Good external Blu ray player/burner?

[rickawakeman]

Pardons if this has been covered before. I need a good plug and play Blu Ray player that doesn't require downloading software to play and plugs right into my PC. Figgered I'd get one before they're obselete...

[progmatist]

The biggest issue with not downloading any software is you won't get past the disc encryption. If the drive doesn't come with its own player software, you'll need to purchase player software. Or download more shady, less reputable software. There is no "free" in-between.

[UnephenStephen]

see if you can find the Pioneer BDR-XD05S. that's the one i have and it works great. don't remember though if it came with a software/driver disc.

edit: actually you can find it right here..

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/P...ives/BDR-XD05S

not sure why it says ideal for Mac users. mine works fine on my pc.

[Dave (in MA)]

I think the one that I have is the same pioneer, and you'll be able to read/write with it and use it as a CD player, but like progmatist pointed out, you'll need a 3rd party app to play DVD or BR discs.

[UnephenStephen]

I think the one that I have is the same pioneer, and you'll be able to read/write with it and use it as a CD player, but like progmatist pointed out, you'll need a 3rd party app to play DVD or BR discs.

come to think of it, when the burning of the disc completes, the drive letter (in my case F: ) disappears from file explorer making the new disc inaccessible and unplayable. it plays fine on a blu-ray player though.

[IMWeasel]

Ive got a pioneer external blu ray writer and it works pretty well, but no real burning software was included (Im still trying to figure out the best way to copy some of my movies to a hard drive lol), just make sure you have 2 open USB ports

[rickawakeman]

Thanks for the recs!