Which BD player for HTPC?

[zzbusch2]

I'd like to add a Blu-ray player to my HTPC rig. I have a nice Samsung 3D HDTV and I'd like to use the player to burn BD disks and play 3D BD on my HDTV. So does anyone have a suggestion as to which player would be good?
I see this Asus on Newegg, but not sure about it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827135247

Thanks

 

[BornStar]

That's just a drive, not a player. In addition to the drive you would also need software to play 3D content (PowerDVD 10 or 11 or Total Media Theater 5) and a graphics card that can handle 3D output (I think HDMI 1.4 but I'm not certain on that). It's going to end up being much cheaper to just buy a standalone unit than converting your HTPC to handle 3D. I use a BD drive and PowerDVD 10 on my HTPC and I'm not entirely happy with it which has caused me to consider switching to a standalone unit more than once.

 

[Nebor]

I use a BD drive and PowerDVD 10 on my HTPC and I'm not entirely happy with it which has caused me to consider switching to a standalone unit more than once.

Because PowerDVD is a huge pile of shit which I'm forced to pay $100 every year for? Grrrrrr....

 

[BornStar]

Because PowerDVD is a huge pile of shit which I'm forced to pay $100 every year for? Grrrrrr....

Well, that's certainly part of it. I went with PDVD because it was cheaper but I really wish I had paid the extra for TMT.

 

[Oyeve]

100 a year? Really?

 

[Nebor]

100 a year? Really?

There's a new version out every year, and they charge you about $100 for the ultra version of each.

 

[Golgatha]

There's a new version out every year, and they charge you about $100 for the ultra version of each.

Completely happy user of TMT5 here. PowerDVD quite letting me mount ISO imaged Blurays, so I kicked them to the curb. TMT5 doesn't care whether it's an ISO file or actual disc being played, and their installation procedure is much quicker as well.

 

[Nebor]

Completely happy user of TMT5 here. PowerDVD quite letting me mount ISO imaged Blurays, so I kicked them to the curb. TMT5 doesn't care whether it's an ISO file or actual disc being played, and their installation procedure is much quicker as well.

My whole HTPC setup runs on blu-ray ISOs served from a NAS and played in PowerDVD 11 Ultra...

 

[Binky]

As others have said above, the drive itself isn't a factor. Some may be quieter or smaller than others, but really they are the same.

The software is the expensive and annoying part. I went through PDVD 7, 8, and now 9. I tried TMT when it first came out but I had problems with it. PDVD versions 7 and 8 were terrible - they constantly needed updates to play certain BR discs. I've had very few issues with 9.0 ultra and I don't see a reason to upgrade at this point.

The point of my whole rambling comment is that the software matters a lot, but you don't HAVE to upgrade every year. Also, when you do upgrade they offer a "discount." I think my current offer is $60 to upgrade from 9.0 ultra to 11.0 Ultra.

 

[videopho]

There's a new version out every year, and they charge you about $100 for the ultra version of each.

1) Unless you upgrade two or three versions above what you have then cost may go up.
Otherwise it is more like $65.
2) Cost for 1st time user is I agree steep but then no software is dirt cheap.

upgrade:
http://www.cyberlink.com/store/powerdvd/upgrade_en_US.html

full version:
http://www.cyberlink.com/store/powerdvd/buy_en_US.html

I've been using PDVD Ultra 10 mostly for BR and 3d BR playback for almost two years and very happy with it.

 

[Dirigible]

I'd like to add a Blu-ray player to my HTPC rig. I have a nice Samsung 3D HDTV and I'd like to use the player to burn BD disks and play 3D BD on my HDTV. So does anyone have a suggestion as to which player would be good?
I see this Asus on Newegg, but not sure about it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827135247

Thanks

In addition to that drive not being a player, it also is not capable of burning BD disks. It can only burn DVDs or CDs.

