Newbie to BLU RAY/HD capable equipment

[santanafan35]

I'm a newbie to the whole BLU RAY/HD capable equipment but not to the TTD.

My question is what type of equipment will I need to copy BLU RAY movies and to make a HD DVD from the TTD ? I would also like to archive my Downloads of any show i get from the TTD. I have a general idea how to do but I want to make sure i have the correct burner and software,DVD'S etc.. before I make a purchase. Any suggestions of equipment for a newbie would be much appreciated.

[xjsb125]

These are all based on the assumption you're on a PC. You'll need an internal Blu-ray burner drive. You can check Newegg.com, or TigerDirect for good prices, and ratings. LG, and LiteOn/ASUS tend to be the better choices, and are usually in the $50-80 range. If you are buying an internal drive, make sure you check the specs for the drive to see if it's compatible with your system. You can also buy an external burner, but the performance may not be as great. You'll also need good, reliable blank media. I'm a Verbatim fanboy, so that's my recommendation for blank discs. Again, do your research and read up on reviews for different brands. We all have our favorites. No suggestions for copying movies. Maybe hit up Videohelp.com and look around there. I wouldn't use any software that you have to pay for, as there are usually great freeware programs that will handle it, and handle burning too. ImgBurn is a popular freeware among us, and will burn Blu-ray. If you are burning a blu-ray show from TTD, then the files are already in the appropriate format to burn. If you are authoring, then you'll definitely want a paid program, and again you might want to look at Videohelp for suggestions.

If you're on Mac, then someone else will have to field that one.

Lastly, you might want to get that share ratio up there ;). People will be a little more eager to help you out then.

[co9ol]

I'm on a Mac and burn Blu-rays regularly. I have a SAMSUNG SE-506BB/TSBD
(Found here: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151259) Works great, never had any problems. It even burns regular DVD's faster then my other drives. I use Toast for burning and I have the adobe suite for authorizing because I also do video work. The built-in software in Toast would probably work for you though.

[kozmic]

i'am getting a new computer and would like to know what kind of bluray discs do you use and what is a good price. thanks

[jabulon]

Why don't you invest in a streamer/media box?

[co9ol]

i'am getting a new computer and would like to know what kind of bluray discs do you use and what is a good price. thanks

Verbatim is good and I've never had problems with Sony. While I've never used Blu-ray disks from Memorex I've always liked their DVDs.

[santanafan35]

These are all based on the assumption you're on a PC. You'll need an internal Blu-ray burner drive. You can check Newegg.com, or TigerDirect for good prices, and ratings. LG, and LiteOn/ASUS tend to be the better choices, and are usually in the $50-80 range. If you are buying an internal drive, make sure you check the specs for the drive to see if it's compatible with your system. You can also buy an external burner, but the performance may not be as great. You'll also need good, reliable blank media. I'm a Verbatim fanboy, so that's my recommendation for blank discs. Again, do your research and read up on reviews for different brands. We all have our favorites. No suggestions for copying movies. Maybe hit up Videohelp.com and look around there. I wouldn't use any software that you have to pay for, as there are usually great freeware programs that will handle it, and handle burning too. ImgBurn is a popular freeware among us, and will burn Blu-ray. If you are burning a blu-ray show from TTD, then the files are already in the appropriate format to burn. If you are authoring, then you'll definitely want a paid program, and again you might want to look at Videohelp for suggestions.

If you're on Mac, then someone else will have to field that one.

Lastly, you might want to get that share ratio up there ;). People will be a little more eager to help you out then.

Thank you for all your tips! I did research and went with a Pioneer BDXL External Blu-ray burner, downloaded the free ImgBurn. Just having problems with Playing the TDD downloads on my Samsung standalone Blu-ray player. No problem playing these DLs on PC Blu-ray. Player says their is no video found for player when I insert disc? Maybe the brand it doesnt like? I got a cheap tawain brand best value i think. Maybe you can help me with my fire wall situation some other time so i can get my share ratio up. Thanks again man.

[vladsmythe]

Why don't you invest in a streamer/media box?

This makes sense to me. Mine is great and makes all this hi-def stuff easy. Gonna be cheaper for you in the long run too.

[Homebrew101]

Thank you for all your tips! I did research and went with a Pioneer BDXL External Blu-ray burner, downloaded the free ImgBurn. Just having problems with Playing the TDD downloads on my Samsung standalone Blu-ray player. No problem playing these DLs on PC Blu-ray. Player says their is no video found for player when I insert disc? Maybe the brand it doesnt like? I got a cheap tawain brand best value i think. Maybe you can help me with my fire wall situation some other time so i can get my share ratio up. Thanks again man.

I play blu-ray files on my stand-alone Sony BD player via USB sticks ,no need to waste $ buying BD blanks to burn (assuming your BD player accepts USB inputs)

[santanafan35]

This makes sense to me. Mine is great and makes all this hi-def stuff easy. Gonna be cheaper for you in the long run too.

Is there a website that will explain how this works?

[santanafan35]

my Blu ray play does have a usb plug in. USB sticks, how do they work? Is there a website for info on streamer/media box also? I really appreciate everones suggestions and tips. Thank you everyone involved in making all this magic happen here on the TDD!

[vladsmythe]

I use this. http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=330
I think it was about $80 dollars at Office Depot. Plays all video formats that I've thrown at it. Also plays all audio including flac...the only drawback is it is not gapless audio playback. Just a great little machine. I use a usb hub and have 5 HDs plugged into it.

[Homebrew101]

my Blu ray play does have a usb plug in. USB sticks, how do they work? Is there a website for info on streamer/media box also? I really appreciate everones suggestions and tips. Thank you everyone involved in making all this magic happen here on the TDD!

usb is like an individual hard drive, just drag and drop a BD folder or the main folder for a dvd onto the usb stick and

for the BD I navigate to the STREAM folder (IIRC) and select the first file and they seem to play in sequence from there (only just started this and not at home now to confirm file names)

for the DVD just navigate to the VIDEO_TS folder and click the 1st VOB file

[vladsmythe]

It's that simple. If you click the 1st VOB file, the player will automatically play the rest of the VOB files seamlessly. Also no buffering issues. :thumbsup