Blu-Ray Drive Advice...

WetDaddy

I've a HTPC which has been nicely tweaked to just how I want it. I use it exclusively for playback at the moment (no DVR functions, tuning, etc.). It runs 1080p content quite nicely and outputs 5.1 over optical simultaneously without any stuttering, which is really all I could ask for.

I'm using onboard video (HDMI) and on-board sound (optical) from an aBit Fatal1ty F-I90HD. The GPU is a Radeon 1250, if memory serves. There is no dedicated video card or sound card. I'm running XP Media Center and have 4GB (3.5GB thanks to PAE ). The CPU is a Core 2 Duo E4300 (1.8Ghz).

The first DVD drive I'd put in was cannibalised from an old Dell (I always found those drives nice and quiet) but it appears to have given up the ghost. Having just got my hands on a 1080p 42" LCD, I really want to get the most out of the box. So, in the DVD drive's stead I'm considering getting a Blu-Ray reader.

However, there doesn't appear to be any up-to-date reviews around on the web, so I once again turn to Boards

What I'm looking for is a quiet enough Blu-Ray player so that I have an excuse to visit XtraVision again in the next 5 years. It doesn't have to playback HD-DVD at all (no point in paying extra for something I won't use), but I'm assuming it will playback regular DVDs, CDs, etc. Along with this, it doesn't need to be a burner either (again, trying to cut cost). If it could come bundled with Blu-Ray playback software (PowerDVD 8 or whatever) that can run with a Windows Media Center remote, that would be fantastic.

Any recommendations?

I also have a few questions:

1. Does anyone have any concern about the power of the system for playing back Blu-Ray content? Do I require additional codecs? Can the drive / GPU do hardware decoding or does it all have to flow through the CPU?
2. Is there any solution whereby Blu-Ray will integrate with Windows MCE at all yet? I don't believe there is, but I haven't kept up to speed recently...
3. Should HDCP be of any concern to me? I know there are programs like AnyDVD available, but that may also mean added processing overhead.
4. Finally, wasn't there concern a while ago about certain drives not playing ALL discs? Is that still an issue?

Thanks in advance guys!

WetDaddy

I meant to say: One drive I've had my eye on is the LiteOn DH-401S. Appears to have got pretty good reviews.

todlambe

The MCE PC's we build use the Liteon iHES206 because of their performance and their low decibel noise (Not too pricey either). We have had great luck with them so far and comes with PowerDVD. Unfortunately, there is no immediate integration of Blu-ray into MCE however, it is believed that h.264 support will be available in the SP2 release of Vista coming in April. Win7 will have full support of Blu-ray according to Microsoft.
-Your CPU is going to be doing all the processing along with your onboard GPU for Blu-ray playback. Drive doesn't do any decoding/processing.
-AnyDVD has the ability to rip Blu-rays and works very well.
-PowerDVD has some integration into MCE but its not the most solid of programs.
-Blu-ray is not only region coded, but there are a couple of companies who have made Blu-ray discs that use a different process for writing the discs than what is currently out there. It remains to be seen whether it will require a simple firmware update to play the discs or if it is a completely different laser reading the disc altogether.
-HDCP unfortunately is real but I wouldn't worry too much about it yet. Just use an HDMI cable if you can.

WetDaddy

Thanks for the detailed reply, todlambe. I'd actually been looking at reviews for that exact drive... Where do you guys order them from?

It appears overclockers.co.uk used to stock them but now don't, and I can't find any Irish suppliers online that have it.