BlueRay Drive

[Hellhammer]

There's no doubt that online purchases are attractive, but they're not there yet and won't be for many years to come.

They are already eating huge market share of Blu-Ray and other optical media... There are more and more providers available in the internet and things like PS3 have/are getting a video service. Unless you are living in a cave (you are the Cave Man 😉), you should've seen this already. Before you had to get DVD or VHS, you couldn't buy it from the net and watch straight away, that's why you can't compare them.

For getting the benefit of Blu-Ray you need something better than 500$ 32" Samsung. Blu-Ray version ain't any better on that setup than a streamed movie off the Internet. Unless you have great home theater, it doesn't really matter. I have 37" 1080p TV in my room. Upstairs is my dad's home theater, 100" 1080p projector with 7.1 sound. In my room, I can't see much difference between Blu-Ray and streamed film. In HT, I do and prefer BR, but how many have a setup like that?

Fiber connection is coming more and more popular at least in area where I live. 100Mb/s for 40€/month is a deal-breaker. 1Gb/s is being tested atm and should be available later on this year. I have 8Mb/s and 720p streaming works just fine.

Sure, keep buying Blu-Rays if you find that great difference and are ready to pay more. I don't. I find it more comfortable to open the website, enter to my account, select the movie and click play. I don't want to go and get the Blu-Ray to watch it, it's already taken an hour to do that. I can live with the quality loss as the movie is still the same

 

[Thunder82]

They are already eating huge market share of Blu-Ray and other optical media... There are more and more providers available in the internet and things like PS3 have/are getting a video service. Unless you are living in a cave (you are the Cave Man 😉), you should've seen this already. Before you had to get DVD or VHS, you couldn't buy it from the net and watch straight away, that's why you can't compare them.

For getting the benefit of Blu-Ray you need something better than 500$ 32" Samsung. Blu-Ray version ain't any better on that setup than a streamed movie off the Internet. Unless you have great home theater, it doesn't really matter. I have 37" 1080p TV in my room. Upstairs is my dad's home theater, 100" 1080p projector with 7.1 sound. In my room, I can't see much difference between Blu-Ray and streamed film. In HT, I do and prefer BR, but how many have a setup like that?

Fiber connection is coming more and more popular at least in area where I live. 100Mb/s for 40€/month is a deal-breaker. 1Gb/s is being tested atm and should be available later on this year. I have 8Mb/s and 720p streaming works just fine.

Sure, keep buying Blu-Rays if you find that great difference and are ready to pay more. I don't. I find it more comfortable to open the website, enter to my account, select the movie and click play. I don't want to go and get the Blu-Ray to watch it, it's already taken an hour to do that. I can live with the quality loss as the movie is still the same

While I agree with a lot of what you are saying, there are also a LOT of people that want nothing to do with digital downloads - especially concerning movies. 1080p movies are MASSIVE and storing them all via hard drive would be insane. (NO, i do NOT want to stream every movie) Also, don't get me started on the 300 different kinds of DRM out there.

 

[Hellhammer]

While I agree with a lot of what you are saying, there are also a LOT of people that want nothing to do with digital downloads - especially concerning movies. 1080p movies are MASSIVE and storing them all via hard drive would be insane. (NO, i do NOT want to stream every movie) Also, don't get me started on the 300 different kinds of DRM out there.

No doubt on that. Both have their pros and cons, we shall all agree that. I never buy movies anyway because I only watch them once, thus streaming is fine for me and doesn't fill my HD. I'm not so keen on 1080p so I always select the 720p as it loads faster (1080p struggles sometimes). I just love its easiness 'cause I don't have to move my ass 😀 If I'm on my way to home from somewhere and want to get a movie, then I go to rental shop and rent a BR but I won't take a bus from home to get one if I can watch it online.

It's just me of course, doesn't mean that I or Cave or anyone is right or wrong, this is totally an opinion question and nobody can accurately predict the future

 

[Cave Man]

They are already eating huge market share of Blu-Ray and other optical media... There are more and more providers available in the internet ...

But this is mostly irrelevant because the ISPs rely on either the cable companies or the phone companies, both of which are capping bandwith. If you exceed those monthly caps (one 1080p download would do it for some) then you get hit with a surcharge. This is how it is. You can talk about how it may be one day, but that's purely speculation. Additionally, the Studios want Blu-ray, not downloads. Can you tell me one legitimate source of 1080p downloads? I know of none because the Studios don't allow them.

For getting the benefit of Blu-Ray you need something better than 500$ 32" Samsung.

No you don't. The quality of the experience is a function of the viewing distance. A 1080p Blu-ray rip on my MacBook Air looks much better than the DVD version of that same movie. TV and Blu-ray player costs are dropping like mad, but internet service cost is staying the same because it's at saturation in the USA.

