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Controlling playback via BD drive or stand-alone player

Poll Results: BD Drive or stand-alone player?

 
  • 100% (1)
    Get the stand-alone player!
  • 0% (0)
    Go for the drive!
1 Total Vote  
post #1 of 5
1/21/13 at 7:58am
Thread Starter 
I would appreciate any and all comments on the pros and cons of playback via BD drive vs. via a stand-alone player.

With pre-BD technologies, I've always found that the software,while sometimes annoying in its own ways, has tended to give you much more control. And you can know more about the files, about what you're playing, about what data is being reported where. And you can scrap one piece of software for another if you don't like it without replacing hardware. And the drive can add burning capacity.

And yet most of you here seem to be strongly in favor of players.

I'd appreciate any and all comments!
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post #2 of 5
1/21/13 at 10:53am
It depends on your goals -- convenience vs functionality.

Standalone players tend to be much more convenient. They integrate with conventional home-entertainment systems much more easily than do many HTPCs.

Among other features, optical drives make it possible to create backups of your discs on a networked file server, so you no longer have to handle those physical discs again.
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post #3 of 5
1/21/13 at 4:30pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Selden Ball View Post

optical drives make it possible to create backups of your discs on a networked file server, so you no longer have to handle those physical discs again.

By which you mean, if I'm understanding you correctly, that you can copy the BD content to a HDD, right?
Thanks for this, btw.
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post #4 of 5
1/21/13 at 4:48pm
IMO, if all you want to do is play a disc, then just get a standalone blu-ray player. There are some circumstances where you'd want to use a PC, though. For instance, you may need to remove region codes or want to skip trailers/menus.

BD drives are great for ripping blu-ray discs to your computer. They're especially great if you rip your discs to a much more portable format like an MKV. From there, you can play the MKV on many different software players and devices, and can use Plex to access your movies anyone in the world on any device.
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post #5 of 5
1/21/13 at 4:54pm
Thread Starter 
This all sounds exactly right. With all that in mind - do you (or others) have recommendations for a BD drive?
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