Best Blu-ray Drive for PC

[ESUNintel]

I've been thinking about adding a Blu-ray drive to my PC; however, it's so confusing trying to pick one. There's some that get horrible reviews, others that get good reviews, and than there's some that come with cr*ppy software, etc...

Anyways, what are you guys using as BD drives for your desktops, or which would you reccomend? What software is the best for playing movies back? Which software allowes for best BD disk back-ups? I know, so many questions, sorry.

I'de really like one that reads and writes, and prefferably SATA interface.

THanks for your help

[Pictor]

Not that I'm using one right now but I've NEVER gone wrong with Plextor drives. They are not the cheapest drives but they have always given me the best performance and fewest coasters of any drive manufacture over the years.

[X-Ninja]

hmm... idk.

Glad i could help

sorry... i know nothing about drives. BUT
I can can tell you this-

Buy the most expensive one. xD that always works.
Make shure your PC can handle BD movies as well...

like, do download an HD-DVD movie from torrents. (unless thats illegal to talk about on here. who knows. edit my message if you wish mods ) and attempt to play it. Mine diddnt work... VLC will play it just fine. mine just chugged to death as i played it. : /
...windows.

but yes, expensive is always good.

[PeterTHX]

I have the Philips SPD7000BD/17, SATA interface. Supports dual layer BD50 writing as well.
It's only 2x, but writes to all formats like a champ. Decent price.

Plextor is excellent but their BD drive is a rebranded Panasonic (and limited to IDE), just an FYI.

[JadedRaverLA]

Originally Posted by ESUNintel

I've been thinking about adding a Blu-ray drive to my PC; however, it's so confusing trying to pick one. There's some that get horrible reviews, others that get good reviews, and than there's some that come with cr*ppy software, etc...

Anyways, what are you guys using as BD drives for your desktops, or which would you reccomend? What software is the best for playing movies back? Which software allowes for best BD disk back-ups? I know, so many questions, sorry.

I'de really like one that reads and writes, and prefferably SATA interface.

THanks for your help

For my money, the best drive available at the moment is the Sony BWU-200S -- great looking, excellent write quality, fast (4x BD-R/RE), writes to all media. The new Panasonic LF-PB271JD is also an excellent drive with fairly similar specs, however, it's only available as an OEM drive, and Panasonic doesn't release firmware updates to end users. Both are SATA drives.

There's really only 2 big games in town for playback software -- Cyberlink and Intervideo. Intervideo's solution is OEM only and generally only included in pre-built PCs due to its more restrictive hardware requirements. So, your basically left with Cyberlink. Most all BD drives come with an OEM Cyberlink software package, and you can always upgrade to their PowerDVD Ultra package if you really want. I won't touch the "BD back-up" thing... there's other forums for that if you really want to experiment with burning $10 coasters. For data burning, though, Nero works like a champ.

Edit: By the way, there's a link in my sig to basic specs on all the drives out there for comparison's sake.

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

I have the Philips SPD7000BD/17, SATA interface. Supports dual layer BD50 writing as well.
It's only 2x, but writes to all formats like a champ. Decent price.

Plextor is excellent but their BD drive is a rebranded Panasonic (and limited to IDE), just an FYI.

Correct on the Plextor. Did Philips finally come out with their long-rumored firmware update to allow DL BD-R/RE burning? I checked their site again, and the latest update is the one from way back in February. Everything I've seen on the drive is that it still doesn't support DL BD-R/RE burning. Is my info bad? What media do you use?

[PeterTHX]

I haven't used BD-R50's yet (too expensive) but Nero 8 has the option available (it doesn't on non-DL writers).

[JadedRaverLA]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

I haven't used BD-R50's yet (too expensive) but Nero 8 has the option available (it doesn't on non-DL writers).

I think the drive reports to the OS that it will write to DL media, so it shows up that way. But according to several owners who've complained to Philips tech support, writing to DL BD media wasn't as simple as Philips initially thought, and the promised firmware update to allow it was scrapped completely. CDFreaks, Newegg, Amazon, etc, all have many posts from angry owners on that.

[Ian@CDRLabs]

Just a few comments...

The Sony BWU-200S is based on a Panasonic design. If I remember right, its the same as the LF-PB271JD.

The Philips SPD7000BD is based on the same design as Lite-On's Blu-ray writer. Lite-On has been pretty clear right from the start that the drive doesn't support DL media. I'm surprised Philips thought they could add support for it later.

Right now, my favorite Blu-ray drives are the LG GGC-H20L and GGW-H20L. They're still a bit hard to find, but their performance is awesome.

[JadedRaverLA]

Originally Posted by Ian@CDRLabs

Just a few comments...

The Sony BWU-200S is based on a Panasonic design. If I remember right, its the same as the LF-PB271JD.

I'd heard that from someone else, but hadn't had that confirmed yet. Thanks for that.

