RDCB15

Good luck!

EDIT: BTW, if you are planning to watch Blu-ray movies at home, you could go with an external Blu-ray drive like this ASUS. A friend of mine did a review of this drive. It comes with a software too.

http://www.pureoverclock.com/review.php?id=1161

 

if blu-ray is so inefficient and not worth it, why is it becoming so widespread in the mainstream market?

 

• Using them as CD/DVD writer, they have a reputation of being average at best. Media compatibility is not that good.
• There is no firmware update support for end users at all.
• They put lots of effort into DRM and region code enforcement.

Does it really? My impression: only marketing in order to increase profits. Many people love high specs, regardless if they are useful or not.


Michael

 

It's a similar situation as to why Betamax never went big. Just because it's popular, doesn't mean it's the best product out there and vice versa.

 

Take a look at HD-Dvds They were everywhere when they came out... and a few years later poof it went.... blue ray isnt that big of a deal compared to dvds and vhs due to the availability of HD internet streaming relatively inexpensive

 

Also check Digistor: Blu-ray Burners: Internal or External USB, Slim and 5.25" Bluray Drives

I'm planning to get the DIG-79102 external writer that by what looks to me, contains the PAN-UJ-240A internal unit.

Then I'll simply swap them and have myself a nice external DVD drive.

 

Where are you getting your HD internet streaming? Netflix surely doesn't do much HD streaming. Even then HD is 720p not 1080p. Other places it's a significant charge per movie or per month.

 

netflix does plenty... you just have to have a fast connection inorder for the quality to go up... we also use hulu plus at my house and it has most shows in 720p and most mainstream shows in full 1080

 

I've got 10Mbps net connection and I'd have to say less than 1 in 10 movies will stream in HD. Again it's 720p not 1080p. Big difference, especially on a 60" screen. Not to mention most of the available movies are older and many only available in fullscreen not widescreen.

 

Right. Also, there's a big question whether NetFlix and other streaming providers will survive another two years. The success of this form of distribution depends on the broadband infrastructure growing to a point of being pervasive. That isn't happening over most of the country. In fact, capacity is shrinking in many areas. I've got only 3Mbps connection which is the fastest connection available where I live (rural Wisconsin). Comcast has already threatened to end NetFlix streaming to their clients. Other backbone companies are headed in the same direction.

If we don't get busy on a super high speed infrastructure and if net neutrality doesn't get carved into stone, bad things are going to happen with entertainment over internet protocol, in the US.

 

Yeah, it's scary. Stupid commercialism and politics getting in the way as usual. The internet does not need to be regulated period. The US has to either completely revamp the internet at the consumer level or we'll end up in the dark ages of internet again. These days 1.5Mbps internet is almost as bad as dialup was in 2000.