External Blu-Ray Player w/ usb 3.0

I'm looking for what's stated in the title. I recently sacrificed my optical bay when I added a SSD to my laptop, but still want to be able to watch Blu Ray movies. I've found one (link below) but I'm unclear if it is truly for a DVD/Blu Ray drive.

Newegg.com - Archgon MH-2624-U3 (Black) USB 3.0 Super Speed Multi SATA Adaptor/Support 2.5" & 3.5"Hard Drive & SSD & 5.25"DVD&Blu-ray drive/U.S. patented enclosure for 2.5" Hard Drive & SSD

 

What you are looking at seems to be a gussied-up external hard drive adapter (admittedly I only spent a minute looking at it, the price seems WAY too low). Check this list for external burners, I don't know exactly what you want (player/burner, slim or full size, portable or stationary, price range, etc). But I think you can get players for about $50-60 if you look around.


Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, CD / DVD Burners & Media, External CD / DVD / Blu-Ray Drives, Blu-ray Burner

 

Newegg.com - Archgon USB 3.0 Aluminum 6X External Blu-ray Combo w/Cyberlink BD Solution

Newegg.com - ASUS USB 2.0 6x External Slim Blu Ray Combo with BDXL Support Model SBC-06D2X-U/BLK/G/AS

those are the two cheapest i could find you with a few minutes of searching on newegg - I'm sure with sales or shopping around other sites you can find cheaper though. Hope it helps.

 

I don't plan on BURNING blu-rays or dvds, simply to watch. I removed my optical drive from my laptop today and want to still be able to watch blu ray movies. Thanks for the suggestions guys!

 

Just for confirmation, that first item you posted is a hard drive enclosure that can also be used as a USB-to-SATA connector, which would allow you to connect a desktop BD drive via USB. It's more expensive than a straight-up USB-to-SATA connector, which should cost about $10. With some BD drives running as low as $25, you should be able to get set up for $35, but you'll need an AC adapter for the drive.

An external drive would certainly be the more elegant solution. Along with the ones mentioned above, I found a couple (different colors) by AGPtek (never heard of them) on Newegg for $50. The listings say they're "powered by USB or AC Adapter" so they might require two USB slots to get enough power, and they run on USB 2.0 - I don't know if that would give you bandwidth issues or not. The Archgon mentioned above is probably your best bet from Newegg, though other retailers or sites like eBay should offer more options and potentially better prices.

 

Here's one: Amazon.com: Blu-Ray Player External USB DVD RW Laptop Burner Drive: Computers & Accessories

About $50 shipped. Most of the USB blu-ray players require two power plugs to generate enough power. USB 2.0 is not a bandwidth issue. USB 2.0 is 480Mbps (max theoretical), although about 300-350 realistic. Blu-Ray 1080p with 5.1 requires only 54Mbps. So well within bandwidth.

If you do order one make sure it comes with blu-ray player software because you can't play blu-ray without the software with the blu-ray codec (which is not free).

 

Well if he's been using it all along than he should already have the software. But you're correct, they don't come with the software so you need to keep that added cost in mind.

Anyway, the one mentioned in the original post is HDD enclosure that can be connected outside the case. That would allow it to be connected to your OEM blu-ray player. Not at all "elegant" and a pretty clunky way to use the player. I suggest a dedicated optical drive enclosure. For better convenience and usability.

The one you picked seems like a good choice--although I'd prefer one with an external power source--so long as you have enough USB ports to support it.

 

Yes my laptop came with blu ray software and a blu ray player so that will not be an added cost

 

There's no need for USB 3 when using a blu-ray drive. Mine works fine via USB 2.

 

Which enclosure do you use?

 

Ah, there it is. Until this post, you never communicated that you wanted to connect your laptop's Blu-Ray drive via USB - we all assumed you wanted an external Blu-Ray drive.

I don't know of a connector offhand and I'm not going to search for one right now, but now that the question has been stated, you can actually get an answer.

 

if it'll work it doesnt matter how its connected lol

 

The problem is that you weren't originally clear that you wanted to use your laptop's drive. We thought you wanted to buy a drive that could connect externally, not a kit that could set up your existing drive to connect externally.

If the drive uses a SATA connector, any USB-to-SATA kit should work - you can get them for $10 or less on Amazon and probably many other places. I'm not really sure if internal laptop drives like that use regular SATA connectors or if there's an intermediary adapter between the SATA and the drive itself in the laptop, so I can't say for sure.

You'll have a harder time finding an enclosure, since most of them are made for hard drives and/or 5.25" desktop drives, both of which are different form factors from a laptop ODD, which generally has the X and Y dimensions of a 5.25" drive but not the Z.

 

the drive does use a sata connection. I'm glad we got to the bottom of this before i bought a drive for ~$50

This one look good?

Amazon.com: USB2.0 Slim DVD / CD RW Burner External Enclosure Caddy Case with SATA Connetor For all Laptop Notebook dvd cd burner[ Case only!! Drive is not included !!]: Electronics

 

Looks like exactly what you're looking for. In my experience, many laptop ODDs have an extra little piece hanging off the back for screwing into the chassis, so you might have to remove that or cut a slit in the back of the enclosure to fit it. Reviews indicate it's not likely to be particularly sturdy, so you might want to look for something higher-quality if you'll be mobile with this regularly, though I don't know how many products like this there are on the market so you might be stuck with something generic (or homebrew) if you insist on having the drive enclosed. Note that many non-enclosed cable/adapter sets would also be of questionable sturdiness and would generally require AC power to boot, so this might be your best option.

 

Ah, I misunderstood. I thought you were looking for an actual blu-ray drive, but you just needed an adapter... Fat Dragon is on the ball!

 

I don't remember if it had a brand name, but I bought it off eBay for like $15.