blu-ray question

Cleisthenes · 16 Dec 2013 at 12:16

I want to be able to watch blue rays on a fairly larger screen (32" preferably).

I don't really watch TV.

Should I just buy a blu ray drive for my pc and a bigger monitor (I currently have a 22" Dell). This would probably cost the same as a tv and blu ray player if not less.

Thoughts?

setter · 16 Dec 2013 at 12:22

Blu ray on pc is a bit of a hassle tbh. You need to ensure that the display, gpu and connections are all HDCP enabled. Then you need to factor in the cost of a software package which can cost anything upto £90.00 ono. This will have to be upgraded anually. You can buy a standalone blu ray player for less than this. I tried it for a while but got fed up with the bugs and expense so just bought a standalone player.

Sliver · 16 Dec 2013 at 12:22

You could get a 27" monitor and a Blu-ray drive for your PC. A 27" screen is quite large when you're only sat a foot or two away from it.

Cleisthenes · 16 Dec 2013 at 12:24

setter said:
Blu ray on pc is a bit of a hassle tbh. You need to ensure that the display, gpu and connections are all HDCP enabled. Then you need to factor in the cost of a software package which can cost anything upto £90.00 ono. This will have to be upgraded anually. You can buy a standalone blu ray player for less than this. I tried it for a while but got fed up with the bugs and expense so just bought a standalone player.

This seems overly difficult. How come this isn't more known as an issue?

You could get a 27" monitor and a Blu-ray drive for your PC. A 27" screen is quite large when you're only sat a foot or two away from it

This didn't really answer my question. I don't midn playing on a big monitor as I play smite most of the time and other games which aren't online and fps.

los · 16 Dec 2013 at 12:31

Blu ray on a pc is a bit of a hastle, as I've been finding out, due to the software, there isn't a decent free one.
Although VLC with a patch work around will play most blu rays but not all apparently, you can google it easy enough. This is the option I have gone for.

Cleisthenes · 16 Dec 2013 at 12:32

los said:
Blu ray on a pc is a bit of a hastle, as I've been finding out, due to the software, there isn't a decent free one.
Although VLC with a patch work around will play most blu rays but not all apparently, you can google it easy enough. This is the option I have gone for.

In hind sight would you have said to get a tv and separate player?

setter · 16 Dec 2013 at 12:40

Tv and separate player all the way. For example my blu ray drive for the pc cost £50.00, £90.00 for cyberlink power dvd ultra. I already had a big tv at the time. Separate sony blu ray player cost £80.00. No need to pay an annual fee for the software to watch movies.

Cleisthenes · 16 Dec 2013 at 12:42

Great, thanks!

los · 16 Dec 2013 at 18:37

Yeah if I had realised what a nightmare it was I would have just put my ps3 in the lounge. Just thought it was nice having it all on one.
Is Not hard to get vlc working with them.
The other way is to get a ripping program and copy it to your hard drive. Just a bit annoying when it should be so easy like a dvd is.

Grimley · 16 Dec 2013 at 18:57

setter said:
Blu ray on pc is a bit of a hassle tbh. You need to ensure that the display, gpu and connections are all HDCP enabled. Then you need to factor in the cost of a software package which can cost anything upto £90.00 ono. This will have to be upgraded anually. You can buy a standalone blu ray player for less than this. I tried it for a while but got fed up with the bugs and expense so just bought a standalone player.

This. I went down this road 5 Years ago & gave up trying to use a PC to play blue-rays. I still have a drive & can watch blu-rays with the software I bought at the time, but hooking it up to a AV receiver & getting it to act like a standalone player is more hassle than its worth & I can't be arsed these days.

mithrandir · 16 Dec 2013 at 18:59

I agree with setter.
I use my PC for blu ray but factoring the cost and hassle, it's just so much easier to buy a stand alone device.

setter · 16 Dec 2013 at 19:05

I still have the drive in my pc but it's rarely used now. Im gonna just buy an external dvd rw for those few times i need a drive. Will mean a few less cables in my case too.

jamiehavok · 16 Dec 2013 at 19:50

setter said:
Blu ray on pc is a bit of a hassle tbh. You need to ensure that the display, gpu and connections are all HDCP enabled. Then you need to factor in the cost of a software package which can cost anything upto £90.00 ono. This will have to be upgraded anually. You can buy a standalone blu ray player for less than this. I tried it for a while but got fed up with the bugs and expense so just bought a standalone player.

this, i got fed up of enabling 2nd monitor (tv) switching audio from pc speakers to tv speakers, moving the software window over to the tv and loading xpadder just so i had a "remote" for the blu ray player. stand alone player much easier, and mine has smart so can watch lovefilm instant on it without messing around as well! i also lost the oem version of powerdvd i got with my drive on a cd, cyberlink sent me another download link but was mega slow, like 56k slow so would have had to shell out on new software too.

Sasahara · 17 Dec 2013 at 23:45

I do have a Blu-ray Rom drive which came with a copy of PowerDVD 10 which is ok for standard playback.

But I only use it occasionally and if you can't find a Blu-ray drive with Free software you may be better off buying a PS3 and use that, and you'll get a decent console as well, with other smart TV features. I use my PS3 for 90% of Blu-ray playback mainly cause as jamiehavok said it's faster than switching my display/sound/wireless keyboard over to the TV.