To Blu-ray or not to Blu-ray?

Is it worth it to get my laptop with Blu-ray or is DVD just fine?

I'm thinking in a couple of years, maybe games would all be Blu-ray?

Isn't Blu-ray the next after DVD?

 

Nope, game are going to be discless.
They already are, less physical production, same price, more profit.

 

I think only sony game come in BD media so far and movies come in both DVD and BD formats. That would be a extra cost for them and all those protections they put on games makes it hard for people to buy those games in any formats. So just like DVD to replace CD and CD to replace tapes and Tapes to replace LP well those formats are still around that should tell one something about how something that was to replace another older formats are still around today.

 

Unless you got a hefty collection of bluray movies i see no reason to go with a bluray drive on a notebook.
If the game is big they just ship it on multiple DVDs.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

Thanks for the replies, i see the reason in all your arguments!

I will not go for Blue-ray

 

imo ODD's shouldn't even exist on notebooks. they take too much space.
I'ven't used any optical disk for months.
imo they'll die soon since nand flash will become cheaper then blue ray disks.

 

As you get a newer notebook it will probably come with one, until the time comes that its standard it wont be a big deal to have one and wont be required for anything but BR movies.

 

Hold on a second there Baba Looey. Ever hear of the old saying, better to have it an not need it, than to need it and not have it?

A few years ago the cost factor of blu-ray might have made not having one significant. However at this point, they are virtually run-of-the mill in price and proliferation. Theres really no compelling reason not to have one.

It was a requirement for me nearly 3 years ago and a no-brainer today. If nothing else you have an additional blu-ray player in the event one should fail or you should need a second. Most household have two; I do!

Does that mean all the production companies should trash their disc based duplication and switch over to using nand flash? What about players? Cost per unit? Have you really thought this through? Theres still plenty of good life left in optical disc media.

 

Probably depends on how much for the upgrade,
10 I may take it
20 I may think about it
30 Sorry, I will get a external if I really need it

 

Is the dvd drive in laptops any different from normal slim drives?

can i put one of these in my laptop, or do i need something different?

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, CD / DVD Burners & Media, CD / DVD Burners, Slim DVD Burner

 

This is negligible ^^. In fact, most up level laptops come with them stock.

 

It's usually better to take the upgrade to blu-ray then to purchase the drive aftermarket, unless you buy used.

I chose mine with blu ray reader, then removed it to an enclosure and inserted a 2nd HDD. I rarely use my ODD, but it's nice to have just in case.

 

Exactly. Hopefully by the time of my next machines this will be made as easy as plug and play.

 

I agree. I like Blu-Ray in my machine only because of movies. But for installing games and software, USB or network install is the way to go. That being said, I don't see optical drives going away any time soon, as long as movie and video media continue on optical drives they're here to stay. It's still the cheapest way to distribute physical media and will be for some time to come.

I wish more software would give the option of selling the media on a flash drive of some sort though, even if there's a slight up charge because having to rip the CD/DVD/Blu-Ray is a pain.

It would be nice if Win 8 came as a DVD or Flash drive, even SD card option and see how the sales panned out.

 

I guess nobody here does any video work. Video cameras now do high def and blue ray is great for storing your family vids. DVD's just don't have the space for longer high def videos. You could always buy an external bluray writer for that.

 

Exactly. And the idea of having to foot the cost to purchase and distribute dozens (or more) of content on flash is frightening.

Plus theres nowhere for me to place the pretty logo it took me days to create.

 

I store all my videos on a home server and stream them anywhere I am.

 

that's what I do too. I can even stream to my cell phone. actually I can even play crysis on my cell phone.
I can't remember the last time I used an optical disk. all I use now is usb or internet.

 

IMO they are worth it, if nothing els a BD drive increases the resale value of the laptop...

 

I do like to watch BD movies though. The image is superior to anything else.

 

My XPS 15 purchased last year has a 1080p screen and blu-ray. I've only watched 2 blu-ray movies on it ever so it's basically been used twice. DVD is still used for install and backup. CD is used to rip music. Like many people, I found that the better picture quality isn't worth the higher price and re-buying movies already owned. And streaming media makes buying movies a rare occurrence these days.

