USB Blu-ray Player

[cobito]

Hi,

I'm looking for a Blu-ray drive to connect to a mini PC that I use for playing music and movies. I've been searching for models, and I'm not sure if I just don't know how to look properly or if the market for these devices is in a sorry state. I understand that physical media is on the decline and that CDs and Blu-rays have become niche formats. But there has to be something decent at a reasonable price.

It needs to be able to read all possible formats (including BDXL). I don't need it to burn anything. Just a reader.

My initial budget is <100€, but if necessary, I can stretch it.

The only somewhat reliable option I've found is an Asus SBC-06D2X-U, which is discontinued in most stores and I believe dates back to 2011. For now, it's my top choice.

Thanks.

[Yorus]

@cobito It's complicated these days. I bought a secondhand one a few years ago, and it's not like I use it much anyway, because playing movies on it is a real hassle and I already have one of those that connect to the TV, but I'm keeping it just in case I try using it again someday.

[cobito]

@Yorus I've been looking into playing Blu-rays on Linux and what a hassle. I had no idea. I think I'm going to consider getting a standard Blu-ray player.

Thanks for the information!

[pos_yo]

@cobito If it were DVDs, there are plenty of external USB drives on AliExpress. But for Blu-Ray, I have no idea. I've never played a Blu-Ray movie in my life, even though I have an Xbox One S that comes with a disc drive included...

[cobito]

I’ve done a bit more research and thrown in the towel. After ruling out Linux as a system for playing Blu-rays, I looked into Windows.

First, I went for PowerDVD, which claims it can play 8K video. But if you read the fine print, it says it can’t read physical discs because Intel dropped support for SGX (first time I’ve even heard of this), which is required for DRM. By the way, the software costs around €70, I think. And it can’t play discs... Oh well. It’s a relic from the early DVD days that I used to run on my Pentium II.

Next, I looked into Leawo, which is freeware and can indeed play 4K discs on Windows. But it turns out that every time it plays a disc, it has to connect to the internet to download decryption keys. If I’m going to use physical discs, it’s an absolute requirement that the system be 100% offline. One of the main reasons is precisely to maintain control over my content and not have to rely on third parties just to watch movies I’ve already paid for.

As for a standard standalone player, it just doesn’t work for me. I’d have to run an extra audio cable to the speakers and use an HDMI switch for the projector, which altogether would be way too cumbersome.

So I’ve finally decided to stick with playing my favorite movies at their highest quality directly from a hard drive, just as I have been doing.

I originally wanted a physical player to make use of my CD collection (which has been gathering dust and is still just as good as the day I bought it). And while I was at it, build a small library of my favorite movies in their best 4K editions.

But the film industry has officially lost my wallet.

I’ve ordered a USB DVD drive just for playing audio CDs. This way, I keep all the cabling unified and the entire system centralized on my mini PC.

[Yorus]

Yes, unfortunately, things are complicated. I stick to 1080p, but I've also given up trying to get it working on both Linux and Windows, which is why I just use a standard media player. My setup isn't particularly complex, and I'm not particularly fussy about this either:

• 40" Sony TV, about 16 years old.
• Edifier speakers connected to the TV via a 3.5mm jack.
• Blu-ray player via HDMI.
• Intel NUC via HDMI (running Batocera)
• Wii via composite video.

As you can see, the audio comes directly from the TV, so any input via HDMI, composite video, or SCART will play through the speakers without needing any extra configuration.