$25 blu-ray drive for pc

Just got mine. It came with powerdvd 10.

Edit: I set up vlc as described in an earlier post and it plays blu-rays although the sound seemed kind of bad.

Edit2: Drive was made in july 2011. There was a firmware update for it as well.

Edit 3: well vlc is nice because it doesn't complain my monitor isn't hdcp compliant. powerdvd does how ever complain.
 
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Impulse said:
Is your monitor really not compliant or is it a bogus error?
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I have a dell 3008wfp. It is not compliant at 2560x1600. If I set the resolution to 1080p it is fine. Its just annoying to have to change my screen resolution to play a movie on it. But vlc works fine besides the sound being crappy.
 
alf717 said:
The instructions are still poorly written. In order to get this to work in Windows 7 do this.

1. Download the file named KEYDB. Create a folder named AACS. Put the KEYDB file in the AACS folder you created. The important part is that this new folder goes into the Roaming folder not just APPDATA like the website suggests.

*I didn't do much looking for an x64 version of VLC for Windows so I used the 2.0.4 version that was on the site. I believe this is a 32 bit program*

2. Using the 7zip package of VLC I extracted this and then put the 32bit version libaacs.dll (448KB in size) in the root directory of VLC.

I popped in Batman Begins and it plays. This was done on Windows 7 Home Premium x64 with SP1. Going to test other Blu-ray disc I have. Wonder if there is a solution for HD-DVD or if this same method works with them. Going to test this out as well.
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Thank you so much for this. I tried this when I first got a different drive and it didn't work. Followed your instructions and it works fine now.
 
munkle said:
Just got mine. It came with powerdvd 10.

Edit: I set up vlc as described in an earlier post and it plays blu-rays although the sound seemed kind of bad.

Edit2: Drive was made in july 2011. There was a firmware update for it as well.

Edit 3: well vlc is nice because it doesn't complain my monitor isn't hdcp compliant. powerdvd does how ever complain.
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Interesting, I might bite on this if there is a small possibility of getting software. Can you setup the PowerDVD 10 software so it lets you use surround sound options like 5.1 or is it locked to 2.1 audio? Right now my only backup software is PowerDVD 7.3 Ultra retail. From what I've read PowerDVD 7.3 Ultra OEM software used to lock you in at 2.1 audio.

As for your VLC sound issue. I was getting 2.1 audio at first. If you select the preferences option under Tools (or just hit Ctrl+P) you should see an option for audio settings. Under this section I found an effects section that let me set Dolby Surround to on. It was off by default.

chairhome said:
Thank you so much for this. I tried this when I first got a different drive and it didn't work. Followed your instructions and it works fine now.
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Your welcome, I'm glad I could help.

I can confirm that HD-DVD doesn't work and that BD+ discs, my test disc was Quantum of Solace, do not work as well.
 
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The software said it as 6ch when I activated it, but I only have a 2.1 setup so I can't really confirm anything anyways.
 
Can someone measure the overall length of this drive when they get it? I need a new drive and it needs to be as short as possible. Thanks
 
munkle said:
The software said it as 6ch when I activated it, but I only have a 2.1 setup so I can't really confirm anything anyways.
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Thank you. If I come up with some play money I think I'll pick up one of these drives. I want sometime to replace my PDVD 7.3 Ultra since the newest update that handles BD+ isn't Win7 compatible.
 
needed an extra cd rom for another build so the build will get my current and my comp will get this blu ray drive woot :)
 
investinwaffles said:
I really ONLY want a ripping Bluray drive so this is perfect for me!

Thanks OP!
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This is only a 4X drive, so ripping is going be rather slow. Ripping is almost totally drive-speed dependent
Also for playback software, XBMC is free and plays BD, but no menus, and MPC-HC is the same.
Edit: You need AnyDVDHD or similar to play BD with one of the free solutions. MakeMKV is free, and the free players will play the MKV's.
 
Sprtfan said:
The price is $65 shipped right now. What makes this one better than some of the cheaper ones I'm seen? I'm in the market for one but haven't done much research on what to get yet. Thanks
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When the link was posted, it was like $185k.
 
damn, it.. I should have screen shotted it. =\ but yea, it was 185k.
 
Illyria89 said:
A guy in the feedback says that he got it for $52 and though it to be a steal and look at the price now :p
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I'm glad I didn't wait to get a Blu-Ray drive, they're a visual feast. I also saw some incredible films based on picture quality rankings that I never would have seen otherwise (adequate plots, or superb such as Tell No One)

Baraka on a good display is mesmerizing, and I'm waiting for Samsara though that was weirder. Streaming isn't the same, buffering is evil, ISPs are holding us back.

And playback was up to par on an 8600GT, hardly a modern card, so any GPU limitations (self-imposed) or objections are a bit sad.
 
This is a pretty bad deal considering that the Asus BD burner was being sold for $35-40 AR around BF.
 
beowulf7 said:
This is a pretty bad deal considering that the Asus BD burner was being sold for $35-40 AR around BF.
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except its $10 more and you have to deal with a rebate that you might not get so it could end up being $30 more. I don't need a burner since I already have one. Why pay more when I don't need it.
 
Got mine last week and used it to rip a couple bluray TV shows no issues at all. Still need to upgrade the firmware. Will probably throw this in my XBMCBuntu rig once they find a good way to add bluray playback without having to jump through to many hoops.
 
munkle said:
except its $10 more and you have to deal with a rebate that you might not get so it could end up being $30 more. I don't need a burner since I already have one. Why pay more when I don't need it.
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If one does the rebate correctly, he'll get the rebate, esp. from reputable vendors like Asus and Newegg. I realize some don't trust rebates.

About not paying the extra $10 if you don't need a burner, that's a valid point. But I'm sure that there are some that wouldn't mind burning BD capability if it costs just a little more.
 
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