For the XPS line, Blu-ray is a $100 upgrade and a BD writer is $75 more. For my next laptop, unless the blu-ray drive is much closer in price to DVD, it's not worth it. Blu-ray is one of those things you might think you will use a lot when you buy a laptop but might hardly ever use in reality.

 

I like having the Blu-Ray reader. Every once in a while I'll rent a Blu-Ray movie and hook my laptop to my 55" SONY TV; Bluray looks awesome !

 

Pricey! For my VAIO, two years ago, BD reader upgrade was only $80.

 

I have an external Blu-ray writer, which I use more for ripping and the occasional back up hooked up to my desktop.

 

Yeah the price of a Blu-ray drive upgrade is just way too high over DVD. It should be $30-40 more by now, not $75 (HP) to $100 (Dell) for an upgrade.

 

To be honest, that increase gap is not unique to blu-ray drives.

 

I ordered my Alienware 14 without the blu ray upgrade which would've been $100 extra. I figured if I ever want to watch a blu ray movie I would just use my PS3. Sure it would be nice to have but I don't need to have it in my laptop.

 

With the capacity of storage at 5 to 1 I'm thinking that's a bargain.

In the case of my blu-ray XL upgrade, I can store over 100 of data on a single disc. With no external apparatus or hookup needed.

 

I agree, especially with a 14" laptop. You probably won't be watching much movies on that screen anyway. If I owned the AW 14, I'd take out the ODD and pop in a caddy to hold a third SSD -- mSATA + 7mm + ODD are all SATA III capable. You'd have one hell of a 14" laptop, haha. :thumbsup:

 

My general rule of thumb would be, if you watch a lot of movies (DVD rental style), get Blu-Ray. If not, skip it. I watch perhaps half a dozen DVD rentals per year, so I skipped it, even though the upgrade cost on my desktop drive would've only been $30-$35. It was low enough that I debated it, but in the end I haven't missed it. The other reason I haven't missed it is that most of the inexpensive rentals are DVDs, not Blu-Ray.

The other factor is screen size. On pretty much any laptop, DVD quality is going to be good enough. On my 24" external that my desktop has, I probably could notice a difference at times, and this would be exacerbated as the screen size increases. So that's something to consider. I think Awsomeone made the right decision by skipping it on the 14" laptop. Even if you get a Blu-Ray drive, you only really need it for the biggest screen in the house.

I do still like DVD drives, though. For old games/software, for burning CDs for my car (cheaper to buy a spindle of high-quality coasterless CDs than to buy a decent flash-based player), for the occasional DVD rental (cheaper than Netflix, and better quality than the mediocre Internet I had for most of the past two years). I might be able to get by without one now that I have a desktop as well as a laptop, but given the option, I'd rather have one on a laptop than not have one, and would buy a laptop with one over one without if the other specs were similar.

Why not just use a good digital camera to take videos instead? I use my midrange ($300-ish) Sony point-and-shoot for videos when I take them, and it's actually very good quality. A lot more pocketable than a camcorder big enough for a Blu-Ray disc, too. Store it on an HD SD card, upload it occasionally, and it works great. If need be, you can even get an SD card that stores more than the Blu-Ray would.

Blu-Ray is the one area where Sony upcharges less than other manufacturers - because they get part of every Blu-Ray sale, too.

 

An external blu-ray drive will work just as well. You can also download blu-ray quality movies from the Internet, which I do from time to time. It's not illegal to do so, it's only illegal when you start burning them to discs and selling them on the street.

Good point, but this brings me back to my above statement about getting and external drive.

With such a small notebook, I recommend getting an external drive, if possible. They're usually quite small and portable enough to take with you, if need be. It's obviously up to the owner and his/her personal preference, though. Do whatever floats your boat.

 

(a) no downloadable blu-ray quality movies are available unless they're 25GB+ in size and
(b) it is still illegal to download them and view them for public consumption.

