Blu Ray Burner thread....

[itsjustmeee]

I'm interested in buying an external blu ray burner for my Mac Pro. After searching these forums, the information is scattered all over the place and a much of it is up to a year old. With the prices dropping all of the time and potential compatibility issues with Macs, I would love to start a thread here about this. Which blu ray burners work, prices, speed, etc. (There's an interesting article in Macworld that reviewed a few drives and said that some of the USB only were actually faster than the firewire drives. The link is below.)

I know LaCie makes a very nice one, but at almost $400, it seems a bit pricey. What other options are there?

http://www.macworld.co.uk/digitallifestyle/masterclass/index.cfm?articleid=445&pagtype=samecat

 

[JosX]

Not sure about external, but I know MCE makes blu-ray burners especially designed for the Mac Pro.

Clicky

 

[nanofrog]

For internal, you'd only need an IDE or SATA version (port could matter for the specific system, especially with Windows OS install disks).

Worst case, you could use an IDE to SATA adapter or vice versa if needed (pure hardware, no drivers needed) to make sure you use a port that can work for both OS X and Windows for booting the install disks.

For example, the '08 MP's have ODD_SATA ports (2x), but they won't boot a Windows disk of any kind (HDD or SDD Win installation, or DVD installation media). So the machine matters, as does how you wish to connect it (internal vs. external). Externals are likely to require drivers, while the internal versions will use the default drivers provided in OS X (i.e. SATA = SATA, no matter what type of drive it is).

 

[itsjustmeee]

I'm curious about compatibility. For example, Costco has a external Velocity Micro optical usb drive for $160. It only reads blu ray and writes everything else, but would that work with a Mac and MakeMKV if I just wanted to back up my blu ray disks?

 

[eawmp1]

I'm curious about compatibility. For example, Costco has a external Velocity Micro optical usb drive for $160. It only reads blu ray and writes everything else, but would that work with a Mac and MakeMKV if I just wanted to back up my blu ray disks?

If it doesn't write blu ray how will it back up a blu rar disk?

 

[itsjustmeee]

Maybe the term "back up" is incorrect. I'm on the fence as to whether I will ever have a need to actually burn blu ray disks (for storage or making copies) anytime now or in the future. I am just thinking of converting the them with MakeMKV, leaving them on my hard drive and putting the disks away ..... and would any basic blu ray reader disk drive like this cheap one at Costco work with a Mac for this purpose?

 

[skorpien]

According to the second customer review from Best Buy, it does not work on a Mac.

 

[nanofrog]

Maybe the term "back up" is incorrect. I'm on the fence as to whether I will ever have a need to actually burn blu ray disks (for storage or making copies) anytime now or in the future. I am just thinking of converting the them with MakeMKV, leaving them on my hard drive and putting the disks away ..... and would any basic blu ray reader disk drive like this cheap one at Costco work with a Mac for this purpose?

If you only want to rip, then you don't need a Blu Ray burner, just a BD reader, which is cheaper. If it's an internal drive, you won't need drivers, which is why I asked if an internal drive would suit (your system isn't listed, so I've no idea if you're using a MacPro, iMac, or one of the laptops = not sure what drive connection method is even available to you).

According to the second customer review from Best Buy, it does not work on a Mac.

In the specifications section, it doesn't list OS X support either. So there's no drivers for it (USB and FW attached devices would have drivers).

 

[itsjustmeee]

I have a Mac Pro. I could go with an internal, but I'm not sure how difficult it is to install one. I'll do some checking around on that.

 

[nanofrog]

I have a Mac Pro. I could go with an internal, but I'm not sure how difficult it is to install one. I'll do some checking around on that.

Which MacPro?
The model does matter, as some have IDE ports, and some don't ('09 and future systems).

That said, with any of them for physical installation, it's not hard. You have to pull the plastic plate/cover off that attaches to the tray itself though (not the bezel surrounding the tray), or it won't fit through the space for the tray made into the case (cover hits inside, and won't pass through the openning).

If you wanted, you could do some metal work (open it up to show the entire front of a 5.25" drive), but it's much more difficult. But it would give you access to the tray Open/Close button.

 

[itsjustmeee]

I have an early '08 Mac Pro. I watched a couple of youtube videos and it doesn't look hard at all to install another drive. That probably would be the best way to go.

 

[Cave Man]

I have a Mac Pro. I could go with an internal, but I'm not sure how difficult it is to install one. I'll do some checking around on that.

If you just want to rip or play Blu-ray discs with Make MKV, just get any Blu-ray ROM drive that can burn DVDs, then put it in a 5.25" enclosure. I have a SATA drive in my enclosure. See the Blu-ray ripping thread in the Apple TV and Home Theater forum.