Worth waiting for a Blu Ray Drive?

Im looking at getting either a dell m1330 or a macbook, but niether have plans on getting a blu ray drive any time soon. Is it worth a wait? I do need a laptop kind of soon, but I don't want to buy another laptop in 2-3 years when blu ray is available. I need to have this laptop up to date for atleast 4 years, maybe more. I know I can go with the xps 1530, but I need to have a 13.3" screen. Any recommendations?

 

its more of a "worth the money?" question than worth the wait.

 

bluray is here now... just expensive.... IMO,, i'd stick to DVD for now till blueray drops in price.... then upgrade the drive... if not the entire laptop.

bigO

 

I wouldn't bother waiting for blu-ray. At this point it is an indulgence unless you have some specific need for it. Way to expensive to boot.

 

If u want it to just watch movies i say just get the ps3 and watch them on an HDTV..if u want the drive to also burn Blu_Ray movies IMO i think it would be best to wait until the price goes down a bit as bigozone said...or just get an external burner.....

 

i really don't need blu ray right now, but i also don't want to be stuck with an outdated laptop in 2 or 3 years if blu ray booms. i'm a college student, and im pinching every penny i can, so I want a notebook that will last atleast 4 years. is blu ray only for video purposes, or is it going to be used for programs and software later on? that is my main worry, that I will not be able to install something. i don't care too much for watching movies.

 

you can always buy the BD drive later when its cheaper and replace the laptops drive

 

No - Not worth buying at all IMO at least not until price is reasonable.

 

To be honest, your computer will be outdated in 2 or 3 years no matter what you get!

That said... No you probably won't have any need for blu-ray in the next four years. Unless you are a super-intense movie maker who needs to produce the highest quality HD movie, you won't need it. I am absolutely positive that every software manufacturer & movie maker will release their stuff on DVD for the next 4 years. Even if they start releasing it on Blu-Ray, they will release it on DVD as well.

 

Blu Ray is great, but a Blu Ray drive isn't really going to be a necessity for several years. It's also REALLY expensive. (for not at least)

For now, Blu Ray is more of an indulgence than a necessity. It may become standard in a few years, but by that time your laptop will be outdated anyway.

 

probably not worth it, blu ray drives are very expensive (though moves are actually pretty cheap now). Just go with a DVD drive for now, and if you want to watch blu ray movies you could always buy an external drive somewhere down the line if they get to reasonable prices.

 

The best reason for having a Blu-Ray drive in a 13.3" notebook is simply to play Blu-Ray movies that you already own. But don't expect a knock-your-socks-off quality improvement on a screen of that size, even if it did have native 1080p resolution. On a 17" screen, it'll look noticeably crisper, but even there, you have to be looking for it, and it works best if you have fairly static content so your eye has time to take in the detail.

Too, HD DVD may have lost, but Blu-Ray hasn't necessarily "won": It still has to overcome DVD, digital downloads, high pricetags and general indifference.

 

What is the resolution of your screen?

 

If you are worried about software coming out only on Blu-Ray, keep in mind that even though DVD drives have been ubiquitous for many years now, software has only migrated to DVD release in the last 2 or 3 years. No company that wants to stay in buisness is going to release software on media that can't be read in 80%+ of machines.

 

Blu Ray drive is not so expensive as many thinks. There are models reasonable priced with Blu Ray drive (like Acer Aspire 5520G, 5920G, and 6920G).

For those who like to watch new HD movies, and especially have plasma/LCD TV, too, is a must.

 

I would not call it a must. And besides, an external USB Blu-Ray drive will do just fine, if you decide you really want one.

 

^^^yea get the USB one

 

I continue to pull my hair out over upgrading to blu-ray. I love the crisper, more detailed movies but primarily envy the storage opportunity -- it would take forever to fill a 50GB disc. Further, I could backup my whole hard drive on just one. I'm somewhat a media junkie, but can't advise upgrading to blu-ray as the 1080 screens roll out. Now it appears wiser to wait for prices on those to drop -- they're already doable at $1500-$3000 on eBay -- and snag one of those. I'm sure my dv6000's screen cannot compete, and with HD, it's best to have native 1080 support.

 

Macbook does not have HDMI, so if your plan is to play BluRays on your HDTV then scrap the Macbook idea. The M1330 is due for an update very soon, and I would expect BluRay to be an option (albeit a very expensive one).

 

Here is the Asus F6. Here is a BluRay drive for it.

I would recommend Ebay for a cheaper BluRay drive.

 

I've changed my stance on Blu-Ray, partially due to decrease in price, but also because of an icnrease in utility.

For most vendors, it's not priced extremely high anymore. Plus, you can bet your butt that games and other data-heavy software products are going to be released in Blu-Ray in the future. So why not join the bandwagon now and start enjoying HD right away?