That being said, despite the best streaming or downloaded HD, nothing compares with an actual blu-ray. Everything else is compressed and it's not apparent until you go and watch an actual blu-ray video. I can't wait to see video in full 4k. If a two hour blu-ray video consumes about 25-40GB of data, imagine what a two hour 4k video will require. I think there will need to be a higher capacity optical media yet again.

 

I don't think it is legal any way you download/view them.

Though a compressed 8-9gb version is really close(side by side and most won't notice the difference) compare to uncompressed blu-ray.

 

Well the capacity can grow with the media (capacities of up to 1 TB are possible), but we already have blu-ray XL (up to 120GB) right now. And with the right compression (minimal loss, that is) that should be just about right for 4k.

Make no mistake, blu-ray isn't dead. And for the moment, nothing else on the market can match it in price, or quality.

 

I would say I have both internal and external BD drive both are writers and I like them. I have a ext LG burner and it is USB powered which is great in that no extra brick source which makes it more portable and the desktop burner allows to play BD movies or rip them which is handy to have. But if your incline to get BD make sure your player software can play BD movie some software doesn't have that as standard package and you have to spend more for that option. But BD will play and run DVD movie so if the cost to upgrade isn't that much or you play alot of BD then get one but make sure you research if the BD player is Rip Lock preventing you from playing different regions and make sure your software is able to play nstc or pal as they do have media of different format as well. But beyond that BD is fast becoming a standard but DVD are still there and not to mention so are VCD so don't count those other older formats out just because BD is here.

 

I have the same pair. Even with the external burner its not too much of a burden since there's only one cord like your say.

I use Cyberlink, the best in the business, but it comes at a cost.

 

Same here but I use WinDVD 11 Pro SP1 with Bluray option which works for me.

 

I'm expecting that there will be another optical storage standard turning up eventually. But before that, we're probably going to see micro-cards, or tiny eprom sticks with higher transfer rates being mass produced. Which.. isn't likely to be adopted by anyone, because of how it is difficult to cripple with drm.

Anyway. So yes, very likely that blu-ray will stay as the most useful 12Gb+ disposable storage device for another bunch of years. It's very probable that games for PC will be produced on blu-ray discs as well. Perhaps as an option at first, at a 20% price increase, even though it's actually cheaper than dvd to produce, etc. You know, the usual.

 

Games in Blu-ray would be a deal killer and kill the game industry. Games have yet to fill a full DVD to its potential til that time Blu-ray games is a dream.

 

Man, I just can't wait for Laserdiscs with proportional blu-ray capacity.

 

Why does the size of the video matter? Slow Internet speed?

They're not all more than 25GB's, it depends on the movie, its length, and whether or not it is compressed. I watched Iron Man 3 the other day, it was much less than 25GB's. I also suggested an external ODD to avoid all of this. And it's not illegal to stream movies. However, it is illegal to download and burn them to a disc and/or distribute them.

 

Keep this thread about Blu-Ray drives not piracy and illegal downloads children.

 

..do you want to explain any of those extremely strange ideas? Why would blu-ray kill the industry? It would make it cheaper for independent publishers and devs since you don't actually need specific mastering toolchain licenses as well. ..And you can download a bunch of titles right now that are over 20Gb. So some sort of cheap eprom storage (or larger optical storage) makes sense.

Huge steel-plates would be great, obviously. But I was thinking of a laser-reader with shorter amplitude, along with tighter sectors on the disc thanks to better/cheaper manufacturing.

 

Sounds like someone missed the boat already. There isn't no physical BD media and what your talking - where are the titles that are 20G then as well if so tell me? Yeah right keep drinking the koolaid eprom. Also if you forget BD are 25Gig and 50Gig not 20G and were talking about BD format not 20gig file so looks like your trying to grab for straws that don't match together and trying to mix and match two different things as one is really a stretch.

 

..battlefield 4, for example, is more than 20Gb compressed. And the point is that 4.7Gb isn't enough, not that 25Gb has to be used. Basically, I have a huge stack of games that come on more than one dvd. I have movies that come on more than one dvd. Collector's editions with four discs. All of that's just not very appealing when you can have all of it on one disc - in better format and without the stream having a weird hard-limit on the way it's supposed to be read. DVD in general is just horrible, just like Redbook was before it. It's out of date, and a similar system is not ever going to be adopted again, because it doesn't have the fidelity you would expect.

