No Blu-ray. No buy. Simple as that.

[jdechko]

MS hasn't adopted BR yet, either.

I'm not sure what you mean by that. Maybe referring to the Xbox 360 and the recent announcement that they would be doing HD movie downloads?

The point that others make is that Microsoft at least supports blu-ray rather than pretending it doesn't exist. In some respects, Microsoft allows it's users many choices that simply aren't available in a Mac. Now it's up to you to decide what is important and base your buying decisions on that. I can relate to what the OP has to say.

As for blu-ray, I don't necessarily care anymore if it comes to the Mac. I will get a blu-ray player for my living room and a blu-ray drive for my PC and rip the movies in HD so that I can play them on my future MacBook Air.

 

[Doju]

Cool, buy something else.

Optical media is outdated technology. Period. Who wants a massive part like an optical drive when you only use it once in awhile. That's the beauty of removable media storage, like flash drives. Unlike annoying Blu Ray and optical media, it's only there when you need it.

I took the optical drive out of my MBP and replaced it with a HDD. Much more useful.

 

[Doju]

Windows blows OS X out of the water.

I lol'd. If you're this delusional I need not go more in depth.

Blu Ray is a horrible reason not to buy a Mac. Outdated tech, please. Macs are a more solid computer, and I don't even know why you're here if you're looking for the cheapest thing per spec. That's not at ALL what Macs are about, they encompass so much more than specs.

 

[lhotka]

Cool, buy something else.

Optical media is outdated technology. Period. Who wants a massive part like an optical drive when you only use it once in awhile. That's the beauty of removable media storage, like flash drives. Unlike annoying Blu Ray and optical media, it's only there when you need it.

I took the optical drive out of my MBP and replaced it with a HDD. Much more useful.

When I see a 45GB flash drive maybe. When I can plug it into my home theater maybe. Until then, if I want true HD video, blu-ray is the way to go.

Even a DL DVD is 8GB, which is more than the flash drives I have - and they still won't plug into my home theater.

For true, high quality audio and video, there's nothing that beats optical disks. Convenience has trumped quality with audio, and may do so with video too - but I doubt it. Apple can't even sell lossless audio because of bandwidth costs, and doesn't sell true HD video for the same reason - not that any of us could afford the charges if they did (ISP's would move to a per-GB limit overnight if a bunch of folks started downloading 30 and 40 GB movies).

 

[msmth928]

I think it's a real shame there is no blu ray either - I know a LOT of people who feel just like the OP, that Apple are more interested in pushing their 'agenda' than giving the customers what they want.

Customers want Blu Ray because it's full high def, 1080p. 720p just doesn't cut it, and anyone who thinks it's acceptable deserves it!!

For serious movie buffs, there's no substitute - it has to be 1080p.

 

[blackhand1001]

Now that is what the Macbook Air really needs


As for blu ray, good luck. As everyone here keeps saying, we are moving away from discs and onto hard drive storage.

Not in this case. iTunes movie quality sucks compared to blu ray. Most blu ray movies are over 30GB in size. You can;t expect iTunes to give you the same quality. And Apple does not know exactly what I want.

 

[Mackilroy]

I think it's a real shame there is no blu ray either - I know a LOT of people who feel just like the OP, that Apple are more interested in pushing their 'agenda' than giving the customers what they want.

Customers want Blu Ray because it's full high def, 1080p. 720p just doesn't cut it, and anyone who thinks it's acceptable deserves it!!

For serious movie buffs, there's no substitute - it has to be 1080p.

'Full' HD is a marketing term. Computers have been able to do higher than 1080p resolutions for years now. Within the next decade or two they'll go higher (and we'll get resolution independence). 720p is fine for the average consumer - it's not as if watching a 720p video makes you impotent or kills a kitten.

I know two people in my area with Blu-ray players. Myself, and a youth pastor. Nobody else cares enough. No, my evidence isn't absolute, merely anecdotal. But how many people actually use the Blu-ray drives in their computers?

 

[felt.]

I've got a blu-ray drive and its the most useless thing ever. media is still too expensive compared to the alternatives, and I also prefer downloading mkvs over buying blu-ray movies..

