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Stick it to the Man: $272.28 SATA Blu-ray/HD-DVD reader

Kaido

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
via NCIXUS

$272.28 USD, $9.99 Express Shipping (be sure to choose Canada USA Express Shipping @ Checkout, otherwise you'll be paying $30!). Also check off the extra insurance to save you another $8+. Total came to $282.27 shipped for me. If you're looking for the ultimate reader drive for your HTPC, this is it! A suggestion for a 1080P playback machine:

Hardware:
Apex MicroATX case with 275w PSU - $42.99 or nMediaPC case with 300w PSU
Gigabyte MicroATX motherboard with HDMI & 7.1 Optical Digital Audio - $79.99
Athlon 4600+ 2.4ghz X2 processor - $88.99 (plays back encoded files up to 1080p)
Transcend 2gb RAM kit - $53.99
WD 500gb SATA drive - $109.99
Firefly RF remote control - $49.99

Software:
Vista Home Premium (Media Center edition) - $111.99
PowerDVD Ultra - $99 (HD-DVD and Blu-ray disc software player)
AnyDVD HD - $79 (play HD on non-HDCP displays)
 
Add up that cost and this is a $1,000 player. That's a PS3 + an HD-A2 + 50-60 movies.

When I got my HD-A2 I paid $208 and I got 8 movies....sold 5 of them for $75 so I paid about $130 for the player and still had 3 movies (all of which are combo discs costing $30 each).....so, maybe $40 for the player. If you were still standing on the sidelines after that deal came along.............
 
True, but I already have a nice computer system hooked up to my TV and this is just an additional purchase for me. I'm not grabbing all these components at once. I already have them. Great deal OP!
 
I'll probably be buying one for my new HTPC build. I'll wait a little while for any kinks to be worked out , and hopefully for the price to drop. Had already seen this announced, but haven't seen it at any retailers yet.

I would install one of these in my current HTPC with a 6600GT and AMD XP3200 but I don't think I would have enough processing power. Dadgummit at some point you have to upgrade. Time for a P35 board with an E6750.
 
Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
Add up that cost and this is a $1,000 player. That's a PS3 + an HD-A2 + 50-60 movies.

When I got my HD-A2 I paid $208 and I got 8 movies....sold 5 of them for $75 so I paid about $130 for the player and still had 3 movies (all of which are combo discs costing $30 each).....so, maybe $40 for the player. If you were still standing on the sidelines after that deal came along.............
Click to expand...

Good point! This is good if you want to consolidate all of those machines as well as be able to play computer media files.
 
So will this plus an HDCP compliant video card work for protected content, or is there an OS requirement in that chain?

I was going to upgrade my HTPC soon from my Athlon XP setup since E21xx C2D's are priced really low, this might spur me to finally do it.
 
Originally posted by: sjwaste
So will this plus an HDCP compliant video card work for protected content, or is there an OS requirement in that chain?

I was going to upgrade my HTPC soon from my Athlon XP setup since E21xx C2D's are priced really low, this might spur me to finally do it.
Click to expand...

You need an HD software player, such as PowerDVD Ultra. Right now the only supported OS that I know of is Windows. You can skip HDCP if you use AnyDVD HD:

http://www.slysoft.com/en/anydvdhd.html
 
Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
Add up that cost and this is a $1,000 player. That's a PS3 + an HD-A2 + 50-60 movies.

When I got my HD-A2 I paid $208 and I got 8 movies....sold 5 of them for $75 so I paid about $130 for the player and still had 3 movies (all of which are combo discs costing $30 each).....so, maybe $40 for the player. If you were still standing on the sidelines after that deal came along.............
Click to expand...

If you have a medium-crap laptop you are already set - put this drive into a $10 USB case - and you didn't have to keep a PS3-like monster around to watch movies. 🙂

Decent price, I agree however I still hold out for a $200 AIO reader.
 
Originally posted by: T2k
Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
Add up that cost and this is a $1,000 player. That's a PS3 + an HD-A2 + 50-60 movies.

When I got my HD-A2 I paid $208 and I got 8 movies....sold 5 of them for $75 so I paid about $130 for the player and still had 3 movies (all of which are combo discs costing $30 each).....so, maybe $40 for the player. If you were still standing on the sidelines after that deal came along.............
Click to expand...

If you have a medium-crap laptop you are already set - put this drive into a $10 USB case - and you didn't have to keep a PS3-like monster around to watch movies. 🙂

Decent price, I agree however I still hold out for a $200 AIO reader.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty happy with the state of things now...an $80 CPU that can process x264 1080P MKVs, an HD combo drive for under $300, and 1TB hard drives for under $350. The only thing that's missing is CableCards for end-users...guess I'll be sticking with Tivo for DVRing purposes!
 
well, Power DVD plays on XP (SP2, yick) so that's an improvement. AnyDVD HD sounds interesting though. Thanks for the links, will do some more research before jumping on something like this one.
 
you know I never understood companies that like to put this in their policy:

"DOA items may be returned within 25 days of ordering and may be subject to a 15% restocking fee at the discretion of NCIXUS.com"

terrible business practice IMO... this would make me not even want to purchase from them. I bet they charge you to ship it back to them if it is DOA too, wouldnt suprise me. But cant wait for these to be more widespread and at or under $200.
 
