iMac - Can I burn Blu Ray discs?

[mgpg89]

Got a brand new iMac last week and I want to make some back-ups of photos I have on my HD.

Can I just buy an empty Blu Ray disc (50GB, right?) and burn my photos on the disc with my iMac?


Thanks

[robbieduncan]

Your iMac does not have a Blu Ray drive, read or write, so no.

[jessica.]

But would an external drive not work? I haven't really researched this as I own but one BR movie. Speaking of which, in a lame attempt to derail the thread, at the cost of BR movies a digital copy should be included regardless.

[Tallest Skil]

Your iMac does not have a Blu Ray drive, read or write, so no.

And that has... what significance? :p

If you get an external Blu-ray burner, you may burn data, SD video, and full HD video to the Blu-ray disks with Toast or something comparable. You cannot watch HDCP movies or burn HDCP content, but any HD content that you burn will be playable in Blu-ray players.

[robbieduncan]

But would an external drive not work?

Possibly, I think extra software would be required. Might well work with Toast...

[Father Jack]

Possibly, I think extra software would be required. Might well work with Toast...
Yes, there is an add-on for Toast 9 that will let you burn Blu-Ray disks.

I have the software but not the hardware, so I haven't been able to try it out .. :(

[Pope Jawn Pawl]

And that has... what significance? :p

If you get an external Blu-ray burner, you may burn data, SD video, and full HD video to the Blu-ray disks with Toast or something comparable. You cannot watch HDCP movies or burn HDCP content, but any HD content that you burn will be playable in Blu-ray players.

The audacity of adding something external to the beauty that is iMac! What would Steve say???

[bflowers]

I know when I plugged my HD-DVD xbox add on (yes, I was a sucker stuck with the dead format), it could see the drive just fine, but not the disc. I haven't seen anything confirmed about BR software on the Mac yet.

[Tallest Skil]

What would Steve say???

"Boom!"

Or something like that.

[kabunaru]

If you get an external Blu-ray burner, you may burn data, SD video, and full HD video to the Blu-ray disks with Toast or something comparable.

That is awesome. Thanks for the information Tallest Skil.

[ADent]

Here is a link to an external Blu-Ray with Mac Software: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MRF8UE5583T/ .

[kentucker]

I can endorse the above reply - two years later.

I bought this burner, along with Toast, at OWC (aka macsales): http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MRF8BDSD12X/

I used this howto at OWC: http://eshop.macsales.com/articles/howto-burn-bluray-toast

Btw, I am a film maker who needed to burn a Blu-ray from my Macbook Pro for a cinema screening of a short film. The Blu-rays I burnt were better quality than a duplication house I used before. For the record, OWC's customer service is excellent.