[dmzguy]

Just an idea.... What happens if your BluRay drive dies in your PS3? Can you just order a replacement drive, like you can for the XBOX? Could these drives be converted for PC use?


Who actually makes the BluRay disk drives?



(I really, REALLY want to build a high-end HTPC that can play both BluRay and HD DVD movies; but I don't feel like being ripped off by having to spend $800-$1000 on a BluRay drive; or $1,200 on the LG Dual-format drive.)


-I don't care about the writing capability for my PC either, I just want to be able to play any High Definition movie that I desire and I do not want to have to worry about one format dying...


And unlike a lot of people, I don't really want a stand-alone player; I want one device that interfaces with my TV and that can display all Standard Def and High Def content. An HTPC with dual BluRay and HD DVD drives could play regulard DVDs, too; it could play downloaded HD WMV files, it could play consumer created content, like videos from YouTube.com, I can take pictures, videos, or music, from any type of memory card or USB key and pop it in the HTPC and display them; I can listen to actual radio, or internet streaming radio; I can run a TV Guide application and have Tivo-like capability without paying a monthly service, and I can support new codecs and new formats that have not been thought of yet, with a simple download of a new program or two. (Maybe TV over IP will be really compelling...)


For the love of God, let me have my content and to hell with this format war!!



Anyway....

ranting aside.... if anyone has any ideas about how to obtain a BluRay disk drive for a reasonable price, even if it involves hardware modifications, soldering, or obtaining and running unsupported drivers, I'm all ears!



Thanks,

Adam

 

[GMan4911]

The Liteon BD burner is available for around $500.

 

[nataraj]



Quote:
Originally Posted by dmzguy /forum/post/0


Just an idea.... What happens if your BluRay drive dies in your PS3? Can you just order a replacement drive, like you can for the XBOX? Could these drives be converted for PC use?

Very interesting idea. Don't know whether Sony sells replacement drives ... perhaps a call to PS3 support should tell you.

 

[dmzguy]

"The Liteon BD burner is available for around $500."

Yes, but the XBOX HD DVD drive is available for $200; and the cheapest BD can do is $500?? I have to think that there's a LOT of markup there...


The PS3 drive is only a BD Reader and not capable of writing, right?


These things use the same lasers and 90% the same technology, the BD drives should NOT cost over twice as much... writing capability or no writing capability... let's say I add $100 for writing capability... Where's the $300 BD drive?



Adam

 

[homerx]

No they don't have do it your self drives for the ps3 the only way would be to sent it in for repairs. I think putting a vacum drive in the ps3 was mistake will only lead to probloms.


But I think in time their will be cheeper PC drives. I've seen PCs with BD drive or HD-DVD drives already in them so that might be the way to go. Just add what you need, want

 

[dmzguy]

Where do you send the PS3 for repairs? To Sony or to "Authorized Repair Partners"?


If there are authorized stores that can repair them for you, I would imagine that they can order replacement drives...


Has anyone taken apart their PS3?? Where's the drive made and by whom? (There are stores that I know in Singapore and Japan that can get their hands on almost anything....)


What type of interface do the BluRay drives have? (laptop connector like the XBOX HD DVD drive, normal EIDE, or something else?)


Adam

 

[Dussander]

How do you get good sound (like DD+/TrueHd/DTSHDMaster) out of a HTPC?


I built an HD capturing, DVD/video playing HTPC a little while back but because it was running on Windows it was driving me nuts. My favorite quirk was when it would pester me to reboot every 20 minutes while I'm trying to watch a movie because it had patched up some files. I kind of walked away from it feeling one box that does everything was not a good idea.... not to put your plans down or anything.

 

[lsdavinci]



Quote:
Originally Posted by benes /forum/post/0


I have not seen any read-only blu-ray drives for the PC. The cheapest blu-ray burner is available now for $600. The X-box HD DVD drive is available for $200. And the PowerDVD Ultra software to run it all is available for $100. So for $900 you can have your own dual-format player with full decoding of all advanced audio codecs. Something that you can't do with any hardware player yet.


Thats my current setup and I'm very happy with it.

I tried connecting the HD-DVD player to my MCE 2005 PC and it seems to recognize it to some extent (except for the memory controller thing). Upon placing an HD-DVD in the drive, it will not recognize it. Is PowerDVD all I need to get the drive to work or do I need "magic" drivers to get it working (not being sarcastic, that's what I read a couple of months ago)....

 

[lsdavinci]

This helps immensely! I will test this out tonight... (I don't know why I didn't think of that)... Thanks!

 

[moore]



Quote:
Originally Posted by benes /forum/post/0


I have not seen any read-only blu-ray drives for the PC. The cheapest blu-ray burner is available now for $600. The X-box HD DVD drive is available for $200. And the PowerDVD Ultra software to run it all is available for $100. So for $900 you can have your own dual-format player with full decoding of all advanced audio codecs. Something that you can't do with any hardware player yet.


Thats my current setup and I'm very happy with it.

Well, $900 plus a reasonably powerful computer to put them in. No way will that be cheaper than the LG even at list price.

 

[lsdavinci]



Quote:
Originally Posted by benes /forum/post/0


You will need the device driver for the HD DVD drive. In my case it was available through Windows Update. I just plugged the drive into USB and ran WU and there was the driver for me to download. I didn't even have to reboot after installation. I assume it is the same on MCE. After that you can play with PowerDVD. If you are using an analog output such as VGA then you should be good to go. If you are using DVI output then of course you will need a HDCP video card. Hope that helps.

benes, just one more question. The memory controller thingy in device manager is no longer there so I assume it's a good sign. But when you did it, were you able to view the disc's contents via windows explorer? because I still can't. Not that I need to but just wanted to make sure before I plunk $100 for powerdvd.

 

[MidnightWatcher]



Quote:
Originally Posted by lsdavinci /forum/post/0


I tried connecting the HD-DVD player to my MCE 2005 PC and it seems to recognize it to some extent (except for the memory controller thing). Upon placing an HD-DVD in the drive, it will not recognize it. Is PowerDVD all I need to get the drive to work or do I need "magic" drivers to get it working (not being sarcastic, that's what I read a couple of months ago)....

Run Windows Update to install drivers for the two memory controllers. PowerDVD Ultra is all you need to play the discs.

 

[K.L.]



Quote:
Originally Posted by dmzguy /forum/post/0


Has anyone taken apart their PS3?? Where's the drive made and by whom? (There are stores that I know in Singapore and Japan that can get their hands on almost anything....)

Unlike the off-the-shelf Xbox drive, it's a custom drive made by Sony only for the PS3, even its form factor is special to fit in the convex case.

 

[K.L.]



Quote:
Originally Posted by dmzguy /forum/post/0


-I don't care about the writing capability for my PC either, I just want to be able to play any High Definition movie that I desire and I do not want to have to worry about one format dying...

You should just wait for a year or two, I mean do you remember what happened to CD (CD-RW) and DVD (DVD+-RW)? Nowadays read-only drives can't be found and writable drives are dirt cheap.

 

[wreckshop]



Quote:
Originally Posted by K.L. /forum/post/0


Unlike the off-the-shelf Xbox drive, it's a custom drive made by Sony only for the PS3, even its form factor is special to fit in the convex case.

This is correct. Notice also, that it is a slot loading drive, which are very rare even with PC DVD drives.