Blu Ray is a scam

[Kulindahr]

I got a new laptop a couple of years ago. One of the reasons I picked it is it has a blu ray sticker on it, supposedly meaning the computer plays blu ray.

Well, I learned that blu ray is just a scam. I've managed to play a total of three such movies on my laptop, and have spent nearly as much time trying to get each one to play as I have in watching the movies. I've had to do patches, updates, more patches, a new version, more updates and patches....

And finally it comes down to the real deal: "Blu Ray" is a mess like the old Windows, so constantly tweaked and amended that you need a new version every four to six months, at a cost of about a hundred bucks every time.


Unless any of you techno whizzes know a way around that...

 

[GamerBear]

It's mostly the program, I have a Blu-ray on my PS3 and its always up to date even a regular Blu-ray player needs to update once in a while. Probably because of a new movie requiring your player to update. What program are you using to play your movies?

To be honest Blu-ray is only good if you view it on a HDTV bigger than 37 inches could maybe get away with a lower TV. If you use your TV as a monitor for your laptop then I would understand upgrading to a Blu-ray.

I don't think Blu-ray is a scam I just think that laptops or PCs have issues playing them and the program is always updating like a Windows Update would every Tuesday.

 

[maxpowr9]

No Kuli you are just having issues with your laptop but you should be used to programs and drivers constantly updating on your PC anyways.

I have a blu ray burner in my PC that is from 2008 and it still plays the discs perfectly fine. The only caveat would be that if your GPU sucks balls, then your blu ray video quality will suffer greatly.

 

[Kulindahr]

I'm not used to updates costing serious bucks! I figured Blu Ray was like DVD: it is what it is, and that's it. If I'd known it was going to be an ongoing huge expense I wouldn't have bothered.

 

[GamerBear]

I'm not used to updates costing serious bucks! I figured Blu Ray was like DVD: it is what it is, and that's it. If I'd known it was going to be an ongoing huge expense I wouldn't have bothered.

What program are you using that is requiring you to pay money to update it? I personally don't have a Blu-ray player on my PC or laptop. But all updates on my PlayStation 3 are all free and it never wants me to pay for an update, brother has a Blu-ray player and all his updates are free. I think the program you are using to play those movies is the real scam.

 

[JB3]

I'm not used to updates costing serious bucks! I figured Blu Ray was like DVD: it is what it is, and that's it. If I'd known it was going to be an ongoing huge expense I wouldn't have bothered.

It shouldn't be a huge expense! They settled on a spec, so any updates would be on the software side.

 

[andysayshi]

What application is used to view blu-ray movies? Perhaps it's just a piece of scam-ish software provided by the laptop provider?

 

[Kulindahr]

My laptop came with CyberLink PowerDVD. I got free upgrades for a year, then an update from v8 to v9. But v9 doesn't play Blu Ray unless I buy the deluxe version.

 

[looseliam]

Have you tried VLC player? I know I can play the actual bluray movie file itself without problems. I'm not sure if there's menu support or anything.

 

[Kulindahr]

^ Downloadable and free?



BTW, some friends and I in college liked to mix two Bones-isms:

"He's dead, Jim -- but not as we know it."

 

[looseliam]

^ Downloadable and free?

Yep and yep

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

The only caveat with bluray that I've found, is you'll have to actually browse the disk and look for the big honkin' ol' file that is the movie then play it from there. In the interest of full disclosure, I've never had an *actual* bluray cd

I'm not sure about other devices, but there's an android app that acts as a remote for vlc player which I wuvs!

BTW, some friends and I in college liked to mix two Bones-isms:

"He's dead, Jim -- but not as we know it."

Bones always cracks me up. His timing was perfect.

 

[Corny]

the next vlc version (2.0) will have full blue ray support. until then (software) blue ray players are still quite crappy. power dvd so far is one of the better choices.

media player classic hc might work, too
http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/