I got an internal LG dual-layer blu-ray burner for $99 at Best Buy but was wrong about it being cheap enough to make two copies each - single-layer BD-R discs were $23US for ten ($2.30 each) and dual-layer were $35US for three ($11.67 each). OUCH! I saw an ad for a 50-pack spindle of high-quality dual layer BD-R disks for $1300US ($2.60 each). DOUBLE OUCH!Phuzzy4242 wrote:I'm getting a blu-ray burner to ease the pain. They're cheap enough that making two copies each (for safety) on 50GB DL disks are well worth it.
I moved 100 GB to BD-R in about two hours (with verify ON which doubles the burn time, and spot testing each file to make sure it played OK) but burned two coasters because I tried to copy the almost-8GB [REL] Léon (1994) [Directors Cut] and it choked, so you're still limited in Windows to 4GB max. file size.
The LG drive is OK - it burns at 12X (but only reads at 10X - I wonder why), it's quiet, and its packaged burning software is similar to Nero. It comes with one blank BD-R, sata cable, standard-to-sata power cable adapter, and mounting screws. The software installer doesn't require you to install every app, which is something I like because a lot of bundled apps turn out to be crap. I installed everything anyway but haven't had a chance to look at anything but the burn app, which was similar to Nero. It also has an authoring app, label maker, photo/film collection app, backup app, etc.
People should be aware there are hardware prerequisites needed before you can play Blu-ray movies on the PC, mainly video card, memory, and video output (VGA isn't good enough). There's a bundled app that will test your system and let you know if it's compatible for watching blu-ray movies.
So, what are your experiences with blu-ray drives?