Originally posted by: Lurker1
well, Power DVD plays on XP (SP2, yick) so that's an improvement. AnyDVD HD sounds interesting though. Thanks for the links, will do some more research before jumping on something like this one.
Click to expand...

AnyDVD rocks! SlySoft is one of those companies I am happy to support with my wallet. :thumbsup:
 
Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
Add up that cost and this is a $1,000 player. That's a PS3 + an HD-A2 + 50-60 movies.

When I got my HD-A2 I paid $208 and I got 8 movies....sold 5 of them for $75 so I paid about $130 for the player and still had 3 movies (all of which are combo discs costing $30 each).....so, maybe $40 for the player. If you were still standing on the sidelines after that deal came along.............
Click to expand...

You're missing the main point of an HTPC. A well-built HTPC doubles as a scaler, which allows you to output any resolution or refresh rate, change timings, as well as adjust gamma and other color options. The main perk of an HTPC is that it gives you the option to output at a refresh rate that is a multiple of 24, which is the frame rate films are filmed at. Standalone players only output at 60Hz, which causes motion judder as the odd frames are displayed 3 times for every 2 times the even frames are displayed (they also output at 24p, but you'd still need a scaler to get to 72Hz). A good scaler costs around $1000 by the way.

And I don't know where you're getting that a PS3 + HD-A2 + 50-60 movies is $1000. PS3 = $400, HD-A2 = $200, and 50-60 HD-DVD or blu-ray movies is around $900.
 
Originally posted by: GZeus
Originally posted by: Lurker1
well, Power DVD plays on XP (SP2, yick) so that's an improvement. AnyDVD HD sounds interesting though. Thanks for the links, will do some more research before jumping on something like this one.
Click to expand...

AnyDVD rocks! SlySoft is one of those companies I am happy to support with my wallet. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

AnyDVD HD is good, but at the present it cannot bypass BD+, which is what all of the new Fox Blu-ray releases are using.
 
Originally posted by: Shawn
Originally posted by: GZeus
Originally posted by: Lurker1
well, Power DVD plays on XP (SP2, yick) so that's an improvement. AnyDVD HD sounds interesting though. Thanks for the links, will do some more research before jumping on something like this one.
Click to expand...

AnyDVD rocks! SlySoft is one of those companies I am happy to support with my wallet. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

AnyDVD HD is good, but at the present it cannot bypass BD+, which is what all of the new Fox Blu-ray releases are using.
Click to expand...

As always, it's only a matter of time 🙂
 
Originally posted by: NautikaL 8
Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
Add up that cost and this is a $1,000 player. That's a PS3 + an HD-A2 + 50-60 movies.

When I got my HD-A2 I paid $208 and I got 8 movies....sold 5 of them for $75 so I paid about $130 for the player and still had 3 movies (all of which are combo discs costing $30 each).....so, maybe $40 for the player. If you were still standing on the sidelines after that deal came along.............
Click to expand...

You're missing the main point of an HTPC. A well-built HTPC doubles as a scaler, which allows you to output any resolution or refresh rate, change timings, as well as adjust gamma and other color options. The main perk of an HTPC is that it gives you the option to output at a refresh rate that is a multiple of 24, which is the frame rate films are filmed at. Standalone players only output at 60Hz, which causes motion judder as the odd frames are displayed 3 times for every 2 times the even frames are displayed (they also output at 24p, but you'd still need a scaler to get to 72Hz). A good scaler costs around $1000 by the way.

And I don't know where you're getting that a PS3 + HD-A2 + 50-60 movies is $1000. PS3 = $400, HD-A2 = $200, and 50-60 HD-DVD or blu-ray movies is around $900.
Click to expand...

I should also point out another great piece of software called PowerStrip for $29.95. It allows you to fully tweak and custom your display output:

http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/ps.shtm
 
This is a great deal, imho. Definitely tempting for anyone who has a htpc.

However, comparing it to standalone players/ps3s and even set top scalers is not an apples to apples comparison.
Having built htpcs for over 6 years now, they are definitely a labor of love, and I mean LABOR. You will be spending lots of time with your baby to get it to work right, and then even more hours to get it to work right with your wife.

Also costs, you guys are comparing just the drive to the complet costs of the standalone machines, which aint right. In order to get this drive working, you will need some decent hw behind it. Ati 2400+ nv 8500+ yadda yadda. I'd say 350-500 easy for the rest of the hw alone. Add in os and powerdvd.... and sorry to say it wont be saving you any money unless you have those parts just lying around.

Last bit poo poo to fling, audio. You will not be able to extract the hi rez audio from a htpc. Im struggling with this right now actually. So this means no dolby truehd or other lossless audio for at least a while.

This last bit sounds minor, but its a HUUUGE part of the hi rez format experience. I've tried a-b tests myself with the new audio formats and its NOT a subtle difference, even my wife can tell the difference.

Again an excellent deal for what it is, but a ps3/hddvd player replacement it aint. Of course over all, htpc functionality trumps any standalone machine, but thats a different issue.
 
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