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Blu-ray is an exceptional experience (including both sound and visual appearance). I love my Sony BD-rom. I recommend it to anyone, especially now that the prices are heading lower and lower.
Pretty much plug and play. I did end up buying the full version of PowerDVD8 though, HOWEVER, the bundled version is good enough to play BluRay disks, though you ONLY get two channels of output, as in stereo L/R, no multichannel. for that you must buy the full PDVD8 version. It's been a few weeks since I got this. The installation went smooth, and I really did not even need to use the bundled software, as Vista perfectly detected and identified the Bluray drive. I think there was a discount when I did so, as I only paid for an upgrade from the OEM version of PDVD8 to the full, not the MSRP for the retail full version.
Get yourself a BD drive and a excellent video card. NO need for a separate stand alone player with one of these. If your video card doesn't have true HDMI output. The drive installed without a hitch in my Dell XPS 410 HTPC. Once I had the proper card installed the BD drive has been trouble free. Make sure your audio card or motherboard has SPDIF output. I did however need to purchase an HTPC capable video card in order to use it. This way you can still enjoy digital sound.
The power dvd software that comes with it only outputs in stereo and does not integrate into windows media center which is really too bad. Media Center Integration is something that all these blu-ray drives should do. Works great as a blu-ray device for watching movies. I thought all the HDCP stuff in windows vista would make that possible.
Using a Geforce 8600GT 256mb, I had no picture studder whatsoever. I highly recommend this blu-ray drive. If you don't want to spend $400 on a blu-ray player, this is a great alternative. I think SONY has the best technology for it. The PowerDVD BD software it comes with is nice and works great. If you have your computer hooked up through your stereo, be sure to check the SPIF box on audio setup to get 5.1/DTS sound. I was blown away with the picture when I hooked my computer up to my 32" 720p TV.
I also own a HD-DVD player, and I think blu-ray might be better. Even at 720p, the picture is great. The upconversion from a regular DVD was impressive also. Old computer specs: Accer Aspire AMD Athlon 64x2 4400, Gefore 256MB 8600GT XXX, 4GB Ram, 430Watt Power supply, Vista 32 bitNew computer specs: AMD Athlon 64x2 5000+ Black ed., EVGA 9600 GT card, Vista 64 bit, 6GB Ram, 430 Power supply
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