Worth Getting a Blu-Ray ODD?

[marmiteonpizza]

I've just built my PC with a standard 24x DVD writer, but I was just wandering: is it worth getting a Blu-Ray disc drive?
What are the benefits of Blu-Ray? I've never actually watched Blu-Ray content before. Are there any other advantages/functions you can use a Blu-Ray ODD for?

 

[FX-GMC]

I've just built my PC with a standard 24x DVD writer, but I was just wandering: is it worth getting a Blu-Ray disc drive?
What are the benefits of Blu-Ray? I've never actually watched Blu-Ray content before. Are there any other advantages/functions you can use a Blu-Ray ODD for?

DVD is 720x480 at 29.97FPS
Blu-Ray is 1080p

Other than the fidelity advantage if you like storing data on disks you can fit a hell of a lot more data on a Blu-Ray if you get a writable drive.

 

[Devon68]

I've never actually watched Blu-Ray content before. Are there any other advantages/functions you can use a Blu-Ray ODD for?

Well in that case you are the same as me and probably don't really need it. If you plan burning some of these new next gen games a blu ray burner might be useful since they can burn 25 GB (single-layer)
50 GB (dual-layer) discs.

 

[The Von Matrices]

I do have a Blu-ray burner in my PC, but I would not recommend a Blu-ray drive for another person to buy except in specific circumstances. The reason I have the drive is because I occasionally do videography on weddings and other events, and I need the drive to burn discs of the final footage. However, I don't use Blu-ray discs for anything else in my day to day life. I don't watch movies on my PC, and there is little other content on Blu-ray.

The problems with Blu-ray in a PC is three-fold:

1. Since few people own Blu-ray drives, manufactures don't distribute software or files on Blu-ray disc.
2. The writable Blu-ray discs are expensive ($0.50 per BD-R or $4.00 per BD-RE). Considering that you need a $70 drive in addition to the media, performing backups on hard drives is cheaper not to mention you can write to the hard drive as frequently as you want. Plus if you want to transfer files, you can't expect anyone else to be able to read them due to problem #1.
3. If you have the Blu-ray drive and want to watch movies, you still need to buy the playback software, which is expensive. Considering the combined price of the playback software and the Blu-ray drive, you can save money by just buying a standalone Blu-ray disc player.

 

[eidairaman1]

BlueRay is backwards compatible, might as well

 

[rtwjunkie]

I have a Blu-ray drive in my HTPC. So, in addition to streamed movies from my server, I can watch a Blu-ray movie occasionally as well. I see this as especially necessary for that odd 3-D movie as well. Only disadvantage is it requires nearly as big of an investment for appropriate software to play said Blu-ray content. Additionally, it is also backwards compatible if I wish to play any DVD's in there.

If I were to do it again, the HTPC would not get a Blu-ray drive, and I would have bought a standalone Blu-ray player which could also be hooked to my TV. I did it so I would have an all-in one solution going to my TV, for whatever entertainement needs I had. Thus, the BR drive in the HTPC.

 

[AlienIsGOD]

i have a Blu ray drive for the simple reason that i won a contest for a Liteon drive mind you it stopped working and my friend had to fix it ( a wire got in the way preventing the try from opening, he taped the wire to the roof of enclosure and it works perfectly now) .

 

[MilkyWay]

I don't need a blu ray drive because i do content digitally mostly. The advantages of blu ray movies is that the masters are massively improved on older movies, with exception to a few early blu rays where the master was not improved so looked shittier than DVD. They also would be good for backup but i personally find it advantageous to have a portable or desktop hard drive for that sort of thing. You can get 1080p movies cheaper online than blu rays, you just don't get the cool collectors or special edition gumpf that comes with a physical release.

EDIT: Opps i forgot about the playback software, my friend had a Samsung BD Drive and some newer films require an update to the software which most of the time requires buying the newer version of the player. So imo its cheaper to get a BD player or console, since it will not require fees to update.

