BD-RE 50GB media?

[akobari]

Hello,
I have decided to skip any tsmux, or tsremux for backingup my large size(over 25GB) BD DVDs. That means I haveto use one of 50GB BD-RE medias.

Does anybody know if LG Model GGW-H20L Blu-Ray Drive can write to one of these media? Which one? or both? They are both 50 GB, I did not realize, they can be single layer or Dual layer for 50GB, I always thought to get 50 GB they have to use Dual layer!

Panasonic 50GB Single-sided, Dual-layer LM-BE50DE
Panasonic 50GB Rewritable Single-Sided / Single Layer LM-BE50DU3

Any other brand recommendation? Like TDK, JVC,… As long as it’s 50GB and can be used with LG drive.

Thanks so much.

[Adbear]

Think you might have made an error as you can't have 50GB single sided single layer. Writing shouldn't be a problem as long as you're on the latest firmware, it's more a case of whether your player likes the discs

[akobari]

Hi Adbear,
Thanks for your reply, That was my exact thought, till I came across this web side by Panasonic, they also have the exact items in local Fry’s store with a very good price:
http://www2.panasonic.com/consumer-electronics/shop/Supplies-Accessories/Video/Blu-ray-Disc-Players/Blu-ray-Discs/model.LM-BE50DU3_11002_7000000000000005702

I always thought they get high density (50GB) by going dual layer.
I do have latest version Y05 in this drive.

[Adbear]

I think it's a typo as even the picture has DL written on the disc

[jwjohnson]

If you look at the picture in your link it says Dual Layer, even though the text below says single layer. I think all 50 GB media is dual layer. I think it's just a typo.

Edit: I guess Adbear posted as I was writing my response.

[wishinone]

What you are looking at Frys are write once disk and at $69.99 for five disk is $10.00 cheaper per disk than I've seen elsewhere. The disk in the link to Panasonic are rewritable disk which can be used over.

[akobari]

Fry’s has both, BD-R 50 and BD-RE 50. BD-RE 50 in our local Fry’s is priced at $79.99.

[profcolli]

Amazon.com has the TDK 50GB BD-RE for <$50.
http://www.amazon.com/Blu-ray-Layer-REWRITABLE-Professional-Jewel/dp/B000FL5Y2S/ref=pd_bxgy_e_text_c

[akobari]

That price is for 1 only, Fry’s price is for 3 in a pack, which means $28 per disc, Well $28 is much cheaper than $50

[jwjohnson]

If all you are interested in is backing up your movies then a hard drive is much more economical. A 1TB drive will hold roughly 20 50GB movies. I just purchased a Seagate 1TB drive for $120. That's $6 per movie. Way less that $29. Just a thought.

[profcolli]

That price is for 1 only, Fry’s price is for 3 in a pack, which means $28 per disc, Well $28 is much cheaper than $50$39 actually for the TDK. Still, Fry's has a good price for the Panasonic (less than half MSRP) but it is NOT single layer - the description is wrong. Look at the pic on the Panasonic website and you can see it is dual layer.

Who makes the media is important.... Unless you need to burn to blank media to play on a different system, then buy a hard drive as jwjohnson suggested - but be careful of the Seagate 1.5TB right now because of the firmware issues. HDD is much cheaper on a per GB basis, and no issues about being able to read the media in a year's time - eSata or any other external solution works well for "mounting" your collection if you don't have space in your PC. Plus you save the burn time....

[akobari]

Hi profcolli,
Thanks for HDD idea, but I just finished my basement with a very nice entrainment center with 110” screen and Sony VPL60 projector. There is no HTT PC in there. That’s why I went this route. I also bought a HITACHI 1TB from Newegg’s for about $80 after rebate a while back. It's been working great so far.
Thanks again
Ali

[akobari]

Unless you need to burn to blank media to play on a different system, then buy a hard drive as jwjohnson suggested - but be careful of the Seagate 1.5TB right now because of the firmware issues. HDD is much cheaper on a per GB basis, and no issues about being able to read the media in a year's time - eSata or any other external solution works well for "mounting" your collection if you don't have space in your PC. Plus you save the burn time....

profcolli,jwjohnson,

After thinking about your suggestion for a while! Are you guys saying I can get a perfect picture, just like standalone BD player from a HTTPC, just using a computer, if so I am assuming I do need ,
1) a powerful graphic cards like NVIDA or ATI chipset with HDMI output
2) powerful CPU,, Intel QUAD,
3)1 TB HDD
4) window Xp + some sort of HTT software
Am I correct? Am I missing anything here? It’s very tempting idea! I know there are other forums for this discussion, but I could not resist to bring this up and get some opinion. I probably get some warning from moderator about this off topic discussion.

Thank you guys

[umanemo]

I too began backing up BD's to HDD this winter. My player and monitor are also in a different room from the computer. I have just started burning the movies to a couple of BD-RW 50's and keep re-using them as necessary. 1tB eSATA HDD ($100) + 2 50gB BD-RW's (ca. $40) For less than $150 and I'm in business! At least so far...

PS. I'm doing all this from a Desktop replacement notebook, T7500 Core 2 Duo @ 2.2Ghz, NVidia 8600M GT, 2 GB RAM, Internal BD Burner and the External eSATA HDD. All basic stuff I believe.

[profcolli]

profcolli,jwjohnson,

After thinking about your suggestion for a while! Are you guys saying I can get a perfect picture, just like standalone BD player from a HTTPC, just using a computer, if so I am assuming I do need ,
1) a powerful graphic cards like NVIDA or ATI chipset with HDMI output
2) powerful CPU,, Intel QUAD,
3)1 TB HDD
4) window Xp + some sort of HTT software
Am I correct? Am I missing anything here? It’s very tempting idea! I know there are other forums for this discussion, but I could not resist to bring this up and get some opinion. I probably get some warning from moderator about this off topic discussion.

Thank you guysMany people use an HTPC but there is a lot more work involved than with a standalone player. However, the advantage is that you can serve your movies from the PC without ever getting up and changing a disc, and obviously you don't need to burn either.

Graphics card - as long as it does HD then you can get one for under $100 (eg ATI HD series)
CPU - dual core is all you need, eg Intel E4500 ~$100
WinXP, Vista, Core7 - any will do
HTT software - PDVD 7.3 or 8 Ultra, Windvd or TMT (the latest build has resolved a lot of my issues, but YMMV)
HDD - as many TB as you want! I have 3TB and will add more as prices drop - the only limitation is the number of drives you can put in your PC, and even then eSata / USB external can add more (think of them as multi-DVD changers)
BluRay optical drive - the LG GGC-H20L can do HD-DVD as well (lots of good deals on movies in that obsolete format) - around $135
A/V receiver you obviously already have. For $50 I got a Sondigo Callisto USB sound card which converts HD audio (and everything else) to DTS 5.1 or DD 5.1 (I can't tell the difference from DTS 5.1 at 1.5mbps and DTS HD Master audio at 6mbps)
Result - priceless.

I run analog RGB to a Sony 1252Q at 1080i on a 120" screen with stunning results. I also have DVI-HDMI through a BenQ W500 720p projector using 1080p. My HTPC cost less than any standalone player when I built it, but those costs have come down substantially since - but I wouldn't trade the flexibility of the HTPC, which also allows me to run digital cable (HD), analog cable (PC-TV tuner), internet, games, etc. Once you try it there is no turning back ;)