 

[Nebor]

1) Unless you upgrade two or three versions above what you have then cost may go up.
Otherwise it is more like $65.
2) Cost for 1st time user is I agree steep but then no software is dirt cheap.

upgrade:
http://www.cyberlink.com/store/powerdvd/upgrade_en_US.html

full version:
http://www.cyberlink.com/store/powerdvd/buy_en_US.html

I've been using PDVD Ultra 10 mostly for BR and 3d BR playback for almost two years and very happy with it.

I rounded up to $100. And I just don't think it's very well made software. It has a lot of bugs and they frequently get ignored until a new version comes out. And IIRC they removed the ability to play HD-DVD for no good reason.

I use Powerdvd 11 Ultra for Bluray and 3d bluray and it's ok.

 

[Golgatha]

My whole HTPC setup runs on blu-ray ISOs served from a NAS and played in PowerDVD 11 Ultra...

Well, to be fair the last version I used was version 8, and it definitely actively prevented you from running Bluray from ISO files on that version. Perhaps they changed their policy.

TMT5 has always just worked for me since I switched over, gets roughly quarterly updates, and there isn't the upgrade treadmill philosophy that PowerDVD seems to have. Well worth the money for the TMT5 software IMO. I got a free full version of TMT3 with my ASUS sound card awhile back and was impressed enough with the functionality of the software to upgrade to the current version and put it on all my computers (TMT3 was OEM and checked for the sound card to be installed).

 

[Golgatha]

And IIRC they removed the ability to play HD-DVD for no good reason.

This also happened in version 8. I imagine they did it to get rid of the licensing costs for a dead format at the time. I can actually understand why they dropped support for HD-DVD. If you really must play HD-DVDs, just keep 2 versions of the software on your computer.

 

[videopho]

I rounded up to $100. And I just don't think it's very well made software. It has a lot of bugs and they frequently get ignored until a new version comes out. And IIRC they removed the ability to play HD-DVD for no good reason.

I use Powerdvd 11 Ultra for Bluray and 3d bluray and it's ok.

Make sure you check update patches as it becomes available.
It looks like mine is one patch over due.
Unlike DVD players, BR machines are completely just the opposite, you're almost constantly under FW upgrade to keep up with the new movies.

Did you upgrade from v10 to v11?
I'm thinking doing the same since it is only $51 to do so, only question is...Is it worth it?
When I play 3d BR in my HTPC rig I have to disable SLI mode,. Otherwise it plays in 2d, mine is PDVD U10 version. I heard this was fixed in v11?

 

[Oyeve]

There's a new version out every year, and they charge you about $100 for the ultra version of each.

Oh, I see. i thought it was some yearly licensing thing. I have been using a hacked up version of mac bp on my pc. It just plays brd and nothing fancy at that.

 

[Nebor]

Make sure you check update patches as it becomes available.
It looks like mine is one patch over due.
Unlike DVD players, BR machines are completely just the opposite, you're almost constantly under FW upgrade to keep up with the new movies.

Did you upgrade from v10 to v11?
I'm thinking doing the same since it is only $51 to do so, only question is...Is it worth it?
When I play 3d BR in my HTPC rig I have to disable SLI mode,. Otherwise it plays in 2d, mine is PDVD U10 version. I heard this was fixed in v11?

It's usually best to check AVS forums before you install the patches, as they frequently break things.

I upgraded from v10 to v11. I don't know why you'd have SLI in an HTPC rig (big screen 3d gaming?) and I don't know if it works.

 

[videopho]

It's usually best to check AVS forums before you install the patches, as they frequently break things.

I upgraded from v10 to v11. I don't know why you'd have SLI in an HTPC rig (big screen 3d gaming?) and I don't know if it works.

Not a big hassle when disabling SLI so I can watch 3D BR movie.
I've been told by NV 3dV forum v11 works when SLI enabled.
Yup you got it...this one is no grandpa typical HTPC per se.
I built this one two years ago for strictly 3d gaming and 3d BR movie play back and have not looked back ever since.
3d gaming on 73" DLP is heaven, absolutely no ghosting , not to mention a very dedicated powerful 7.3 surround sound to add another dimension to it.