So, I'm thinking about installing a Blu-ray in my MBP17. Searching the internet I came accross this drive, that's suitable and compatible but the prices is insane!! $999 for Blu-Ray drive, for data backup... I'm speechless! http://store.fastmac.com/product_info.php?products_id=338 Has anyone brought one yet?
As big as it would be, the benefit is really in having a normal-sized external drive... Or one of these, since they're only $300. Besides, it's not as though you'll be doing much with it in OS X... Actually, it looks like it takes two USB, so it's a good thing you have a 17", otherwise you wouldn't be able to get the Y-cable to reach...
Actually, I have all three. MacBook Pro 15" 2.2Ghz/4Gb/SD/250Gb Merom MacBook Pro 17" 2.6Ghz/4Gb/SD/320Gb Penryn MacBook White 2.1Ghz/2Gb/CB/200Gb (Xmas gift from work)
Not sure I want an external solution.. Unless there's a opti-bay that converts the normal ATA to SATA so i can have a bigger second internal drive.
Part of the price is because it is slot loading. Most laptops use tray loading drives thus not as many slot loading ones are built. Especially the really slim drives needed by Macbook Pros. Powerbook medic does carry one for the low price of $700 http://www.powerbookmedic.com/xcart1/product.php?productid=17116
Bleh, why do you need blueray? Just download a movie from a blueray rip, or grab it off itunes on HD. Disc format is dead, as far as I'm concerned.
As he says he needs it for data backup: Each disk can hold 50GB (Soon to be 400GB!!) And being Disks they are far more reliable than tape backups, which frankly suck, but you probably dont even know what they are.
Who said anything about movies? I said I need it for backup, as in data for work. Making secure backups to dual layer DVD's are a pain especially when your spanning files across a few disks and it doesn't always work.
I know this has nothing to do with the original post, but I will always buy my movies in disc format. Same goes for music, I will always buy CDs. Why? Because when I have a physical disc, it's a lot easier to do what I want with it. I can put it in my PS3 and watch it on my TV, I can rip it to my iPod, I can back it up on an external drive, etc. I realize that discs can get scratched up or broken, but the lifespan of a disc is much more than a hard drive.
We had the same issue come up recently when trying to figure out how to handle some extremely high resolution images taken from medical equipment. These images range from 10 - 30GB each so it was hell to try to find a workable method of archiving the data in a way that could be pulled later. Blu-ray wasn't really going to work because no computers had a Blu-ray drive to read the burned media and the media itself was so expensive that we basically dropped the idea very quickly. The solution we found was just using portable hard drives at 250GB - 500GB each. The price for Blu-ray media is still so high that buying these in bulk was a much cheaper per GB option. It saves our network and it gives us a way to use the data on any of dozens of workstations via USB. We had to use secondary methods for backups because the portable disks could fail, but the same is true for burned media being broken in an accident of some kind.
1. He's not using it for MOVIES. 2. Data. 3. If he WERE using it for movies, perhaps he wants to watch them on the go? Having a 17" MacBook Pro gets him the "full" resolution, so there is no problem there. 4. The iPod thing has been done, you know... People say it looks a little better.
Seems we're wasting our breath on those peeps, they don't reseach first. Most probably because 1. they don't need it. 2. they can't afford it. 3. they don't imagine other might actually use it... 4. they don't know where to source bulk high density BD-RE disc.. 5. short sightedness? 6. All of the above?
Understand. I will not use spanning with any type of media. It has never worked reliably for me. I much prefer images/clones so I can access the individual files if needed. Maybe when we see 400GB on an optical disc I will choose that option. But for now, its easier for me to use an external HD to back up data. Faster too since I don't have to monitor during the backup to swap discs. HDs are cheap these days.
There have been some tests done on Blu-Ray discs, so provided you buy the correct brand and type they will offer pretty good protection. For a start, the media isn't made from the same materials as conventional DVD's, hence the higher price. Currently I'm burning through ten to twenty discs a week, the equivalent of 200~900Gb of data each week. Find a supplier of discs is tricky.. Everyone outside of Japan is charging way too much for the media. For me, using RD-ROM for my purpose is both cost efficient, secure and very cheap to transport. For you.. it might be feasible cause not all your machines need to be write enabled correct? Besides, BD-ROM readers are fairly cheap those days.
Unfortunately. So why do you want to watch BR movies on your laptop? Questions: - What size blank? - How long does it take to burn one? - What cost are you able to get them in bulk? TIA.
As far as YOUR concerned. Fine. Not as far as the OP is concerned. Or, indeed, I'm concerned. I want to author BR material. I want to do 50 gig backups to optical media. I can't. I could with a twelve hundred buck PC laptop. But not with a mac that costs twice as much.
I don't. Usually I buy what I need, mostly 25Gb occasionally 50Gb. On the desktop at 8x, about 20~35 mins for 50Gb without compression. For 25Gb @650円 と 50Gb @1000円 +tax. 1000 disc min order.
Hrm this actually would be a bad idea (thanks op). Not the internal drive but an external BD drive for data. I have plenty of items that are just taking up space and screwing up my backup scheme. They don't need to be stored, they need to be archived (in my particular situation) and DL dvd is a bit prohibitive per gb. Atleast with BD i'd be able to backup an entire project.