Blu-ray

[TheMaxx111]

I need some information about Blu-ray drives. I am mainly looking to use it for movies. I already have a DVD burner and do not need a DVD burner built in to the Blu-ray.

I have a computer hooked up to a 1080P TV via an Envidia 8600 video card via HDMI through an adapter from XVGA.(i.e. no sound transfer though the HDMI)
The sound is hooked up to the home theater amp in 5.1 via optical.
It would be nice if the drive could decode Dolby True HD and DTS lossless but I do not have a preamp that can decode these formats, so this would be for the future. I also think to send these formats you need to send the sound via HDMI. I also think all Blu-ray drives can read Dolby True HD and DTS lossless and all you need is the software. Are these correct assumptions?
What makes one Blu-ray drive cost $89 and annother costs $179?

 

[sync218]

these are good assumptions- the softare, (windvd, powerdvd) is the important part for decoding the different tracks

as for the price difference between players (other than brand) usually has to with specs like speed, seek time, if it can burn, and buffer ammount. better drives are more likely to be quiet but you have to read reviews to find out.

 

[strube]

The software will decode the audio, as long as you have the output as 5.1 analog out of your sound card (with 3 minijack-to-RCA) cables to a receiver. The optical connection will not output DD-TrueHD or DTS-HD. I prefer Arcsoft TotalMedia Theater myself, it is less stable than WinDVD, but more stable than Cyberlink PowerDVD, and has more features than either.

As for the price of a blu-ray drive, the biggest difference in price is brand name, which sometimes goes hand-in-hand with quality. Pioneer drives are usually a safe bet. I have an LG Blu-Ray/HD DVD/DVD player which also burns DVDs, and it works great. It also has an automatic firmware update feature which is especially important for Blu-Ray discs, as the content protection updates will always allow new discs to play. I would go with a Pioneer or LG. Both brands' drives also burn DVDs, which you mentioned you did not care about, but very few computer drives are just players anymore.

I used to use LiteON brand drives, but their quality has gone way downhill. I have had 3 liteOn drives fail on me. Sony Optiarc is a brand I would personally stay away from as well, mostly from experiences from other acquaintances.

After deciding on a brand, I recommend comparing prices on Newegg.com or Amazon.com and go with the cheapest after shipping. Unfortunately, DOAs are very, very common with any brand, so don't give up on one if you receive a bad drive. Amazon will pay shipping both ways for a DOA, and I have only ever had one DOA disc drive (after maybe 20 different drives), but I just wanted you to have a heads up about this.

Hope this helps!!

 

[allargon]

Pioneer and Plextor still make great optical drives AFAIK.

I would avoid Sony/NEC drives like the plague. I have a Lite-on drive going out on me right now. I'm not sure about LG or HP.

 

[strube]

Pioneer and Plextor still make great optical drives AFAIK.

Unfortunately, Plextor stopped making their own drives and started using LiteOn or BenQ OEMs within the last couple of years. I used to use them exclusively but can't recommend them anymore.

 

[sploo]

One thing to be aware of was that you get PowerDVD packaged with some Blu-ray drives (I did). Some (maybe all?) are OEM versions that are cut down in some way, so whilst my version (7.3 Ultra) would play Blu-ray movies, I found that it would downmix TrueHD audio tracks to 2 channels.

I bought an upgrade to version 8 Ultra, and that works fine. I'm also outputting via the sound card (5.1 analogue connection to the receiver) as my receiver doesn't have HDMI input.