Blue-ray laptop

woozyM

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Dec 8, 2009
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Hello guys hope you can clarify me on this issue:

I've been browsing through laptops and it got me thinking.

If I get a laptop with blue-ray optical drive and a graphic card that is HD-rdy with HDMI then I can hook up my laptop to TV to watch blu-ray movies right?

Is the quality the same or less than if I buy a separate blu-ray player for my tv?

Because if it's the same then I really don't need a blu-ray player as I can use my laptop to substitute it. The only problem is that I can't use my laptop while watching a movie... in that case the movie is just bad :wahoo:
 

howardp6

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Aug 19, 2008
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The only issue is that the laptops graphics are not greate and for Blu-ray playback you have to use Cyberlink PowerDVD or WinDVD, since Blu-ray playback is not supported by any version of Window's Windows 7 included. Microsoft does not want pay the licensing fee for the Blu-ray Association. It is their decision not to support Blu-ray natively. It would increase the cost of Windows for everyone. Cyberlink Power DVD is not that easy to setup for the HDMI connection since to get the audio to feed through HDMI cable you have to disable the speaker on you laptop and set the TV as the default desktop. I would recommend buying a stand alone Blu-Ray Player rather than use your laptop the price of the stand alone player are in the $125.00 and up range on sale and you get a remote and not have to use use your laptop. They work out of the box.
 

leon2006

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Feb 12, 2006
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Yes. You can play Blue Ray movies on notebook fitted with HD-Certified, HDCP compliant hardware / software.

The quality is dependent on the video card of the notebook. Entry level HD-certified notebook GPU such as 4500 don't necessarily produce the best HD-playback quality. You will observe pixelation, drop frame rates...etc. Get the next level GPU for your notebook and the quality is nothing less than stand-alone player.

Before you purchase the notebook with/HDMI/Blue-Ray Drive make sure that it includes the Blue-Ray Playback software. Some include it some don't so you have to make sure.

The mostly use PlayBack Software for Blue-Ray is PowerDVD. I use it on all of my PC and Notebook and its fairly easy to set-up and run. I have a full version of 7.3 and it runs well on my hardware including my notebook.

The latest version 9 Plus is out for some time now so it should be fine.

If you run into issue start a post and you'll get a respond from this forum.

Playing Blue Ray on Good GPU(Not the entry level GPU, not the integrated GPU in notebook) normally end up with ~ 12% CPU utilization. So to answer your question yes you can do other task on your PC/notebook whil playing Blue-Ray. HD playback or Blue-Ray playback task is done by the GPU. The PC/Notebook CPU can continue to do a lot more.

Its is recommended to use Vista-64 or Win-7 64. These OS make use of the computer resources allot better.

 

woozyM

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Perfect guys, each of you have covered interesting points regarding laptop (blue-ray player) to tv.

Since entry level graphic card or integrated card on laptop doesn't match a stand alone blu-ray player then I think I should buy a stand alone blu-ray player for my tv. It seems like a stand alone player will still be a bit more expensive than upgrading the graphic card, however I get a remote and still be able to use my laptop separately.


Of course thanks leon for pointing this out:


Playing Blue Ray on Good GPU(Not the entry level GPU, not the integrated GPU in notebook) normally end up with ~ 12% CPU utilization. So to answer your question yes you can do other task on your PC/notebook whil playing Blue-Ray. HD playback or Blue-Ray playback task is done by the GPU. The PC/Notebook CPU can continue to do a lot more.

The only problem is the cord to connect my laptop to tv is short. Basically I'll have to be very close to my tv to watch movie and use laptop, therefore not on my comfortable sofa :D


 

aylafan

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That's not entirely true. I can watch Blu-ray on my Sony NW series laptop with Intel 4500MHD integrated graphics hooked to my 65" Sharp Aquos TV with HDMI in 1080p just fine. I don't see any pixelation, dropped frame rates, lag or loss in image quality.

However, I think it would be the smart choice to buy a laptop with a discrete graphics card like ATI or nVidia for future use because it is almost near impossible to upgrade later on.
 

fazers_on_stun

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Aug 31, 2006
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^ IIRC the GMA-4500MHD includes an HD decoder chip vs. the 4500 not including same.

Anyway, this is a good thread - I'm considering the Dell Studio 17 with a touchscreen LED backlight display, but it only does 1440 x 900 instead of true 1080P (i.e., 1080 or better vertical lines of resolution).

OK I just got off Dell's chat line and they confirm any laptop they sell comes with a BD software player...
 

daytrder

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Dec 23, 2009
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I'm having an issue with Bluray playback as well. I own a Dell Studio XPS 1640 with the ATI Mobility 4670 1GB video card and Bluray burner. I can play bluray discs, but every single one of them skip every 20-30 seconds for a good 5 seconds or so. It makes watching movies impossible. I had the drive replaced by Dell, and it's still doing it. I'm using PowerDVD to play it. I tried installing WinDVD 2010 and that wouldn't even play the bluray discs at all because it said the media was not supported for multiple bluray discs. Does anyone have any ideas for better software to play the movies so they don't skip? Or hardware/software tweaks to make it run smoother? Thanks.