Blu-Ray version ain't any better on that setup than a streamed movie off the Internet.

Can you tell us the provider of your streaming service? The best one I've seen is iTunes Store and those videos are junk compared to Blu-ray. My Blu-ray transcodes for the Apple TV are superior to those you can buy from the Apple iTunes Store. And don't even get me started with Netflix. I tried their free month of service and those streams were pathetic. Streaming is not ready for prime time, that's for sure.

Unless you have great home theater, it doesn't really matter. I have 37" 1080p TV in my room. Upstairs is my dad's home theater, 100" 1080p projector with 7.1 sound. In my room, I can't see much difference between Blu-Ray and streamed film. In HT, I do and prefer BR, but how many have a setup like that?

Again, the trendlines are that larger 1080p TVs and Blu-ray Disc players are increasing penetration in the home market, while internet costs are static and downloads are getting capped because of bandwith saturation. We only just got 7 MB/s (from 1.5 MB/s) from our provider a few months ago and that resulted in a US$8 increase in my monthly bill to $32. (Our ISP hasn't capped bandwidth yet, but that's coming I'm sure.) Those are the data. Until some breakthrough occurs that change that, the future is pretty clear.

Fiber connection is coming more and more popular at least in area where I live.

Unless you live in the USA it doesn't matter, because that's where the market is. Why do you think Apple releases things in the USA first, then everywhere else later?

Sure, keep buying Blu-Rays if you find that great difference and are ready to pay more. I don't. I find it more comfortable to open the website, enter to my account, select the movie and click play.

I'm not so keen on 1080p so I always select the 720p as it loads faster (1080p struggles sometimes).

Where do you download high bit rate 1080p content with HD audio?

It's just me of course, doesn't mean that I or Cave or anyone is right or wrong, this is totally an opinion question and nobody can accurately predict the future

But if you follow the data then the trendlines predict where things are heading, and that's very clear.

 

[Hellhammer]

But this is mostly irrelevant because the ISPs rely on either the cable companies or the phone companies, both of which are capping bandwith. If you exceed those monthly caps (one 1080p download would do it for some) then you get hit with a surcharge. This is how it is. You can talk about how it may be one day, but that's purely speculation. Additionally, the Studios want Blu-ray, not downloads. Can you tell me one legitimate source of 1080p downloads? I know of none because the Studios don't allow them.

ISPs own the cables etc they use in here i.e. no caps or anything. I can get 200Mb/s and download 24/7 for 50€. It's already eating the market share of BR. Blu-Rays cost more for the studios too, price of the disk, printing the movie in there, shipping, vendor profit etc. If the studio had it available on their site, it would cost them 0$ and give them bigger profits.

No you don't. The quality of the experience is a function of the viewing distance. A 1080p Blu-ray rip on my MacBook Air looks much better than the DVD version of that same movie. TV and Blu-ray player costs are dropping like mad, but internet service cost is staying the same because it's at saturation in the USA.

I don't have my nose touching the screen. I don't notice big difference thus I'm fine with online option. Internet prices are dropping in here all the time

Again, the trendlines are that larger 1080p TVs and Blu-ray Disc players are increasing penetration in the home market, while internet costs are static and downloads are getting capped because of bandwith saturation. We only just got 7 MB/s (from 1.5 MB/s) from our provider a few months ago and that resulted in a US$8 increase in my monthly bill to $32. (Our ISP hasn't capped bandwidth yet, but that's coming I'm sure.) Those are the data. Until some breakthrough occurs that change that, the future is pretty clear.

I don't have any issues as I'm not getting capped. Currently I pay 32€ for 8Mb/s but my ISP will be installing fiber later on this year, i.e. 200Mb/s for 45€.

Unless you live in the USA it doesn't matter, because that's where the market is. Why do you think Apple releases things in the USA first, then everywhere else later?

I've been using Voddler lately, it's not even available in US.

Where do you download high bit rate 1080p content with HD audio?

Torrents. I already said I don't care that much about the quality so your question is irrelevant, I never said I'm getting something like that.

But if you follow the data then the trendlines predict where things are heading, and that's very clear.

Online media is more or less a new thing, past has nothing to do with this. For example, not so many years ago most software was on optical media, now +90% of software can be downloaded from the net, legally. Some software ain't available on DVDs anymore because it's cheaper to let people download it.

You are only talking about quality and totally forgetting other things, such as price and availability. I fully understand that downloading is not an option if you have gap or slow connection but if you don't, like I don't, then it's a whole new situation. I have like 500GB of unwatched movies and TV shows and more coming all the time 😛

 

[Rithem]

It'd be nice to have since I have so many Blu Rays.

 

[Jazojas12]

Anyone know where I can buy used digital downloads?

