Optical Drives Help needed on purchasing a Blu Ray reader

[JaseUK]

Hi guys,
I have decided I want back up some of my Blu Ray discs but I dont have a Blu Ray reader yet. I have read somewhere that some drives are riplocked. Can someone explain what this is please and if there are certain drives I should stay clear from?

thanks

[aguy1222]

From what iv read and use LG and pioneer are real good, I have an LG, as far as the riplock iv never heard of it, I too am new to blu ray coping

[JaseUK]

From what iv read and use LG and pioneer are real good, I have an LG, as far as the riplock iv never heard of it, I too am new to blu ray coping

Thanks for the info, I read that a lot of the samsung's are riplocked. So I may have to look at LG or Pioneer.

I also might wait until a few more people reply, hopefully offering a little more advice.

[CBR929]

Hi JaseUK
I would also suggest LG and Pioneer.
Depending on your play back device to make a protected disc which contains Cinavia you will need a drive that supports Binding Nonce, which both of these do.
CBR929

[regnad kcin]

First off, my intent is NOT to disparage any particular ODD manufacturer.

Personally, I'd go with a Pioneer.
There are a number of LG's that support riplock.
Usually, this can be remedied by flashing the drive with a "patched" firmware.

To my knowledge, Pioneer does not support riplock, but I haven't researched this to any real extent.

Be certain to take into account CBR929's advice re: cinavia.
I'm using a Liteon BD-ROM which does not support burning a cinavia protected BD, but I never burn BD discs since all my viewing is via media players/hdds so I couldn't care less about cinavia protection.

Whatever you decide, be certain to do a little research on the specific make/model drive
As always, Buyer Beware

[martythebrit]

When you say "reader" I assume you mean "writer", you can't burn disks with a reader.

I have a Pioneer and would buy another, great drives.

Take a look here for riplock;

[JaseUK]

Again thanks for the great advice guys.

I dont need a writer as I was going to back my blu-ray discs up to my hdd.

I will do some research before I buy. thanks

[whaleshark]

BD Reader Choice

Hi, I'd be interested in knowing what your final choice will be as I am in the same position as yourself - I rip straight to HD with no 'burning' involved. My present LG CH10SL20 drive is still good but there may be a time when I need to replace it
Thanks

[JaseUK]

I havent found a drive yet but I am definately going to look at the LG and Pioneer ones.

All I have to do is find one for the right price, which for me may be quite hard as I am very tight.....

[martythebrit]

I would spend a little extra now and get a burner...

[JaseUK]

I would spend a little extra now and get a burner...

Yeah I think I may do that, cheers.

I have been looking at these writers: -

Pioneer BDR-S06XLB

LG BH10LS38

[JaseUK]

Hi, I'd be interested in knowing what your final choice will be as I am in the same position as yourself - I rip straight to HD with no 'burning' involved. My present LG CH10SL20 drive is still good but there may be a time when I need to replace it
Thanks

I ended up buying the Pioneer BDR-S06XLB but I have not really put it to great use yet.

May I ask what software you use to play your ripped Blu-Rays?

[aguy1222]

What are tout going to watch them with?

[JaseUK]

What are tout going to watch them with?

There are a few choices, such as
PowerDVD9 which I got a copy of with the writer.
DAPlayer
VSO Player

I havent tried any of these yet but I really dont want to be spending money on a player.

Edit: I am currently installing PowerDVD9 on my HTPC as it apparently integrates with WMC.

[whaleshark]

What Software?

"May I ask what software you use to play your ripped Blu-Rays? "

Hi, I think I have covered most of the bases and my setup is as follows;

1) I have a STORA NAS drive where all my ripped BD's, either in PS3 MP4 or MKV format reside - Some folks like these, some don't -- Works for me and no problems for over two years so far

2) Sony PS3 as the first media streaming choice. Lots of folk don't like the PS3 either because of the Cinavia and other restrictions, but, it is a powerful little beast and the quality is great - streamed thru a Yamaha amp HDMI ports to a Sony 50 inch LCD TV

3) If I encounter a Cinavia protected BD which the PS3 objects to (Audio cut off after about 20 minutes), then I rip to an MKV (PS3 won't play MKV) and play that from the NAS drive, via a WDTV Live box and the Yamaha HDMI ports--- Still pretty good quality (and full DTS)

4) My final option, if all else fails, is the PS3 Media Server freeware which again is very good but has some drawbacks

5) For playback on my laptop etc, then I use VLC media player -- always have and it has'nt let me down yet

6) I gave up trying to stream via Wi-Fi and mains wiring network adapters - I'm now fully hard wired via Cat 5/6 and Gigabit switches without any jumps or jitters etc

Hope this helps as it all works for me