 

[dukebound85]

But how many people actually use the Blu-ray drives in their computers?

my issue is i have a ps3 and would like to buy some blue rays. however, i dont want those disks to be limited to just that device, i would like any media i have to woork on as many media devices as i can in a sesne (like dvd with my computers and me taking them with me to watch...i dont care for 1080p and if the screen cant support it, i just dont want to buy multiple versions of movies)

 

[airlights]

Threads like this (and the counter-arguments on WHY blah blah blah is a good deal) are only downside to Apple Keynote Days.

 

[sm0]

Then don't buy a Mac. Simple. As. That.

this is all

 

[Jiten]

If you really need blu-ray why not simply get an external drive?

 

[drjsway]

I don't need all the fanboys telling me why I don't need BR. Will optical media go away at some point? Likely. Will BR be the last major optical media format? Perhaps. However, BR is set to be a viable standard for years.

Blu-ray is a dead format that will always cater to a niche market. This is evidenced by the fact that Blu-ray market share hasn't grown AT ALL in the last 9 months. It has been hovering around 10-15 percent since September 2008.

 

[MacModMachine]

Blu-ray is a dead format that will always cater to a niche market. This is evidenced by the fact that Blu-ray market share hasn't grown AT ALL in the last 9 months. It has been hovering around 10-15 percent since September 2008.

Agreed....its going no where like all sony formats...

Beta , UMD...mini disc...zzzzzz

 

[gan6660]

I know two people in my area with Blu-ray players. Myself, and a youth pastor. Nobody else cares enough. No, my evidence isn't absolute, merely anecdotal. But how many people actually use the Blu-ray drives in their computers?

It was the same in the town that i live in. Last summer the just started carrying blu rays at blockbuster and they were always in stock on any movie even if te dvds were all out. I loved it I was able to get any new movie without delay. But now more and more people are getting bluray players and those blu ray movies are out of stock more often.

 

[bruinsrme]

Nothing matches the video quality of blu-ray and it's really tough to match that quality because not everyone has the bandwidth to download large files. The HD movies in iTunes are poor when compared to blu-ray and they don't even include the lossless audio.

The infrastructure for broadband internet is growing but it won't meet demand for several several years from now. By that time, blu-ray players and movies will have a very large adoption rate.

Everyone forgets that it took DVD's years to become mainstream and for players and discs to drop in price. Blu-ray on the other hand is on a faster pace of becoming mainstream.

To the original poster. I use an external blu-ray drive and boot into windows to watch blu-ray movies. For movies that I really enjoy I convert them to mkv and I play them back natively in Boxee in OS X. I convert movies to fit on an 8.5 gb DVD and the quality is very good on the laptop screen, and by burning it to disc you don't have to keep the files on your drive. If you play them on a larger screen you will notice that there is a significant quality drop, but the conversions if done right are still better than what iTunes HD offers. The biggest problem is that the process of doing this is quiet intense until you figure everything out. It may or may not be worth the effort.

On more of a side note, a lot of vendors are including a digital copy now too.

Dont come here filling the forum with facts. If Steve says no blu-ray then there is no need for blu-ray. it's gonna be obsolete in 5+ years anyway unlike DVD. And beside blu-rays cost what $60 to $1000 a piece?

Thruth of the matter is, people say blu-ray will be obsolete in 5 years so why bother putting them in Macs. If blu-ray is gonna be obsolete is it going to be be replaced my an even older technology DVD or cd-rom?
I just dont understand why Apple doesn't ofer them, oh yeah they would have to charge even more to make their profit margins.

But look on the brigt side macbooks finally come with some sort of memory card reader and firewire800.

 

[bruinsrme]

I think it's a real shame there is no blu ray either - I know a LOT of people who feel just like the OP, that Apple are more interested in pushing their 'agenda' than giving the customers what they want. it is a shame, Apple could grab a decent chunk of market share

Customers want Blu Ray because it's full high def, 1080p. 720p just doesn't cut it, and anyone who thinks it's acceptable deserves it!! 1080 and 720 isn't even a fair comparison. If people would buy a calibration disk, spend 30 minutes learning and calibrating they would be completely blown away by the difference.

For serious movie buffs, there's no substitute - it has to be 1080p. AGREE!!!!

