Blu-Ray Player Advice

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WabeWalker

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4 month old Core i7 - GTX 275

I've seen that blu-ray players have dropped in price, and I'd like to install one.

What kind of cables would I need, and how would I plug them in? Or would it be easier perhaps to remove the DVD drive that's presently in my computer, and just use the same connections that are presently there? My computer is used for gaming - nothing else. I assume that the Blu-Ray player would still function perfectly for gaming if I were to remove my DVD drive?

Could anybody recommend a drive for me from NewEgg Canada?

Thanks.
 
Also, I've just looked inside my computer case.

My DVD drive has a power connector connected to it, and an IDE interface cable. This cable connects to my motherboard, but there's only one IDE interface connector on my motherboard.

So how do you install two optical drives?

Do I just remove the DVD drive completely, since it will no longer be necessary?

EDIT: My motherboard, by the way, is the ASUS P6T Deluxe.


Wait a minute, do I connect the Blu Ray drive via a SATA cable? Is that how it works?
 
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Yes, if the BR drive is SATA, you'd use a SATA cable/port. If the BR Drive doesnt have a DVD Burner, you may want to keep your current burner installed. ;)

What monitor do you have?
 
Your DVD Drive is connected via an IDE cable because it is an IDE drive. Had you gotten an SATA DVD Drive, it would be connected via an SATA cable.

No, you shouldn't have to make any changes in the BIOS.

I can't find any reviews on that drive. Just so you know, its only a BR ROM... no burner functionality for BR nor DVDs/CDs.
 
Oh, god. I never would've figured that out. I thought that the connector on the back of that drive was for just one connection.

So I can connect my four-pin power connector to that, and then the SATA cable beside it?

Okay, thanks. Super helpful.
 
The same two data and power cables that you use for the SATA hard drive are needed for the SATA Blu-ray drive. If you're buying a new motherboard, it should have enough SATA data cables for your needs (plus, you could reuse your old SATA cables for no performance loss).
 
Oh I see.

The long ribbon cable with all the connectors on it - those are SATA power connectors?

Hmm. I have two SATA hard drives, and my hard drives face in one direction, while the optical drive faces 180 degrees in the other direction. This ribbon cable runs straight down, and connects to all the hard-drives.

I don't know if I can fit one of those SATA power connectors all the way over there?
 
He doesn't know his stuff, but at least he is competent. Sure makes for an easy read :)

(keeping my eye out at BD drives)
 
Okay, I think that I've got this sorted out now.

The SATA cable will actually come boxed with the Blu Ray Drive - and I connect that from the Blu Ray Drive to the same location on my motherboard where I've connected the SATA cables for my SATA hard-drives.

Here's the problem now.

The SATA power connectors (I have 5 of them) are all on the same cable, which extends from my power supply, which is non-modular. There's no way that I can connect these SATA power cables to my hard drives, and use one of them to power the Blu Ray Drive, since the Blu Ray Drive would be out of reach (slightly above and at a 180 degree angle to the hard drives. I actually unplugged them all, and there's no way that this is going to work. They just won't reach.)

So is there any way to extend a SATA Power Connector?

I also have a 4 pin white molex thing hanging right there, where the Blu Ray Drive would go - is there any way to use that with a converter?

Sorry for all of this. But there's no way I'm going to be able to figure any of this out on my own.
 
Okay, that's it then, problem solved. I'll put my order in on the Drive and also for the adapter.

Wow, just hugely helpful. Thanks for the help guys.
 
If your ordering a fully retail, non OEM, version of the Blu-Ray drive, it is possible that the drive itself will come with the Molex to SATA power adapter. You may want to check online before ordering an additional part.
 
... and check if your mobo came with any as well.

Markyip1 said:
If your ordering a fully retail, non OEM, version of the Blu-Ray drive, it is possible that the drive itself will come with the Molex to SATA power adapter. You may want to check online before ordering an additional part.
Click to expand...

The one he linked to from newegg.ca, the pics don't show the adapter. :(
 
Haste266 said:
completely irrelevent to the topic at hand. if you are to say these things in the first place you should explain your reasons and not leave some stupid remark.

hey op, will you be playing blu-rays with this drive? and if so have you looked at software?
Click to expand...

