Question: Blu ray reliability NOW (HP Pavilion dv7-1264nr Entertainment Notebook PC)

denret

This thread is about the HP Pavilion dv7-1264nr Entertainment Notebook PC. Click here to see full specs

Upgrading to a new laptop., looking at the Hp DV7 1264-NR.

Been seeing some things that bother me, specifically that people are having trouble playing various Blu ray discs on PC's, and even in Playstations and Blu players.

I don't want to spend for a new laptop right now and have it not play every other Blu ray I put in it! Is it too early in the Blu ray evolution? Should I wait some before taking the plunge?

zaina

From what I read, issues on playback are mostly due to incompatible blank media and/or invalid Blu-ray structure when you burn a disc.

For original Blu-ray discs, I have no problem playing them in my PS3 or PCs. As long as you have the firmware and playback software updated, you will be fine.

denret

Thank you for your feedback.

I guess I was referring more to commercial Blu ray movies, ie., buying and renting, more than anything else. I keep picking up bits and pieces about double layer Blu rays not playing in some PC's and/or certain titles giving people trouble.

I'm concerned that Blu ray standards and PC compatibility may not be that far advanced yet. If I lay out for a new Blu ray equipped laptop, I want it to play every Blu ray I buy or rent...right out of the box, just like my Dvd equipped PC does now.

Thanks again, and all comments from those with experience is greatly appreciated.

Dalen Quaice

I would say that it isn't to the point of standard DVD, yet.

I think I was surprised when I first got into Blu that a lot of Blu-ray discs are poorly authored, with not only authoring errors but a lack of menus. For example, with TV series discs you usually expect a menu to let you select individual episodes, but I've watched at least 4 sets now from Warner Brothers with NO menus. To get from episode to episode, you had to scan through each episode. This is pretty rediculous and retrograde really. I've also had at least 2 motion pictures without menus. It seems the "trend" for Blu-ray movies is for the movie to start without any menus, and the menu to be a pop-up. Add to this that BD discs are worthless unless the transfer is HD quality. At least one of the discs I've viewed recently has been no better than the standard DVD version.

With BD discs, we also have AACS copy protection as well as BD+. Fox and MGM are using BD+ as well as AACS. These keep changing as time goes by. We are up to MKBv12 and MKBv13 for AACS as well as several revisions of BD+. What this means to you is that you will have to continually keep updating firmware on your standalone to keep being able to play the latest level of encryption.

There are lots of issues with standalone players not playing menus properly, or not being able to play BD+ titles, particuarly Quantum of Solace. BD players also have very slow load times compared to standard DVD players.

For computer based stuff, you have use something like AnyDVD if you don't have an HDCP compliant monitor to view BD titles. This requires an annoying subscription for updates because they are continually adding new keys for the latest titles.

On top of this, you may well have your internal keys on your BD drive revoked by inserting a "new" BD movie, because it updates each time you insert a disc. You can get to the point where your drive is "poisoned" and won't work anymore.

If you like fiddling with stuff, then Blu-Ray can be fun. It can also be annoying when stuff stops working or won't work due to poor authoring of discs or copy protection.

Just my take.

__________________
My favorite daily burning drives:
Plextor 712A - 1.09 NEC AD-7200A - 1.05 Liggy BenQ 1640 Grey OEM - BSMB LG GSA-H22N - 1.02
My favorite media:
RicohJPN R01, RicohJPN R03, MCC 003, MCC 004, Optodisc R16
Testing:
Pioneer BDR-203 Blu-Ray

denret

Thanks for your input.

My personal opinion is that Blu ray is still in it's intial phase and we're probably going to changes in the next couple of years....at the expense and frustration of those who bought early hardware.

How about stand-alone players? Are they subject to as many quirks as PC applications?

Dalen Quaice

If for no other reason, there will be new copy protection changes that will frustrate people with older players.

As I mentioned, there are lots of issues with standalone players not playing menus properly, nor being able to play BD+ titles, particuarly Quantum of Solace seems problematic. BD players also have very slow load times compared to standard DVD players.

I got into Blu because finally there was enough content that I wanted, and the prices had dropped enough to make it reasonably worthwhile.

__________________
My favorite daily burning drives:
Plextor 712A - 1.09 NEC AD-7200A - 1.05 Liggy BenQ 1640 Grey OEM - BSMB LG GSA-H22N - 1.02
My favorite media:
RicohJPN R01, RicohJPN R03, MCC 003, MCC 004, Optodisc R16
Testing:
Pioneer BDR-203 Blu-Ray

zaina

If I read correctly, Dalen, the problem with Quantum of Solace as mentioned here were affecting only some standalone players, mostly older standalone Blu-ray players? I also read that many Blu-ray manufacturers have released firmware update at the end of March last month thus I don't think it's a problem anymore?

I know my PS3 plays that movie fine, as well as in my PC.

So back to the main topic where I think the original poster wanted to know if he will have problem playing blu-ray in this HP laptop equipped with Blu-ray, I would honestly say no, as long as you have the latest update for your playback software. In my experience, I've tried PowerDVD 9 and ArcSoft TotalMedia Theater 3, and they all can play any Blu-ray I've tried.