And an eprom is .. I'm just using that word because it's retro, isn't it. An electronically programmable "read only ram". Makes no sense really. But an eprom today is really just extremely cheap ram-chips with an external bus-interface. An ssd, just without large caches and a broad bus.

Things like the PSVita, an otherwise horrible console, comes with a memory card that potentially has a capacity over 25Gb. That may have been my fault that they came up with the idea of launching it with "branded memory cards", by the way. There are memory cards in 1x0,5cm formats you can put in your phone that have 16Gb and 32Gb. But somehow launching games, programs or movies in smaller boxes, just with a small memory card inside -- is out of the question.

Do you want to know why industry folks hate that concept? It's as simple as that "memorycard" is a word instantly recognized as meaning "piracy". The people who run the tech-world in general are so stupid, so uneducated, and so without ambition that if someone really decided to create new "blue laser disc" machines, and call it the WHAWAMBA VOX or something, with a proprietary reading format that can only ever be read by computers signed into Bill Gates' personal computer via 33.6k modems -- I wouldn't bat an eye.

Obviously, nothing stops the drm-abstraction from being controlled programmatically. As we all know, properly signed encryption can be done (and has been successfully implemented without halting or interrupting program execution flow in several commercial computer systems). Or essentially, making sure that the data itself isn't read through some dumb-f*** external hardware decrypter, so that throughput is, by design, only ever used to waste re-reads and reading single sectors linearly.

All of this is known. But it doesn't penetrate into the way tech is thought about. So we're stuck with hardware and hardware solutions that wouldn't truly have been impressive even in the 90s. It's more of the same, just less so than it was when going from 233hz to the first 1.6Ghz cores, for example.

Example. I had a cd-rom in 1994. A disc could store a game very easily. Cd-rom mastering with "hidden" tracks took off, and putting a high quality recorded soundtrack was done on certain games.

Ten years later, I get games on five cd-roms. Reluctantly, UBIsoft releases the now best-selling Sands of Time trilogy on one dvd. Rather than the 8 cd-roms it would have needed otherwise. The xbox turns up with dvd, and it's hailed as groundbreaking - since it forces devs to compress textures and cut assets until everything fits on one dvd.

And now we're getting Battlefield 4 on three dvds.

Is there a point to that? To have three dvds when you could have it on one blu-ray, or a small usb-stick? No. Obviously it makes as much sense as to launch games on cd-rom when dvd existed. Where the considerations are, in rising order: Money, money, and stupid customers who buy outdated cr** and then hail it as groundbreaking and fantastic new tech.

 

To Blu-ray or not to Blu-ray?

MKV, it's more silent and you can't scratch it

 

Size matters because of quality and also internet caps.

 

But back to the discussion at hand....

Bluray players are now cheap nowdays depending on the brand you buy and the media will still be expensive but then again if you want a higher playback quality BR is hard to beat but also remember your LCD/LED TV display needs to be of high quality for you to begin to enjoy the BR movie so it's not just the BR movie but the hardware output you use that will determine your viewing experiences. There are some BR players that will upscale DVD to BR quality and it looks pretty darn good compared to BR but the format of the two are very different and comparing them is like Apples and Oranges.

 

Actually, its impossible to beat--commercially--and at the moment. For now, only blu-ray offers the highest quality visually and audio you can experience in the home.

Sure you can stream an HD content, but is there any wonder Apple doesn't offer blu-ray? It competes with their itunes market. But while renting a download video via itune costs $4.99, you can only get to view it once. And if you want to purchase that video, it will cost you $19.99.

On the other hand, I can still purchase the same HD content via blu-ray disc for $13.99 and get the ultimate video and sound experience. (And lets not forget all the extras you don't get via streaming.) You do the math.

 

That's a double edge sword...I seen re-release of older movies in BD and that viewing playback was same or no noticeable difference from the DVD it was release on previously. So unless were talking the latest new release remakes of old DVD to BD doesn't do BD any service.