 

[marmiteonpizza]

Okay well I get all my media from the web in 1080p, which is a replacement for Blu-Ray I suppose. Looks like I'll stick to my DVD writer for now, but thanks for sharing all the advantages/disadvantages with me guys

 

[D007]

Bluray is so ridiculously cheap that it would be a mistake to not get one.
Bluray movies look amazing and the price of movies has dropped to the floor.

4k bluray is coming soon though and that won't be the same thing.
It will be expensive for a bit though, for sure.

So it's your call in the end..
Wait for 4k bluray or get a bluray now for 1080, which looks way better than standard 1080p.

If you don't watch/buy bluray dvd's though, it's pointless.

I voted no, because I have a bluray surround system and didn't need one for my pc.

 

[The Von Matrices]

Bluray is so ridiculously cheap that it would be a mistake to not get one.
Bluray movies look amazing and the price of movies has dropped to the floor.

The problem is that while the drive itself is cheap, (~$50), the license for the software necessary to play the movies is expensive (~$100).

Instead of paying $150 to play Blu-ray discs on your PC, you can just spend $70 on a standalone Blu-ray disc player.

The only reason to buy a Blu-ray drive on a PC is if you plan to use the drive for something other than playing movies.

 

[Jetster]

Yep and Ive never used it

 

[marmiteonpizza]

Yep and Ive never used it

Haha, I've definitely made my mind up that it's not worth it at the present.

 

[HossHuge]

I've had one for about 2 years and have used once. I voted no. Not sure how much more they are where you're at but they are 3x the price here.

 

[marmiteonpizza]

I've had one for about 2 years and have used once. I voted no. Not sure how much more they are where you're at but they are 3x the price here.

Wow...just looked at the prices in the UK and they're up to five/six times as much as DVD writers! F**k that's crazy.

 

[OneMoar]

optical media is dead
just get a streaming box and a 128GB flash drive

 

[micropage7]

i may add just dvd rw drive for like backup or installing os/apps

especially here bluray is no since its pricey and nowhere to find

 

[Devon68]

Well for the price of a blu-ray writer you can buy an 2 tb hard drive. I would rather get the drive.

 

[marmiteonpizza]

optical media is dead
just get a streaming box and a 128GB flash drive

That is very true, I never thought of the optical media of being dead, but it's nothing but the truth.

Well for the price of a blu-ray writer you can buy an 2 tb hard drive. I would rather get the drive.

Anyone who would get the ODD over that I think would be stupid - cheers for pointing that out

 

[Shou Miko]

i got a blu-ray reader in mine, i don't think i don't think i have burned a single dvd disc or anything only read my anime's and a couple of driver discs that's all...

i don't have any stand-alone players in my apartments so i need this one ^^

 

[lilhasselhoffer]

I voted yes, but before you scoff hear me out.

Before the lawsuit, DVDFAB was able to break AACS. I could purchase a Blu-ray, rip it to my HDD, encode it into a reasonable format, and stream it around my house. I'd collected a small library of Blu-rays from holiday sales, movie store sales, and the like. I could shelve my discs somewhere safe, and still play Aliens and Blue Brothers over my network. Reasonably, it was fair use of property that I had purchased (no copy of media ever got made). That was awesome, and made it possible to skip all the crap software for playing Blu-rays.

Now that DVDFAB was sued over the AACS encryption breaking, a Blu-ray ODD is less valuable. The software for playing Blu-rays is generally crap, and the usage in anything beyond movies is basically zero. If you were to buy a new computer today, and get a good bundled software player, I'd think a Blu-ray drive would be worth about 300% of a good DVD drive (20 USD for DVD, 60 USD for Blu-ray). If it's more expensive than that, or you don't have a large Blu-ray disc collection, skip the extra expense. Nobody puts their software onto Blu-ray discs. Their are probably some exceptions to that statement, but for the life of me I can't think of one.


Additionally, the cost of a decent Blu-ray player locally is about $80. Stand alone players can be returned with ease, don't require authentication updates, and don't react oddly to whatever software you've got installed. If all you're doing is watching the occasional movie, then a standalone player might be more flexible than an ODD.


Is there a way to change my vote? After talking this over I've convinced myself that it isn't worth is anymore.