Originally Posted by Ian@CDRLabs

The Philips SPD7000BD is based on the same design as Lite-On's Blu-ray writer. Lite-On has been pretty clear right from the start that the drive doesn't support DL media. I'm surprised Philips thought they could add support for it later.

Well, there were a lot of rumors when those drives and the original SL-only LG drive came out that a firmware upgrade was going to add support. I think some of it was just wishfuol thinking... but at least on the Philips, almost every review mentioned it, so it must have been something the company thought would be possible.

Originally Posted by Ian@CDRLabs

Right now, my favorite Blu-ray drives are the LG GGC-H20L and GGW-H20L. They're still a bit hard to find, but their performance is awesome.

Yeah, the LG GGC-H20N has some pretty fantastic specs... though many over here would feel dirty buying a drive that also plays HD DVD. Personally, it would probably be my favorite drive if they releases a version sans HD DVD support for $100 or so cheaper.

BTW, Ian, nice to have you posting over here.

[ESUNintel]

Thanks for replying to this post, and thanks for everyone's help, ideas, and experiences. That's why Bluray.com is so cool, cause many of you are always willing to help and answer questions.

[Suzukiman600]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

I have the Philips SPD7000BD/17, SATA interface. Supports dual layer BD50 writing as well.
It's only 2x, but writes to all formats like a champ. Decent price.

Plextor is excellent but their BD drive is a rebranded Panasonic (and limited to IDE), just an FYI.

What are the prices like on these drives?

[ESUNintel]

Originally Posted by Suzukiman600

What are the prices like on these drives?

The Plextor is pricey at over $1049.00 at Micro Center, I don't think newegg.com has it. The other ones are between $400 to $500. The readers seem to be the lowest priced, at under $300; however, I want to burn stuff onto a BD too.

[Suzukiman600]

Originally Posted by ESUNintel

The Plextor is pricey at over $1049.00 at Micro Center, I don't think newegg.com has it. The other ones are between $400 to $500. The readers seem to be the lowest priced, at under $300; however, I want to burn stuff onto a BD too.

Wow. I think I will be waiting to upgrade my PC to blu until the prices become a little more reasonable. Thanks for the heads up.

[JadedRaverLA]

Originally Posted by Suzukiman600

Wow. I think I will be waiting to upgrade my PC to blu until the prices become a little more reasonable. Thanks for the heads up.

You can get the new Lite-on BD reader for $179... which isn't too bad if you don't need to burn BDs. But, yeah, the burners are still really pricey.

[ESUNintel]

Originally Posted by JadedRaverLA

You can get the new Lite-on BD reader for $179... which isn't too bad if you don't need to burn BDs. But, yeah, the burners are still really pricey.

That's a pretty good deal. Maybe I don't REALLY have to burn BD's, but it be nice.
Do you know if it can read datd BD's (with pictures, video's, etc...) too, or just movies?

[JadedRaverLA]

Originally Posted by ESUNintel

That's a pretty good deal. Maybe I don't REALLY have to burn BD's, but it be nice.
Do you know if it can read datd BD's (with pictures, video's, etc...) too, or just movies?

It can read any BD/DVD/CD media (data, video, or audio, doesn't matter)... but can't write to any media. And it's actually going for $189 at the moment on NewEgg here.

[Pictor]

Originally Posted by ESUNintel

The Plextor is pricey at over $1049.00 at Micro Center, I don't think newegg.com has it. The other ones are between $400 to $500. The readers seem to be the lowest priced, at under $300; however, I want to burn stuff onto a BD too.

Yikes, MicroCenter generally has good deals but some times they're out of their mind. The PX-B900A direct from Plextor is $999 and it can be had for less on Amazon and other places. Still expensive though.

[tron3]

Originally Posted by ESUNintel

The Plextor is pricey at over $1049.00 at Micro Center, I don't think newegg.com has it. The other ones are between $400 to $500. The readers seem to be the lowest priced, at under $300; however, I want to burn stuff onto a BD too.

You get what you pay for. I paid the extra for my Plextor DVD read/write and it was worth it. The firmware updates kept improving it. I had a stack of absolutely crappy DVD's. I couldn't make a good movie on my standalone Panasonic burner. But these same discs became great for storage with the Plextor because they know how to burn - period.

[Ian@CDRLabs]

I got word from LG today that the GGW-H20L's MSRP will be only $399. This is the drive that reads/writes Blu-ray and reads HD DVD. It should show up at Best Buy and Fry's soon.

Even when it was new, that Plextor was retardedly over priced. I like most Plextor drives, but you're paying $600-$700 just for the brand name and tech support.

[ESUNintel]

Originally Posted by tron3

You get what you pay for. I paid the extra for my Plextor DVD read/write and it was worth it. The firmware updates kept improving it. I had a stack of absolutely crappy DVD's. I couldn't make a good movie on my standalone Panasonic burner. But these same discs became great for storage with the Plextor because they know how to burn - period.

I agree, I also got a Plextor DVD drive, and it is the best drive I have ever used. But over $1000 for a BD drive is pretty high though. ...I'm sure it's worth it though.