A Blu-ray "upgrade kit" for Apple's
revamped Mac mini... sounds like the ultimate for home theater buffs right? After all, such a device holds the promise of adding Blu-ray playback to a
relatively powerful, off-the-shelf micro computer starting at $599 that'll run any of the amazing media center apps available for either Windows 7 (with
some extra legwork) or OS X. Not so fast bub, remember, OS X
still doesn't support native playback of Blu-ray discs pressed by Hollywood's media fairies. As such, Blu-ray films purchased on disc can only be played by booting into Windows -- under OS X you are limited to reading and writing data assuming you already have software like Adobe's Premiere Pro CS3 with Encore or Roxio's Toast with Blu-ray plug-in. Unfortunately, AMEX Digital is purposely unclear on this point by suggesting that the kit will simply "play Hollywood Blu-ray Disc movies on a properly configured PC or MAC." For the extra $199 required to take the BD-UG1 home, we'd suggest a native PC solution,
cheapo standalone Blu-ray player or
PS3 and avoid these headaches altogether. Image of the drive laid bare after the break.
[Via
I4U]
posted Nov 11th 2009 4:51AM
Just sill politics.
Sorry, but I'm the MS fanboy and I think this is a little misworded.
You say Apple doesn't support native playback. Neither does Microsoft. You need 3rd party apps for PC.
but the thing is, there ARE 3rd party apps for Windows, not only that, but the OS has to support the Protected Path to begin with. Windows DOES, OSX does NOT.
So its not really a stretch to say Windows Supports Blu Ray and OS X doesn't. At least you can play a Blu Ray on Windows.
The word "native" was used, thus making the comparison seem like one has native and one doesn't. We all get the point but some other word should have used.
Windows has several options for playback and OS X has none. BD ROMs & new PCs usually ship with playback software so obtaining playback functionality is easy. If Apple computers can play blu ray disks when they're running Windows, there should be no reason they can't when they are running OS X. Apple really need to pull their finger out.
Why doesn't OSX support Blu-Ray yet?
They were championing it every chance they got back when Microsoft was showing off HD-DVD.
@nate
Thanks. I love my TotalMedia Theatre. Hopefully someday Windows will natively support it like DVD
I agree that for $199, you should buy a standalone player. PS3 will cost you $299 (which is a great deal).
$200 for an internal BR READER may seem like a lot, but do any reasonably cheap BD units BURN discs as well like this unit? I don't know all the prices, but $200 for a burner seems like a good deal. Another factor to consider, for Mac users at least, is that the drives are now getting slim enough to fit into Apple's laptops. I'll be getting a BR reader and writer for my MacBook Pro soon, but I think I'll just stick to an external eSATA drive and call it a day.
-Brian