 

[tflournoy95]

Optical media will be with us for a couple more decades, at least.

optical media might be with us for a few more decades but it wont be common. just like 3.5 inch floppys. there still around but barely used. i got a big old box of em in the drawer next to me.

 

[tflournoy95]

Not all need nor want the quality of Blu-Ray, some are fine with lower. You can't change the fact that the market of digital downloads is developing all the time. It's a lot easier to click download in iTunes than going into a shop and buying the actual disk. Digital downloads are also cheaper due lack of need for medium i.e. disk.

Apple is already burying optical media because they have iTunes which is great profit. If people go to BestBuy and buy Blu-Rays, Apple won't get any money out of that.

Blu-Ray may provide the best quality but it comes with a price. In here, Blu-Rays are +25€ while downloading in HD from a Finnish site costs only 10€. Let alone the easiness of sitting on couch and pressing buy instead of going to a shop and buying one.

Don't get me wrong, I love Blu-Ray and it's great. I have PS3 as a BR player but the easiness of digital downloads are just deal-breakers. If I want to watch a movie, I want to do it now and not 2 hours later when I've bought the movie.

I doubt Blu-Ray will ever achieve the popularity of e.g. DVD

try downloading a full movie in 1080p in anything less than two hours. oh and it definitly doesnt take 2 hours to buy a movie*. more like 10 minutes to drive up to the blockbuster.

*unless you live in the middle of nowhere and have to walk.

 

[alust2013]

I must say, there is a rather large market for blu-ray although I would have very little use for it in my computer, seeing that it is only a 13" screen. But blu-ray is definitely not going to be outdone by any internet service any time soon, as far as I am concerned. iTunes HD stuff is way overpriced, and for anyone with a normal internet connection, it takes forever to download. (I have a pretty fast cable connection, and it still takes a very long time to download a standard movie (2 hours +). I have little to no patience for that, especially since the movie is now stuck on my hard drive. With blu-ray, you get an amazing quality movie (trust me, I have a setup that shows exactly how much better it is), with uncompressed 7.1 sound (almost more impressive than the movie itself), and on top of that, you get a digital copy that you can then put on your computer. All for around the same price as a download of a lower quality version of the same thing on iTunes. That said, for my computer, I would take netflix over a blu-ray drive, it's just a lot more practical for that particular application.

 

[Ronnoco]

I have no need for an internal Blu-Ray drive in my MBP...I do watch a lot of video on my computer but watching 480p looks just fine on my 15" display and I like being able to download 720p files if I want better quality...I can always get a slim external BR drive if I find I ever need one...not having the option of a Blu-Ray drive certainly had no bearing on my buying decision, that's for sure...

 

[Hellhammer]

try downloading a full movie in 1080p in anything less than two hours. oh and it definitly doesnt take 2 hours to buy a movie*. more like 10 minutes to drive up to the blockbuster.

*unless you live in the middle of nowhere and have to walk.

You don't have to download it, it's called streaming. It's at least and hour if I go and buy one. If I rent one, I can make it in 30 minutes. Anyway, stores are not open if I want to buy a movie @11pm, online stores are 24/7. If I'm having a hangover on Sunday, I can't drive nor I'm not happy to take a bus, just to get a movie. I still watch Blu-Rays if I have chance to but I'm too lazy to move my ass just to get one 😛

I know download media can't beat BR in quality thus if you want 1080p, get the BR.We can ague about this all day but arguing about opinions is more than stupid. Both have their pros and cons. If you have caps, then you don't know what you are talking about. Downloading/streaming is clearly out of question then. I don't have any caps, that's why I need 30 hour days to watch all stuff I download 😀 There are still many things that have to be improved in digital downloads such as quality. In the end, consumers decide what's gonna die and what's gonna live

I'm not replying anymore after this. We shall not overflood this thread by this more or less offtopic discussion.

 

[Cave Man]

Torrents. I already said I don't care that much about the quality so your question is irrelevant, I never said I'm getting something like that.

I know download media can't beat BR in quality thus if you want 1080p, get the BR.

People like you will have no bearing on the market.

optical media might be with us for a few more decades but it wont be common.

What alternative is there for the Studios to have total control over content delivery? Surely you don't think downloads? They've demonstrated that they're not that interested in those (and which Jobs reiterated a few days ago). There is nothing that can be economically produced with total control by the Studios other than optical media.

just like 3.5 inch floppys. there still around but barely used. i got a big old box of em in the drawer next to me.

What do floppy discs have to do with the distribution of movies and other video? This is about content delivery and floppy discs are irrelevant - they're too small and can't be pressed, either.

 

[Ramphex]

Apple supports warez downloading and doesn't believe into being able to watch 720p blu-ray disks on your 2010 MBP

 

[Rob360]

So much talk of blu-ray movies, which as far as I am concerned isn't very relevant to the need for a BD BURNER.

