external blu ray drive

[beretta]

i am looking to purchase a external blu ray drive any suggestions would be most helpful and appreciated

[brettallica]

Originally Posted by beretta

i am looking to purchase a external blu ray drive any suggestions would be most helpful and appreciated

If you have a look at Newegg.com and type in "external blu-ray" (sans quotes), you'll find quite a few things. They're usually really good for anything computery, and they're a pretty reputable store, too -- well as reputable as any online store can be anyway.

One caveat about external Blu-ray drives, though: be careful with ones that connect via USB. You're likely to see a lower level of performance with those. At the very least, look for something with a FireWire connection, as that method of connection has a greater data transfer rate than USB, which is fairly important when dealing with Blu-ray data. LaCie brand (high-quality stuff) makes an external Blu-ray drive that connect via FireWire or USB, but they're pricey.

I'd just as soon see you get yourself set up with something internal, but that's not what you asked for.

[Mr. HiDef]

Originally Posted by brettallica

If you have a look at Newegg.com and type in "external blu-ray" (sans quotes), you'll find quite a few things. They're usually really good for anything computery, and they're a pretty reputable store, too -- well as reputable as any online store can be anyway.

One caveat about external Blu-ray drives, though: be careful with ones that connect via USB. You're likely to see a lower level of performance with those. At the very least, look for something with a FireWire connection, as that method of connection has a greater data transfer rate than USB, which is fairly important when dealing with Blu-ray data. LaCie brand (high-quality stuff) makes an external Blu-ray drive that connect via FireWire or USB, but they're pricey.

I'd just as soon see you get yourself set up with something internal, but that's not what you asked for.

Any of those work for apples?

[beretta]

i will take a look at a internal drive thanks for the info

[Stever]

I have LG BE06 LU10 external USB drive. I have no complaints. Performance is comparable to the internal version except for burning to re-writable. According to tests/reviews it burns a bit slower for some reason. F/W update may fix this

[hourglass]

Originally Posted by brettallica

At the very least, look for something with a FireWire connection, as that method of connection has a greater data transfer rate than USB, which is fairly important when dealing with Blu-ray data.

USB 2.0 = 480Mbps
Firewire = 400Mbps

While it's true that Firewire 800 is faster, most devices are still on the first gen. Firewire specs.

hg

[brettallica]

Originally Posted by Mr. HiDef

Any of those work for apples?

It looks like the ones on Newegg are only supported by Windows, but if it's USB compliant, it should work with Macs. Then again, I can't say that with 100% certainty. The ones from LaCie do work with Macs. Regardless of which operating system to which this drive will be connected, you're likely going to need some DVD burning/authoring software, as the operating system probably won't have that natively. There are a lot of recommendations out there for third-party software. I think Roxio is pretty good, though.

[brettallica]

Originally Posted by hourglass

USB 2.0 = 480Mbps
Firewire = 400Mbps

That's a 20% increase in data transfer when comparing USB to FireWire. That's huge (and noticeable).

EDIT for my original misreading of hourglass' post...

You may want to Google up some comparison tests between USB and FireWire. My bad for exacerbating the confusion of this thread!!!

[dadkins]

Originally Posted by brettallica

That's a 20% increase in data transfer when comparing USB to FireWire. That's huge (and noticeable).

Then why did you suggest the slower FireWire over USB?

[brettallica]

Originally Posted by dadkins

Then why did you suggest the slower FireWire over USB?

Perhaps my wording was confusing. All FireWire is faster than any current USB specs (I believe they're working on next-gen USB, but we're not talking about that); hence, if you must use an external drive, try to get one that has a FireWire connection and use that instead of USB.

EDIT for a couple nice links...

http://www.usb-ware.com/firewire-vs-usb.htm
http://www.cwol.com/firewire/firewire-vs-usb.htm

[dadkins]

Thanks for the read!

[McBain]

4x BD = 143.86 Mbps
6x BD = 215.79 Mbps

[warriorking]

Current USB2 is fine for Blu-ray playback and burning, my LG Blu-ray burner that I purchased from Newegg is set in a external bay that I connect VIA USB, I watch Blu-ray movies as well as burn blu-ray media without any issues whatsoever....