MacPro optical drive

[grooveattack]

hey there
just ordered a 8 core and i am now looking at putting a blu-ray into it (just because i can!) and just wanted to know if i needed to order anything in particular?

cheers

[20eman]

I put an LG GGC-H20L (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136133) Blu-Ray / HD DVD / LightScribe combo in mine. Anything that uses SATA should work.

But I hope you realize that you won't be able to watch Blu-Ray movies in OS X, since Steve Jobs hates Blu-Ray. I still use it to watch them in Windows though. (The software options for playing Blu-Rays in Windows are bloated and buggy and not free, sadly.)

Edit: oh crap I mixed up the model names. It's actually a GGW-H20L (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136137).

[Icaras]

I put an LG GGC-H20L (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136133) Blu-Ray / HD DVD / LightScribe combo in mine. Anything that uses SATA should work.

But I hope you realize that you won't be able to watch Blu-Ray movies in OS X, since Steve Jobs hates Blu-Ray. I still use it to watch them in Windows though. (The software options for playing Blu-Rays in Windows are bloated and buggy and not free, sadly.)

Hopefully this improves over time then. What software are you currently using? PowerDVD?

[grooveattack]

I put an LG GGC-H20L (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136133) Blu-Ray / HD DVD / LightScribe combo in mine. Anything that uses SATA should work.

But I hope you realize that you won't be able to watch Blu-Ray movies in OS X, since Steve Jobs hates Blu-Ray. I still use it to watch them in Windows though. (The software options for playing Blu-Rays in Windows are bloated and buggy and not free, sadly.)

yeah i was planning in doing it in windows but now you say the software is pants, hmmmm sucks

[20eman]

Hopefully this improves over time then. What software are you currently using? PowerDVD?
I ended up having to buy full versions of both PowerDVD and TotalMedia Theater because neither of them works 100% all of the time. They also require constant updating which isn't very user friendly. The drive came with a copy of PowerDVD, but it was an old version and did NOT work and would NOT update. Gives me the impression that the Blu-Ray Disc Association wants to discourage people from watching movies on BD-ROM drives instead of stand-alone players. I say fsck 'em. My computer is my home theater.

Still, TMT is less bloated, so I'd start with that one and see if it works for your discs.

Edit: The third option is WinDVD. I haven't tried this one but I have not heard good things.

On the shareware/freeware front, the combination of AnyDVD HD and Media Player Classic Home Cinema makes it possible to watch video streams off of commercial Blu-Rays, but unsurprisingly the menus and interactive features don't work at all. Maybe someday a better solution will exist. AnyDVD isn't really free though, and you need to update it constantly because new discs have new DRM.

[Cave Man]

But I hope you realize that you won't be able to watch Blu-Ray movies in OS X, since Steve Jobs hates Blu-Ray. I still use it to watch them in Windows though. (The software options for playing Blu-Rays in Windows are bloated and buggy and not free, sadly.)

You can watch Blu-ray movies from the discs by opening them with Make MKV, starting its streaming server, and opening the stream in a stream-aware app, such as VLC. It's a bit clunky but after a few times it only takes a minute or two to get the movie started.

[Desmo1098]

What is the largest capacity Blu-Ray disc you can burn to with the LG drive?

Can you burn Blu-Ray in OS X, if so do you need something special? What about Carbon Copy Cloner, does it support Blu-Ray?

[Cave Man]

What is the largest capacity Blu-Ray disc you can burn to with the LG drive?

Which LG drive? If it's single layer, then 25 GB. Dual layer is 50 GB.

Can you burn Blu-Ray in OS X, if so do you need something special? What about Carbon Copy Cloner, does it support Blu-Ray?

You can burn with Toast but CCC won't write to a Blu-ray drive as far as I know.

[20eman]

The GGW-H20L supposedly burns dual-layer (50 GB) Blu-Rays. I haven't tried to do it though.

You can watch Blu-ray movies from the discs by opening them with Make MKV, starting its streaming server, and opening the stream in a stream-aware app, such as VLC. It's a bit clunky but after a few times it only takes a minute or two to get the movie started.
Oh that's cool. I didn't know this was possible! But I just tested it and it indeed works.

(how-to (http://www.makemkv.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=703))

This is probably the only way to watch Blu-Ray media under OS X in real time. It works better than MPC-HC too. Of course, the menus don't work, and seeking isn't possible. Only fast-forward/reverse.