I want a BD burner so I can burn my HD video to a Blu-ray disc. Period!

With my iMac, I have to burn HD video to regular DVD's, which limits the bit rate and I can only get about 20 minutes of video on each disc.

THIS is why we need BD drives! It has nothing to do with being able to play a movie (that would just be a small side benefit that I would rarely use).

 

[panzer06]

They are already eating huge market share of Blu-Ray and other optical media... There are more and more providers available in the internet and things like PS3 have/are getting a video service. Unless you are living in a cave (you are the Cave Man 😉), you should've seen this already. Before you had to get DVD or VHS, you couldn't buy it from the net and watch straight away, that's why you can't compare them.

For getting the benefit of Blu-Ray you need something better than 500$ 32" Samsung. Blu-Ray version ain't any better on that setup than a streamed movie off the Internet. Unless you have great home theater, it doesn't really matter. I have 37" 1080p TV in my room. Upstairs is my dad's home theater, 100" 1080p projector with 7.1 sound. In my room, I can't see much difference between Blu-Ray and streamed film. In HT, I do and prefer BR, but how many have a setup like that?

Fiber connection is coming more and more popular at least in area where I live. 100Mb/s for 40€/month is a deal-breaker. 1Gb/s is being tested atm and should be available later on this year. I have 8Mb/s and 720p streaming works just fine.

Sure, keep buying Blu-Rays if you find that great difference and are ready to pay more. I don't. I find it more comfortable to open the website, enter to my account, select the movie and click play. I don't want to go and get the Blu-Ray to watch it, it's already taken an hour to do that. I can live with the quality loss as the movie is still the same

This is all opinion and personal preference. I can clearly see the difference on my 32" & 40" using BR vs. downloaded HD content. High-speed Internet in the US at the speeds you're talking about will take years. More than half the country doesn't have better than 6MB DSL.

I suspect you mean "digital downloads" since Blu-ray is digital media. The facts are aligning quite well now. If you want Blu-ray quality by digital download then (1) download speeds in the USA will have to get significantly better (since the USA is the principal market), (2) the Studios have to be willing to provide such content (which they haven't to this point and judging by Jobs' comments from a couple of days ago isn't going to change), and (3) you have to have economical download rates (which are now being capped by several ISPs). Blu-ray Discs are currently the best experience available and that's not going to change anytime soon.

In addition, given the escalating penetration of Blu-ray devices and discs, the Studios will be quite content with their current business plan. They are the ones who will dictate what occurs, not Apple, Microsoft, AT&T, Comcast or anyone else. Without their cooperation, nothing will change.

One can already play Blu-ray Disc videos on Macs provided one buys Make MKV and has a cpu of sufficient capabilities (quad core or duo core with hyperthreading).

Agreed. I have a large BR collection, though I did not bother to replace existing DVD titles in my collection.

Downloads are not the way to go for me. Too easy to have a disk failure and lose everything. I have 3 backup tiers but most consumers don't backup anything.

And of course you can always run bootcamp or vmware to get Windows working with BR. My external BR combo drive only cost $75 so adding to the Mac was no problem. Even have a couple of slot load in case I want to mount it in my iMac.

Cheers,

 

[Reapur]

Apple wont put Blu-ray in a Mac because it will eat into their profits on the iTunes store concerning movie rentals and purchases.

Apples next big step is going to be Lightpeak and external Lightpeak storage. I personally would like the ability to burn blu-ray for storage, Renting a Blu-ray movie is something I will not waste money on. Most peoples laptop displays cant even display 1080p (general population) If you want to connect it to your TV buy a Blu-ray player for the TV or a PS3. Problem solved.

If you absolutly must have your Blu-ray collection with you, buy an external Blu-ray drive, rip it, then store it all on a 1TB drive externally or something, which would be 10x easier to take with you than carrying a mass of Blu-ray disks in your luggage. Problem 2 solved. Now stop ur whining about a obsolete technology which technically isn't even classified as archival.

 

[robotmonkey]

Just put one in yourself.

 

[Batman101]

Just put one in yourself.

I didn't know any 9.5mm blu-ray slot drive, care to tell me where to buy one?🙂

 

[Reapur]

Just put one in yourself.

There are no slot load BR drives that will currently even fit inside a MBP. Believe Panasonic makes both and they are both 12.7mm which is too thick to get inside the chasis.

http://www.digistor.com/Panasonic-S...e-SATA-Slot-Load#slim-blu-ray-burner-features

And just look at the price of 50 disks....

http://www.amazon.com/Verbatim-9673...?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1277087700&sr=8-10

http://www.amazon.com/TDK-Blu-ray-D...9?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1277087700&sr=8-9

 

[dukebound85]

and FYI its a worthless product. optical media is a thing of the past.

Says you...