Blu-ray on the iMac?

[MajorBulk]

Hi guys,

Now firstly I'd like to apologise for what maybe a noob question, that's because I'm total new to the iMac coming from many years on the PC.

I hope to purchase an iMac 27" whenever it is released (I'm from the UK), but my question is can anyone recommend an external bluray player, and is the iMac OSX capable of processing the data?
I am aware that I have to have the dedicated software, but if anyone can advise me, I'd be very gratefull.

 

[smr]

I have one of these: Panasonic UJ-260 External Blu-Ray Disc Burner Writer Drive
and it works very well.

OSX can read/write data from/to Blu-Ray BD-R discs, and I use MakeMKV and Handbrake to rip Blu-ray movies so I can watch them on iMac/iPad/AppleTV.

 

[Mike Valmike]

smr above is correct. OS X can handle the external drive just fine. There are also excellent LG and Samsung multi-BR-DVD burners available under $100 (not sure of the price differences in the UK so you'll have to check on that) and you get full functionality out of them EXCEPT... OS X does not natively support a BR video playback client. That's it. You can rip the video, and even encode it to your heart's content, but you can't watch BR video straight off the disc in OS X. Yet. Aside from that limitation, the sky's the limit, so have fun!

 

[satheeshu]

I bought this LG drive during this black friday sale on Amazon for $90. It worked very well with my 2011 MBA running Mountain Lion. I did put it to test as soon as I got it and ripped the Amazing Spider Man bluray to 36G mkv using MakeMKV. I would recommend this one(the price on amazon appears to have gone up).

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006X2HD2M/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

 

[MajorBulk]

That's great guys, really appreciate your replies.
I'll look into those players you have suggested.

I was a little confused about the fact that, OS X didn't support a BR video client,
but now I understand it a little more, and how to get around it

Thanks again.

 

[8CoreWhore]

Just wondering - with HDMI on some Macs, can an ext Bluray player hook up and then use a third party player? The HDMI port and player would have to support HDCP.

 

[Slow Programmer]

Blu-ray player for OSX (and Windows).

http://www.macblurayplayer.com/

 

[BoomerJAG]

Does it make a difference if the external blu ray is USB 2.0 or 3.0? I will not use it to watch movies, but I will use it to rip some of my movies so I can sync them to my iPad. Thanks.

 

[barefeats]

I use Pavtube Blu-ray Ripper for Mac. It's a one step process to convert a Blu-ray movie to run on the iPad 3 or 4 with Retina screen. It even has a preset for it. Takes 2 hours to rip a 2 hour movie but the results are worth it and much better than the digital copy that comes with some Blu-ray movies.

Of course, you can play the resulting 1080p movie on your Mac using QuickTime Player.

 

[MajorBulk]

Does it make a difference if the external blu ray is USB 2.0 or 3.0? I will not use it to watch movies, but I will use it to rip some of my movies so I can sync them to my iPad. Thanks.

I was wondering this too, but having looked around at the various outlets, I can't find a USB 3.0 drive....maybe one of you more knowledgable guys will know better

Again, I very much appreciate all your replies