Blu-Ray on air - what do I need?

[iann1982]

Hi All,

Just ordered the FastMacs Blu-Ray drive as I felt for the extra £13 it was more than worth it over the superdrive.

Just a couple of questions, firstly.

1: I presume i'll have to launch XP via bootcamp? (I'll try Parallels but doubt it'll have the oompf)

2: Can I output via XP at 1920 x 1080p? I have the rev B 1.6ghz model.

3: Is the air's audio output limited to 2.0 stereo or is it a digital optical port like on the macbooks?

Finally, does anyone know if the drive will work off USB power?

Regards,

Ian

 

[illegallydead]

Hi All,

Just ordered the FastMacs Blu-Ray drive as I felt for the extra £13 it was more than worth it over the superdrive.

Just a couple of questions, firstly.

1: I presume i'll have to launch XP via bootcamp? (I'll try Parallels but doubt it'll have the oompf)

2: Can I output via XP at 1920 x 1080p? I have the rev B 1.6ghz model.

3: Is the air's audio output limited to 2.0 stereo or is it a digital optical port like on the macbooks?

Finally, does anyone know if the drive will work off USB power?

Regards,

Ian

1: Yes, bootcamp will be faster and better, especially on your machine.

2: I highly doubt you will be able to output 1080p smoothly. With that slow of a CPU, and not that dandy of a GPU, you will choke pretty hard getting it to work.

3: Not sure. Don't have one and will never be in the market for one, so I've never cared to look.

Lastly, maybe it will, maybe it won't. The Air's USB port is overpowered from the USB spec., specifically for the Superdrive to work, so there is a chance you drive will, too. Again, not 100% sure tho...

 

[twoodcc]

let us know how it works out for you!

 

[iann1982]

1: Yes, bootcamp will be faster and better, especially on your machine.

2: I highly doubt you will be able to output 1080p smoothly. With that slow of a CPU, and not that dandy of a GPU, you will choke pretty hard getting it to work.

3: Not sure. Don't have one and will never be in the market for one, so I've never cared to look.

Lastly, maybe it will, maybe it won't. The Air's USB port is overpowered from the USB spec., specifically for the Superdrive to work, so there is a chance you drive will, too. Again, not 100% sure tho...

My understanding is that the Air uses the 9400 graphics in windows - this supports 1080p blu ray, guess I'll find out in a week or so..

 

[kolax]

My understanding is that the Air uses the 9400 graphics in windows - this supports 1080p blu ray, guess I'll find out in a week or so..

There only is the 9400M, so what else would you expect it to use?!

 

[8767092]

Hi All,

Just ordered the FastMacs Blu-Ray drive as I felt for the extra £13 it was more than worth it over the superdrive.

Just a couple of questions, firstly.

1: I presume i'll have to launch XP via bootcamp? (I'll try Parallels but doubt it'll have the oompf)

2: Can I output via XP at 1920 x 1080p? I have the rev B 1.6ghz model.

3: Is the air's audio output limited to 2.0 stereo or is it a digital optical port like on the macbooks?

Finally, does anyone know if the drive will work off USB power?

Regards,

Ian

Parallels might not work for playing it directly, but you might be able to rip it via AnyDVD HD first then play it out of OS X.

 

[Veinticinco]

Personally I wouldn't want to 'dirty' any of my Macs by putting a MS OS on there just to play BR.

I'll happily wait until they sort out these 'licensing issues' and finally add BR compatibility to QT under Snow Leopard.

 

[iann1982]

There only is the 9400M, so what else would you expect it to use?!

As opposed to the processor handling .264 processing like with the older macbooks and has it been confirmed that OS X offloads video to the GPU?

 

[iann1982]

Personally I wouldn't want to 'dirty' any of my Macs by putting a MS OS on there just to play BR.

I'll happily wait until they sort out these 'licensing issues' and finally add BR compatibility to QT under Snow Leopard.

Windows is already on their for work things - agree it's not worth installing just for Blu.

 

[McGilli]

You will be limited to 2.0 sound from the audio out jack on the MBA.