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Why Blu-Ray on Macbooks?
- Thread starter Doju
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Well, for those of us that have Blu-Ray Disc Players, it's pretty nice to view a movie or two while on the plane, train or commuting, if not for myself then the kids. Yes, there is a difference on smaller screens, but you'd have to experience it for yourself. And to answer your question: "Why Blu-Ray on MB/MBA/MBP? Because I can...
Maybe you have a lot of BluRay disks and want to watch one of them while away from home instead of getting your hands on regular DVDs....
burn up to 50 GB of data (dual layer) and use iLife '09 (which will presumably be updated for Blu-ray) to burn Blu-ray projects. youre not seeing the whole picture!
even the MacBook Pro 15" and 17" (1680×1050) will not take advantage of the resolution of a Blu-ray movies. it will just be scaled down just like watching a 1920x1080 QuickTime trailer fullscreen on these displays.
even the MacBook Pro 15" and 17" (1680×1050) will not take advantage of the resolution of a Blu-ray movies. it will just be scaled down just like watching a 1920x1080 QuickTime trailer fullscreen on these displays.
Well, I agree that if you're watching movies on a laptop than rez probably doesn't mean that much to you at the time you're watching it.
But look past the movies. Blu Ray is the next evolutionary step in optical storage. I mean, look how long it's taken to get DVD standard on computers.. and even longer to get software makers to use it as default. Hell, some of them are still putting their software out on multiple CDs!
The sooner we can get the drives standard, the sooner we can get more storage and cheaper blu ray equipment.
But look past the movies. Blu Ray is the next evolutionary step in optical storage. I mean, look how long it's taken to get DVD standard on computers.. and even longer to get software makers to use it as default. Hell, some of them are still putting their software out on multiple CDs!
The sooner we can get the drives standard, the sooner we can get more storage and cheaper blu ray equipment.
They have had external monitor ports on notebooks for... well, about as long as they've had notebooks. Have you never noticed them? [/end sarcasm]
Sorry, I'm tired. Here's the REAL reasons:
For PROS:
Apple NEEDS Blu-ray burners in their pro notebooks in order to prevent a mass evacuation of video professionals to the PC platform (and Adobe Premiere/Production Pro). It's that simple. Both prosumer and true professionals are working more and more in HD and mastering to BD in either small numbers for personal use or for testing prior to replication. You can argue that much of that would be better done on a workstation than a notebook, but video professionals are constantly on the go, and often have to "make do" on the road.
For CONSUMERS:
Whether the digital download fans like it or not (including Steve Jobs), digital downloads of movies (for purchase and rental combined) only make up 0.6% of our spending budget for movies. 81% is made up of DVDs and Blu-rays (again, purchase and renting). Optical media for movies isn't going anywhere and the studios are ramping up Blu-ray and starting to push it much harder. To consumers who already have a Blu-ray player and only buy movies on that format, only offering notebooks with DVD drives essentially cuts Apple out of the picture completely when that customer is shopping for notebooks. For customers who haven't started buying Blu-rays, it's less important now, but MANY more people are starting to look at computer-playback options to "test" the format in anticipation of migrating from DVD.
Also, for data:
50GB on a single disc. Case closed.
It's still a battery hog and cost a lot. Until the price goes down and the power issue is solved or given an alternative solution, Blu-Ray will not replace DVD. I can find a good Pioneer dvd writer drive for a PC for about 10 bucks on sale, 30-40 regular price. Blu-Ray? About 200 bucks total for a good quality drive is in order.
If Apple still has Combo drives included on their new MacBooks, I'll cry, regardless of how much cheaper the machines have become.
It's 2008, and nearly 2009. There's just no excuse. Raise the price of the machine by $1 and give people the "Super"drivep) as standard.
It's 2008, and nearly 2009. There's just no excuse. Raise the price of the machine by $1 and give people the "Super"drive
p) as standard.We all know Apple has a penchant for being on the leading edge so I won't be a bit surprised to see it offered in the mid to upper end models. Its not about viewing HD-DVD but the storage capacity. (Even my lowly Macbook has the video resolution to display HD on an external monitor 1920x1280 on a 42' Samsung)