What BR drive to buy?

[grimmster]

What BR drive can I buy for my comp to start watching BR movies on my system? Don't really need BR burner, Rom is fine.

[John C]

Really just pick one of the name brands for the best price. Lite-on are usually good, as are Asus. The picture quality will be identical no matter drive you choose. If you are going to watch movies, make sure it comes with a player, usually they come bundled with a crippled OEM edition of PowerDVD. You can also use XBMC, MPC-HC, or some others, but they generall wont play from the disk menu,you have to go in and click a file.

[sttubs]

Really just pick one of the name brands for the best price. Lite-on are usually good, as are Asus. The picture quality will be identical no matter drive you choose. If you are going to watch movies, make sure it comes with a player, usually they come bundled with a crippled OEM edition of PowerDVD. You can also use XBMC, MPC-HC, or some others, but they generall wont play from the disk menu,you have to go in and click a file.

Is there any BR player software that works the best?

[John C]

I prefer Arcsoft TMT, it integrates with Windows Media Center the best. PowerDVD works, but they seem to nail you with continuing costs and upgrades. WinDVD has some avid followers over at AVS forums.
So, for a HTPC, where a 10 foot interface is important, I like Arcsoft. For my main machine, I use XBMC.

[grimmster]

Good to know. I plan just to rip (iso probably) then just watch off my computer.