Sony Optiarc Black 2X BD-ROM 8X DVD-ROM 24X CD-ROM E-IDE/ATAPI Slim Internal 2X Blu-ray Combo Drive Model BC-5500A - OEM

Reviewed By: Majortranka on 11/5/2008

Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 week to 1 month

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: It works well even through my HDMI LCD TV awsome like stand alone BD player

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: Good Buy Love IT

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Just clearing up the resolution talk...

Reviewed By: shomann on 9/24/2008

Tech Level: high - Ownership: less than 1 day

Pros: I do not own this drive - but that doesn't matter to educate those that might be buying on a bit better.

The DVDs that have been around for the past 10 years are Standard Definition (SD). This means a resolution of 720x480. This format is also called DV and can be either interlaced ("i",like television) or progressive ("p" like a movie). HD resolutions include 1280x720p, 1280x720i (not used, but part of the spec), 1920x1080i (some versions of HDTV, particularly sports) and 1920x1080p (the highest quality you can get). Blu-ray can be compressed in several different formats, but generally speaking, this is the best picture you can get on a computer or home appliance. Between SD and HD, there are several different "flavors" of video signal, most claim to be 480p but can have wildly different horizontal resolutions.

Cons: *

Other Thoughts: Basically, you need a display that is greater than 1280x720 and preferably widescreen to really get the benefit, but because the source image is so much larger you would even see the difference at resolution between 800x600 and 1280x800.

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Comparing to DVD

Reviewed By: Dan on 7/9/2008

Tech Level: somewhat high - Ownership: less than 1 day

Pros: It PLAYS bluray on your laptop

Cons: I still need to buy one... I Don't have one myself, but I tried the one on my friend's laptop

Other Thoughts: A person below mentioned that there is no point watching it on a laptop with resolution of 1280x800. DVDs are nowhere near that resolution, regular DVD that you buy in a store (not a compressed dvix file) is only 852x480 (also called 480p), it is NOT 1280x800 or 1280x720 (also called 720p). The bluray movies are 1920x1080 (also called 1080p), and they will have to be downscaled to the laptop's 720p (1280x720). You will not be able to see the full quality of 1080, but it is still MUCH better than DVD's 480 resolution.

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