Should I get the Blu-Ray Read-Only Drive on FW ?

I just order the new CTO FW on sonystyle.ca for 1533$ with blu-ray drive. I wonder if I should edit my order to skip the blu-ray drive and save 150$.

I actually don't own blu-ray films and I don't plan to buy some ... I only rent movies at the video store, so I'm really not sure I need this. I don't even owe an HD TV, so there's no real reason for me to get one.

Any opinions on that ?

For those interested, I had a look at the new FW in store, with the eco-brite screen. For me the colors looked a bit washed and there was a lot of reflections in the screen (that's why I ordered the Xbrite-HiColor screen) Except that, it looks fantastic. It's not so heavy and in my opinion, looked really thin.


Thanks a lot,

 

Sounds to me like you don't need one.

 

i got a reader in mine because i probably will be using bluray discs soon.

 

I gotta get in on this thread... I'm in the same boat.

 

Does Canada have online video rentals like Netflix? Do they carry Blu-ray? If they do, you may want to consider buying the one with Blu-ray. And online rental is usually far cheaper than renting from a video store, at least that is the case in the States.

Blu-ray has much better picture quality than DVD. You have to see it to believe it. And it is perfect for large 16.4" screen.

 

I am not too sure about needing blu-ray, as it hasn't became popular at all yet (i'm pretty sure DVD starting taking over VCR a lot quicker than blu-ray is replacing DVD). I'm unsure if we really need high capacity disks.

To get to the point, I'm not sure of whether blu-ray technology will flourish, and therefore, I would not consider getting a blu-ray drive yet if i were buying a laptop with such an option.

If blu-ray becomes popular, I will buy an external blu-ray drive.

 

What sort of pricing have you guys seen on external blu-ray drives?

(No comment on the popularity issue. )

 

*Goes to check now*
There were only 2 results that came up on newegg, but this is the cheapest one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106259

It doesn't write cd, dvd, or blu-ray, the cheapest that writes is 370 dollars (writes in all three formast listed above, as well as hd dvd lol).

Not very cheap...

But when and if blu ray gets popular, they will definitely be cheaper.

 

depends what you will use it for, I will tend to use it for backing stuff up and for movies. but seeing as it will cost me 300 bucks for the bluray reader and burner, it is a no brainer to get.

 

No offense, but that is a ridiculous plan. I just can't imagine plugging an external Blu-ray drive into a laptop so I can watch a movie (you'll need USB cable + A/C cord due to power requirements of Blu-ray....USB power won't be enough). Sony is offering Blu-ray on the FW at the lowest price point currently available in the industry...and with the HiColor screen and 1600x900 you will want Blu-ray...DVD is only 720x480 and will look jagged and grainy and inferior color. And I have no doubt that Blu-ray will become a very popular format and will eventually overtake DVD. And downloads are not going to replace discs anytime soon either (if ever)....tiered network charges will eventually be put in place that will make gigabyte-size video downloads expensive...maybe more than discs. You really don't think the internet backbones are going to magically increase to accommodate millions of video downloads for free, do you?

 

Well, I have an SR, so I don't face that problem, and I will most likely get an external blu-ray player. I mean, look at ultraportable laptops, they have to use an external optical drive just to use a cd/dvd.

Either that, or I'll put an internal one in my desktop and watch from there.


EDIT: But, if I do need to buy a new laptop, and blu-ray is popular (and therefore, blu-ray drives are cheap) of course I'll get one, but that's a bit far-fetched at this point in time.

 

IF you plan on watching movies on (or via) your laptop.

 

Obviously. The starting assumption in this thread is that one wants to watch a Blu-ray movie...the way in which one does that was what I was arguing and an external solution is simpy absurd to me. It's clumsy, not portable, and would go unused. Why not just spring for the Blu-ray drive built-in and then it's there when you really want it, like this Christmas, next year, or the year after. I've been talking up the benefits of the Blu-ray option for weeks on these threads but no one seems to think that maximizing your options is worth squat. Amazing.

 

That could be... but it wasn't as clear to me. Here's what the OP said:

"I actually don't own blu-ray films and I don't plan to buy some ... I only rent movies at the video store, so I'm really not sure I need this. I don't even owe an HD TV, so there's no real reason for me to get one."

I'm not convinced he wants to watch a Blu-ray movie.

 

Yeah, honestly, it's a 150 dollar option to get a blu ray drive now, and not that many blu ray movies are out. Why not wait till blu-ray is popular, and more movies are out, and players are cheaper?

 

Then why are we even discussing this?

 

Perhaps he'd use the blu-ray drive once blu-ray became popular or something. Hell, i mean, maybe one day games will be on blu-ray disks (lol, i can't imagine 20+gb games, but w/e).

 

Optical drives are generally not upgradeable like hard drives. And as I've already pointed out, an external drive for playing movies on a laptop is just plain stupid. But you all go ahead and do whatever.

 

Well, if you get a nice sturdy laptop bag with lots of pockets and all, or put your laptop in your backpack, it really is pretty portable. I mean, seriously, the thing is what, the size of 3 dvd cases stacked together? Is that really that big?

 

That makes an external Blu-ray drive even more attractive, eh? Just to play the Blu-ray game, let's plug the external drive into the A/C, plug in the USB cable, and insert the game disc. Wow, what fun that will be. I don't know anyone who woud do this on a desktop nevermind a portable battery-powered laptop.

 

Sheesh... i'm saying that maybe he is considering a blu-ray (which is the topic) because of something similar to this. I'm not recommending a external drive because of a possibility of blu-ray games.

And seriously, the way I'm reccomending a blu-ray external drive is like having a docking station. You have it at home, but for work/school/travel/any other uses, you wouldn't take it, since presumably, you wouldn't need it for such functions (Honestly, I don't see people using blu-ray to transfer files at work, using the network or even an external hard drive is a lot more logical).

 

Wow, I didn't know we were talking a docking station scenario. That's a hybrid case that completely blows everything I've been talking out of the water. Nice curveball, Ed.

 

Okay, yeah, i guess we were talking about different contexts.

To the OP, if you do believe in the worthiness of Blu-Ray and think you would want to use blu-ray all the time, and do not intend on replacing your laptop when blu-ray becomes popular, then you should go for it.

 

... ...

 

Well thanks for all your time and answers.
There's lots of pros, but I think I'll pass this time. It's really superfluous for my needs right now.
BTW, I'm a "She"

 

Oh, dang, i shoulda figured that from your screen name (after the "a" it's the french word for miss).

 

That's what I thought.

 

you guys are slow. lol.

 

I want to make my notebook as "future-proof" as possible. I am unfamiliar with Blu-ray, so this question may sound stupid. Will I be able to play DVDs on a Blu-ray player? I have many DVDs and I wouldn't want to get rid of them just because of a new format.

 

blu-ray plays normal dvds and cds. bluray burner also burns dvds and cds

 

Based on that, you probably want the Blu-ray reader/burner combo.

Which will make TetonWolf very happy. Kidding, just kidding, Teton!

 

If you want to make your notebook as future proof as possible do not order any moving parts like bluray player and hdd Build in SSD instead.