I've got a blu-ray drive and its the most useless thing ever. media is still too expensive compared to the alternatives, and I also prefer downloading mkvs over buying blu-ray movies..

If you buy during the release week and shop around at some of the internet sites, blu-rays are very afforable

my issue is i have a ps3 and would like to buy some blue rays. however, i dont want those disks to be limited to just that device, i would like any media i have to woork on as many media devices as i can in a sesne (like dvd with my computers and me taking them with me to watch...i dont care for 1080p and if the screen cant support it, i just dont want to buy multiple versions of movies)here is the thing, i boughta dell with HDMI out 1080p that is, movies are stunning on a 42+ panel. plug the dell right into my receiver and I have a portable 7.1 1080p HT.

Apple pinged on ATT for the MMS crap but apple is doing the same thing with blue ray IMO

 

[QCassidy352]

I've never seen a more closed-minded bunch of people. You do realize that just about every other laptop manufacturer offers Blu-ray drives on their laptop line.

Closed minded? Because we don't care whether the OP buys a mac or not?

Well you can sit here and bitch like you always do, I'll be excited because I can now get EXACTLY what I wanted. Sound like a deal?

He's just grumpy because they actually did bring back firewire and now he has to change his sig and complain about something else.

 

[mmoran27]

Simple. Get external drive.

Get Toast (It does BLU-Ray)

If you want to record and watch, simple.

Use Boot Camp or use AnyDVD to rip DRM from media and it will play back on Leopard in VLC, EyeTV, or any other decent player.

 

[Sn0wball]

No point having BluRay in a 1440x900 laptop anyway.

 

[Tilpots]

I'd love to see the day when Apple pulls the Super Drive out of ALL of their computers. Optical Media's dead? My Ass. You'd be the whiningist, bitchingist saddest lot I've ever seen. Wait, most times you already are...

Blu-Ray is the benchmark NOW. Who knows what the future will bring and who cares. We'll worry about that then. RIGHT NOW, Blu-Ray is where it's at in terms of Quality and Size, and Apple doesn't even support it, much less offer it in any of their computers.

Take another sip of the Kool-Aid boys. Taste's like SJ's sack "of hurt" doesn't it?

 

[donster28]

No point having BluRay in a 1440x900 laptop anyway.

I agree 100%. But since you can connect the lappy to an HD screen with full hi-def, I can see where the complaints are coming from.

With me though, blu-ray drive or no, I'm OK. I have an external blu-ray drive that I can connect anytime and it works perfectly with Toast.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

I lol'd. If you're this delusional I need not go more in depth.

Blu Ray is a horrible reason not to buy a Mac. Outdated tech, please. Macs are a more solid computer, and I don't even know why you're here if you're looking for the cheapest thing per spec. That's not at ALL what Macs are about, they encompass so much more than specs.

If you had bothered to quote the whole sentence, you would see I was talking about Windows 7. Let's not go around misrepresenting what I said.

Windows 7 boots faster then OS X 10.5 does, Windows 7 provides better program compatibility with the apps I use, and Windows 7, running on a Macbook Pro, runs cooler and gets better battery life then OS X 10.5.7.

Now, I don't know where your definition of "better" differs from mine, but when something does what I need it to do faster, cooler, longer, and is more compatible, I call that better.

As an added bonus, on every other PC, I can get Blu-ray. the SD slot was standard years ago on consumer laptops. Now with the latest refresh, I get a 13" consumer laptop with a "pro" title, so that you feel like you're getting a better deal. It's marketing, and you're drinking the kool-aid.

I'm not looking for the cheapest "thing per spec", but I am looking for a company that doesn't rip me off. [before yesterday's price cuts] Apple was a complete rip off with prices that were too high, and specs that were too low.

And considering Blu-ray is current tech, and many people outside of a few select countries can't download/watch movies on demand, I consider it very relevant. Learn the facts, and you'll realize how wrong you are when you say it's outdated tech.

 

[Scott6666]

Then don't buy a Mac. Simple. As. That.

this is all

+1000

Like any of us care if you don't buy a mac.

 

[Tilpots]

+1000

Like any of us care if you don't buy a mac.

Like any of us care about a useless post.