BLUE RAY SOFTWARE. What's the best.

[RENZO]

just bought a lite-on blu ray burner oem from new egg. need advice for software to run it. or am i missing something with its installation/ connection to the motherboard?

 

[Oric]

To watch or to rip ?

 

[bruceb]

I think he means to burn them. You can use IMGBURN (free) or if you want inexpensive paid programs, try UltraISO or PowerISO .. you can also go to Nero or Roxio, but in my opinion, both are priced way too high and somewhat bloated. And you can only update free within the same major version. The two paid ones I listed, allow updates to newer versions as they come out.

http://www.ezbsystems.com/ultraiso/

http://poweriso.com/

 

[RENZO]

The device is capable of doing both. does that change your answer or recommendation? thanks a bunch.

 

[bruceb]

If you want to rip BluRay to hard drive, then you need either DVDFAB http://www.dvdfab.com/products.htm with the BluRay option (you can get an option for Lifetime updates and they update often to work with new protection schemes) or you can use ANYDVD HD http://www.slysoft.com/en/anydvdhd.html .. neither one is cheap. I own DVDFAB, but not the BluRay option, as I don't have a BluRay player or writer and no BluRay (and no current plans to buy) discs at present.

 

[Steltek]

I have AnyDVD/AnyDVDHD, and it works great in concert with Media Player Classic as a blu-ray player. However, both AnyDVDHD and DVDFAB are both endangered products in the US if either SOPA or ProtectIP ever become law.

So far as the truly legal options are concerned, you have basically three for playing blurays: Cyberlink PowerDVD, Corel WinDVD, and ArcSoft Total Media Theatre. I've used both PowerDVD and WinDVD, but wouldn't recommend them to anyone (random lockups, refusal to play some retail blurays despite making all required updates, and feature loss with successive versions). Arcsoft TMT is the best of these three by far, but I don't use it because I simply despise the user interface (make sure you try the free 15 day trial before you buy). If you watch, you can catch it several times a year for 30-40% off from ArcSoft.

There is a free player out there, DAPlayer, but I wouldn't trust it without running it in a sandbox or something as the company behind it is affiliated with a lot of questionable companies (plus is rumored to be difficult to completely uninstall, though that wouldn't be unusual relative to any Windows media package)...

http://www.digiarty.com/

 

[bruceb]

I for one, do not see either product being banned. They are both not based in the USA and they are 100% legal for making a backup copy of a movie you own, for your own personal use. It is another matter if you decide to make copies to sell or give away. Those actions would be illegal.

 

[Slugbait]

I for one, do not see either product being banned. They are both not based in the USA and they are 100% legal for making a backup copy of a movie you own, for your own personal use. It is another matter if you decide to make copies to sell or give away. Those actions would be illegal.

Agreed. There was that whole Supreme Court thang a few months ago with UCLA and DVD ripping, so the "gray area" right now is that the software itself is legal...it's just the use of that software with eeeville intentions is against the DMCA.

Probably won't get fleshed out until Web 4.0 comes along or sumptin'...

 

[billyb0b]

burning - IMGBURN
watching - Media Player Classic
codecs - K-Lite Codec Pack

 

[Monster_Munch]

I use Arcsoft TMT. I love the way it integrates with windows media center, so I can put in a bluray and start watching it right away just using the remote control.

 

[chadashcroft22]

I bought arcsoft tmt after my power dvd stop working out of nowhere that came bundled with my drive.
I looked up any coupons I could use and found a 30% one making it 70 bucks which decent in my book
I don't regret it one bit.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

 

[Binky]

For playing, just try all three trial versions and see which one you like.

Cyberlink PowerDVD
ArcSoft Total Media Theatre
Corel WinDVD

PowerDVD has been around the longest. Prior to version 9, it was crap with constant updates and problems playing certain bluray discs. It's pretty good now and I use both version 9 and 11 with zero issues. Total Media Theatre has a lot of fans too. WinDVD is the clear underdog.

I bought my original copy of powerdvd on ebay for an absurdly low price. Surprisingly, it worked and it has been upgraded through Cyberlink from version 7 all the way to 11. You should be aware that there are powerdvd versions (and maybe TMT) out there with only two channel audio. You do NOT want this version.

 

[ssm0002]

Arcsoft TMT was available at tiger direct in Jan for $50, but looks like its back up to $100 again.

 

[Monster_Munch]

The main thing that pisses me off about Arcsoft TMT is they seem to release a new version every year. So if you spend $100 to buy version 5.0 you'll only get free updates until they release 6.0 then you have to buy it again.

 

[abaez]

If you get AnyDVD you can play blurays in VLC. Plus all of the other AnyDVD benefits.

 

[Malfeas]

I use both arcsoft TMT5 and mpc-hc players. I use arcsoft because it integrates well with WMC, and is easy for the woman to use.

However the picture quality on MPC-HC is far superior, especially if you install lavfilters and madvr. But MPC-HC isn't very good at seamless branching in BDMV folder structure, but it excels at reading MKVs. I'm slowly converting my BD rips from folder structure to MKV so I can eliminate TMT5 from my system.

As for ripping software, I have used combinations of anydvd, clownbd, clonedvd, and makemkv.

 

[rockfella79]

I think Power DVD rules all. TMT is good for 3D. Corel seems like good for nothing really. Audio sucks on TMT, Jriver media center is one good media center. Pot Player is also good. K-Lite is tried and tested. Whatever rocks our boats.

 

[silicon]

burning - IMGBURN
watching - Media Player Classic
codecs - K-Lite Codec Pack

or VLC for watching, also very good.

 

[sweenish]

Nobody mentioned MakeMKV for ripping? It's free software that does the job fabulously.

Ripping for burning, less so. But it rips great. It's my first step for my Plex library.

also, blu-ray.

I think it was somewhere else on this forum I had a similar discussion. It was funny.

 

[Berryracer]

PowerDVD is you want the best quality

 

[BeeBoop]

MakeMKV is free and easy to use. Takes two clicks.

 

[rockfella79]

I use mkvmerge, never has any issues but I still can't figure out how to cut/split mkv files.