Best free/cheap software for playing a Blu-ray disc directly on a windows 7 HTPC? - Page 2

This situation is corrupt and infuriating.

I just bought a refurb BD player from Sony for under $40 that plays BDs fine and even streams Netflix et. al., but I can't get a simple piece of software to play BDs for less than 50% more than that.

I have the hardware, it even came with player software ...but now the hardware and software I paid for will no longer play BDs.

I bought the overpriced bloatware "upgrade" for a rip-off price the first time the software refused to play new discs ...guess what? less than 3 years later that piece of excrement stopped updating too and demanded another extortion payment to keep playing any of the discs I had already been watching.

The only BD software players we have legally available to buy are stuffed with garbage features to make them seem worth the exorbitant prices we are charged.

Then they stop working after a few years at best for no other reason than to unscrupulously swindle you out of more money for what you already paid for.

As you may have noticed, I am disgusted. I really expected technology and competition to have fixed this long before now. It looks to me that some extremely powerful forces do not want computers to be entertainment centers and are having their way on several fronts.

WinDVD pro is $49.99, sometimes less, and works just fine.

There's a license fee built into your BD disk player price too.

Another vote for a stand alone BD player (and I even already own TMT3).

I also got the stand alone player to stream Netflix as audio/video quality is crippled on a pc.

Yeah, the BD player was 40 bucks including the hardware and perpetual license.

With the software I have to keep paying more than that over and over and over.

It sure looks to me like there's a consumer protection lawsuit in there somewhere...

Anyone have anything new to update this thread with concerning windows 8 and HTPC's? I have been all over the place looking for bluray solutions less then 20 bucks.

I agree that a standalone player is much more user friendly - than watching blurays with power dvd9. However, the reason I prefer (and frequently struggle with) the latter is that , at least for audio quality, there is no stand alone player that can even approach the quality of my gateway computer configured with my high-end dac. In addition, the audio is connected directly from the dac's analog outputs to my amplifiers, using the computer's volume control, which you can't do with a standalone player. Also, I have the ability to upgrade dacs while maintaining lossless audio.

I'm using iDeer blu ray player on my Windows7 & an iPad too, it works fine.
I find an artical on their website: http://www.ideerapp.com/blu-ray-playback-software.html
Hope this does help.

There are many free and commercial tools for playing blu-ray movies:

–> Free:
DAPlayer 1.0.1.9
Gom Player 2.1.43.5119
GreenForce-Player 1.12
Kantaris Media Player Lite 0.7.7
KMPlayer 3.3.0.33
MPC-Home Cinema 1.6.2.4902 x86
PotPlayer 1.5.33948 x86
SMPlayer 0.8.0.4316
VLC media player 2.0.3
Xbox Media Center 11.0

–> Commercial:
UFUSoft Blu-ray Player
CyberLink PowerDVD Ultra 12.0.1905.56

We have so broad choice to play blu-ray, music and videos….

I just posted this in a Win8 related thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1440877/free-windows-8-bluray-solution-for-htpc#post_22887021

There are many Blu-ray player software products on the market, powerdvd is good, but expensive, free one has no blu-ray license and not reliable
You can try iDeer Blu-ray Player, it is good and cheap, and officially authorized.
http://www.ideerapp.com/

Hadn't heard of UFUSoft. I wonder how it compares to TMT5? It's definitely cheaper. And if it doesn't have Cinavia, that's slam dunk.

I'm pretty wary of that. How do you know it doesn't have Cinavia (edit: nm, missed your "if")? If it is in fact a licensed player and has received any updates since February 1, 2012, then it must implement Cinavia AFAIK.

The other possibility is that it's not licensed, it which case I have a tough time believing it can display menus on BD-J discs.

consumer protection lawsuit ROFL
in this country today the only law is what the companies decide is the law if its not for them the bribe a senator.
you AINT GOTS NO protection