Blu Ray Player or Blu Ray Drive?

[GeekJump]

Topic in the title. With the force awakens coming out tomorrow I finally need a blu ray player  (I use to just 'borrow' my bro's ps3/4 every time I wanted to watch something). So, should I get a dedicated blu ray player or just get a optical drive for my PC? Pro/Cons?

 

I'm tempted to get one of the smart ones with Amazon, Hulu, and other apps on it but I already have a chromcast so the only real plus is Amazon Prime. 

 

If you pick "dedicated player", do you have any suggestions?

[AshleyAshes]

Well, unless you already have the means to tinker with decryption and ripping (Hey, 'Format Shifting' is legal in Canada if you own the media. ), buying a BD-ROM or BD-RW drive will ALSO mean buying a piece of software to play Blu-Ray video discs on your PC and that would be an additional cost.  Also, without a proper media center type setup, you'll then be controlling all of that from a keyboard and mouse, even if you hook it up to your TV.

 

Honestly, a stand alone Blu-Ray player for your home entertainment system is cheaper and much less hassle if the only thing you want to do is 'Watch Movies', though I'd argue that physical media is dead anyway.

[Ruhel]

Where will you be watching that will give you the best experience? If your TV has surround sound and nice viewing area I would go for that.

[79wjd]

4 minutes ago, AshleyAshes said:

Well, unless you already have the means to tinker with decryption and ripping (Hey, 'Format Shifting' is legal in Canada if you own the media. ), buying a BD-ROM or BD-RW drive will ALSO mean buying a piece of software to play Blu-Ray video discs on your PC and that would be an additional cost.  Also, without a proper media center type setup, you'll then be controlling all of that from a keyboard and mouse, even if you hook it up to your TV.

 

Honestly, a stand alone Blu-Ray player for your home entertainment system is cheaper and much less hassle if the only thing you want to do is 'Watch Movies', though I'd argue that physical media is dead anyway.

There are also free tools to play blurays on a PC (you can download/modify VLC to do it and it's fairly straightforward -- although I haven't personally tried it, so i can't speak as to how well it works/how troublesome it is). 

 

But if my intention was to watch blurays off the disc itself, then I would also go with the separate bluray player.

[Ruhel]

Just now, djdwosk97 said:

There are also free tools to play blurays on a PC (you can download/modify VLC to do it and it's fairly straightforward -- although I haven't personally tried it, so i can't speak as to how well it works/how troublesome it is). 

Yeah they are a pain to use the free tools. I ended up having to find an old version of Cyberlink with Blu Ray support I had in my stash and upgrade that to play blurays on my sons laptop.

[GeekJump]

4 minutes ago, AshleyAshes said:

 

Isn't there free software now to view blu rays? And even then the prices are similar between players with smart features and drives w/ software.

4 minutes ago, Ruhel said:

 

My PC is connected to my TV via HDMI and I don't have a fancy sound system. I'm the opposite of an audiophile but my eyes are special and I'm starting to hate watching movies in standard DVD quality lol

 

For controls, I have a wireless keyboard/mouse combo for watching videos away from my desk. 

[AshleyAshes]

Just now, djdwosk97 said:

There are also free tools to play blurays on a PC (you can download/modify VLC to do it and it's fairly straightforward -- although I haven't personally tried it, so i can't speak as to how well it works/how troublesome it is). 

 

But if my intention was to watch blurays off the disc itself, then I would also go with the separate bluray player.

I HONESTLY haven't followed the Blu-Ray scene as closely as I have the DVD scene back in the day, but do the free options offer PlayBack of encrypted discs or just previously decrypted images?  Like, I know that's been an issue with Kodi for example, it can playback SOME BluRay images, but they must already be decrypted.

[79wjd]

6 minutes ago, AshleyAshes said:

I HONESTLY haven't followed the Blu-Ray scene as closely as I have the DVD scene back in the day, but do the free options offer PlayBack of encrypted discs or just previously decrypted images?  Like, I know that's been an issue with Kodi for example, it can playback SOME BluRay images, but they must already be decrypted.

As far as I know, the VLC hack can play anything....although I'm sure you'd have to make sure the decryption library is up to date and even then it still probably will have issues with some (/random) discs. 

[GeekJump]

2 minutes ago, djdwosk97 said:

As far as I know, the VLC hack can play anything....although I'm sure you'd have to make sure the decryption library is up to date and even then it still probably will have issues with some (/random) discs. 

Issues eh? So what do you think, dedicated player or optical drive?

[79wjd]

5 minutes ago, GeekJump said:

Issues eh? So what do you think, dedicated player or optical drive?

if you have any interest in ripping them, then ODD. If you intend to just watch them from the discs, then dedicated player. 

[GeekJump]

2 minutes ago, djdwosk97 said:

if you have any interest in ripping them, then ODD. If you intend to just watch them from the discs, then dedicated player. 

nah I already had a close call with rips during DVD's heyday (thank god for being a juvenile) so no burning or ripping content that isn't mine! :3

 

Does anyone have a suggested player? 

[Zodiark1593]

12 minutes ago, djdwosk97 said:

As far as I know, the VLC hack can play anything....although I'm sure you'd have to make sure the decryption library is up to date and even then it still probably will have issues with some (/random) discs. 

Last I checked, those libraries were quite outdated.

[DragonTamer1]

I have a Blu-ray drive from LG in my 5.25 inch bay. I use Lewo Blu-ray player to watch videos since it's supposed to be free. There was supposed to be a way to get VLC to play Blu-rays but I can't get it working and I'm tired of dealing with it.

 

Edit: Ripping Blu-rays using MakeMKV will allow the ripped files to be played in VLC, but there are some legal issues to that.