Srsly, I bought mine a year back because it was cheaper than buying a player.

Now I really regret it, because you now need to BUY software to play it.
mine came with PowerDVD 7, and to play current bluerays, I'd have to pay to update to version 9.

And when they no longer support version 9 and move to 10, you'll have to pay to update again to play NEWER bluray discs.

If anyone knows of an alternative pm me plz.
 
me0w0w said:
Srsly, I bought mine a year back because it was cheaper than buying a player.

Now I really regret it, because you now need to BUY software to play it.
mine came with PowerDVD 7, and to play current bluerays, I'd have to pay to update to version 9.

And when they no longer support version 9 and move to 10, you'll have to pay to update again to play NEWER bluray discs.

If anyone knows of an alternative pm me plz.
Click to expand...

Oh damn.

I didn't see this until now.

I was just about to put my order in on those parts from NewEgg - you're saying that Windows Media player, which is what I'm using for my DVDs, won't play Blu Ray discs?

Oh blast. So I have to buy a program?

This drive comes with PowerDVD, which I'm assuming will play Blu Ray discs?

www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106326

Hmm, but it doesn't say which version of PowerDVD it is?
 
Also, this may be a bit late to be asking this, but on my computer's LCD display (HP 2202 - a decent enough LCD for me) am I going to see a big difference between Blu Rays and DVDs?

I remember when DVDs first hit the scene.

I thought they were phenomenal.

But now, I seem to have grown accustomed to them, and find most DVDs to be kind of fuzzy. I saw a side by side comparison of a movie playing on DVD and on Blu Ray at the store (on 22 inch computer LCD displays) and I thought the Blu Ray was just incredible in comparison.

I'm not sure how the people at the store were able to fix that up though? I suspect that there was trickery involved. How would you get a DVD and a Blu Ray to play at the same time exactly? I think that the guys at the store deliberately made the screen that the DVD was playing on fuzzy. I mean, if the difference really is that pronounced then no question about it - Blu Ray is way superior. The demo movie I saw, by the way, was one of the Harry Potter movies.

Any opinions about Blu Ray picture quality on computer LCDs?

I only plan on buying Blu Ray movies that I'll watch over and over - like Space Odyssey 20001.
 
For Windows, your software Blu-Ray options are basically PowerDVD 9, Core WinDVD 9 + BluRay, and Arcsoft Total Media Theatre 3.

In the past, I've used WinDVD 9 over PowerDVD versions 7 and 8 because WinDVD worked with more BluRays than PowerDVD 7, and it supported HD-DVD playback, which newer versions of PowerDVD (versions 8 and 9) do not. However, WinDVD hasn't been updated in over a year, and does not support modern BluRay features such as BD-Live.

I recently switched to ArcSoft Total Media Theatre 3 and I'm very pleased with the product. Like WinDVD, TMT supports HD-DVD, which is important for me. The program is intuitive, well laid out, and supports hardware scaling of DVDs if you have a supported nVidia or ATI card. It also comes with a nice Media Center shell as well.

If HD-DVD is support is not necessary for you, I would compare PowerDVD 9 with TMT3 and base your decision off those two products. From my limited research however, it appears that more people like TMT than PowerDVD.
 
I'm guessing you have a 20 or 22" monitor? If its wide, then the res is most likely 1680x1050... not quite enough for 1080p, but your system/software should scale it well enough for it to look good with both DVDs and BDs.
 
WabeWalker said:
Oh damn.

I didn't see this until now.

I was just about to put my order in on those parts from NewEgg - you're saying that Windows Media player, which is what I'm using for my DVDs, won't play Blu Ray discs?

Oh blast. So I have to buy a program?

This drive comes with PowerDVD, which I'm assuming will play Blu Ray discs?

www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106326

Hmm, but it doesn't say which version of PowerDVD it is?
Click to expand...

Hey, if you're willing to shell out another 50-70 bucks on software to play, might as well.
 
im still using arcsoft tmt version 2 without any issues. its played every disc ive thrown at it.

i bought version 2 about 4 months before they released version 3. :rolleyes: i dont feel like shelling out another $50 to upgrade. i dont have a reason to do it either since version 2 works fine.
 
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