Edit:
And vote is now changed. I swear, immediate gut reactions usually wind-up biting me in the arse.

 

[marmiteonpizza]

I voted yes, but before you scoff hear me out.

Before the lawsuit, DVDFAB was able to break AACS. I could purchase a Blu-ray, rip it to my HDD, encode it into a reasonable format, and stream it around my house. I'd collected a small library of Blu-rays from holiday sales, movie store sales, and the like. I could shelve my discs somewhere safe, and still play Aliens and Blue Brothers over my network. Reasonably, it was fair use of property that I had purchased (no copy of media ever got made). That was awesome, and made it possible to skip all the crap software for playing Blu-rays.

Now that DVDFAB was sued over the AACS encryption breaking, a Blu-ray ODD is less valuable. The software for playing Blu-rays is generally crap, and the usage in anything beyond movies is basically zero. If you were to buy a new computer today, and get a good bundled software player, I'd think a Blu-ray drive would be worth about 300% of a good DVD drive (20 USD for DVD, 60 USD for Blu-ray). If it's more expensive than that, or you don't have a large Blu-ray disc collection, skip the extra expense. Nobody puts their software onto Blu-ray discs. Their are probably some exceptions to that statement, but for the life of me I can't think of one.


Additionally, the cost of a decent Blu-ray player locally is about $80. Stand alone players can be returned with ease, don't require authentication updates, and don't react oddly to whatever software you've got installed. If all you're doing is watching the occasional movie, then a standalone player might be more flexible than an ODD.


Is there a way to change my vote? After talking this over I've convinced myself that it isn't worth is anymore.

Haha, I'll enable vote changing just for you
Well I'm the opposite way round to most people, I get all my media from the internet in HD, and would want to use this BD ODD for anything else that it would be useful for. But you and others are saying that there are next to no other uses other than reading Blu-ray disks.
So thanks for the info

 

[Disparia]

Yeah, doesn't sound too beneficial for you.

Near me is a Redbox (DVD/Blu-Ray movie rental kiosk if you're not familiar) and I can borrow from my friends large collection. I don't mind the cost as I only need one for the entire house (four systems ATM).

 

[TRWOV]

If you only intent to watch movies I'd get a standalone player since they're so cheap right now. 6 years ago getting a good player was almost as costly as getting a drive plus the software, right now the PC way is more expensive as the software costs as much as a standalone and you have to buy the drive on top of that.

I got a bluray drive on my main rig but I use it for ripping my BRs. I also got one on my HTPC but only use it for the odd rental.

 

[Frag_Maniac]

Worth it or not depends on how you use your optical drive.

A common decent quality DVD-RW drive can suffice, but if you regularly burn large files, they get to be annoying. As mentioned, if you want to backup some of today's games on disc, it can take several DL DVDs. It reminds me of the days when some games were packed in thick, multi tray jewel cases with several discs you had to load one after the other, such as Far Cry.

I don't look at this as an are they a good player situation because I feel the better software players (MPC-HC) and/or affordable and adequate home theater Blu-ray players, are actually better for that. Aside from burning, all they end up serving as usually is a way to install software from disc.

That said, Blu-ray burners are really coming down in price and I'm tempted to get one. The Pioneer 209BDK is only $55 right now at Newegg, and is one of the best rated. The media though is where it's really getting hard to justify continuing to buy blank discs for a DVD-RW.

Check out these prices. Even if you select the best value on reliable brands, vs comparing same brand, BD wins

TDK 8.5GB DL DVD = 14GB per dollar
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817131081

Verbatim 25GB BD-R 21GB per dollar
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817130156

On same brand, DVD really loses big time!

Verbatim 8.5GB DL DVD 6GB per dollar
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817130008

This is the real game changer, not just convenience of less discs. 64GB is the new 16GB on USB drives, and Blu-ray is the new standard for storing large files on disc. There's no contest. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827129075

 

[15th Warlock]

I know most people are against optical media nowadays, but I have bluray drives on every single one of my rigs, I have a huge movie collection and nothing beats the fidelity of bluray atm.

Not a big fan of streaming movies, don't mind about TV shows though.