Total noob here, what the hell do I buy?

[pikacho]

Im making a new computer build after 10 years. Im gonna go with 3950x, should be fast.

I've decided on all my components, only missing thing: something to read disks.

Currently I have a very old DVD LG rw unit. I thought, why not buy a Bluray disk one.

My question is, what the hell do I really buy?

I would like to watch and record movies. Record 3d too as I plan to buy a TV with 3d and so I would record movies in the PC and play the movies in the 3D TV.

What do I buy?

On the shop im buying most of the stuff they got this one:

https://www.pccomponentes.com/asus-bw-1 ... terna-sata

But im confused since it says this:

Blu-Ray writing at 16X: create a 25 GB disc in just 8 minutes
M-disc preserves your recordings for a thousand years
BDXL support: up to 128 GB on one disk
E-Green saves up to 50% energy
Protect data with password control and file encryption
Record clubs in three simple steps
Enjoy 3D Blu-ray content (PRO version only)
Enjoy the most realistic sound with Dolby Digital and DTS HD (PRO version only)

So what im trying to understand is: Does the PRO version have a special hardware for 3d blu ray and dobly digital and DTS HD that the normal version have, or they simply are selling a software to playback this content, so the hardware is exactly the same, and I can just pick the non pro version for cheaper price and then just try to find software that can play 3d blu-ray instead of their propietary hardware...?? please help

If I can find anything you would recomend on amazon.es, then I would order it there.

Im not even sure what UHD means.. if 4k or not. Im new to this tbh.

[Woodstock]

3D is a dead technology - you cannot buy NEW TVs that have it, unless you find them as "new old stock", because the manufacturers discontinued them 2-5 years ago.

If you don't have a 4K monitor, 4K UHD video will be pretty much worthless to you, because downscaling it to 1080p doesn't look as nice as simply playing the 1080p version.

4K complicates your life for dubious gains. Playing it from disk requires special hardware and software. Ripping it requires a drive that will allow you to bypass the encryption (a "UHD Friendly" drive). Playing it back can require displays with "High dynamic range" color capability.

Are you interested in watching content, or working to make it playable?

[pikacho]

Looks like a waste of money tbh... I don't have a single bluray. And I think at this point I would be better off buying a newer tv where you can plug in USB and just USB drives to watch movies.

But my case has a 5.25 bay, so I was thinking... hell, might as well stick in a drive in there. I have tons of DVDs.. I barely use discs these days but sometimes I may have the odd nostalgia and search for my old stuff so I think im going to buy this one:

https://www.pccomponentes.com/asus-drw- ... -24x-negra

P/N: 90DD01Y0-B20010

But could you tell me what is the difference between that one and this one:

https://www.pccomponentes.com/asus-drw- ... ra-dvd-24x

P/N: 90DD01Y0-B10010

Perhaps im going insane but they seem like the same thing. It just changes that it has "M disc" written there.

Also, is M disc a meme, or is it for real a 1000 year medium? I may want to save my work there just in case aliens find it or something...

What is the limit for a DVD M disc in terms of size if I buy that unit?

ALSO: Why is 3d a dead technology? I saw Gravity in a 3d TV and it was awesome... wtf happened?

[Woodstock]

Buying a DVD/CD drive is OK, but adding BD read capability is only a few euros more. UHD BD... that's where the big jump in price is. Many titles in the future won't be issued on DVD. And when titles that were issued on DVD are "remastered", it's going to be on BD, at least. BD titles also do not have interlacing of the video (usually!), so they're less annoying to watch on modern monitors.

M-Disk is probably not going to be 1000 years before it breaks down, but it's less likely to be unreadable in 5 years, like normal writable CDs and DVDs. Is that worth the cost? Hard to judge.

3D is dead because those who bought it got sick of waiting for all that awesome content they were promised, and sales were never that good. Not to mention that people started to realize that the methods being used gave lower resolution than 1080p, AND people got headaches watching it... Part of which was that the 3D effects were often EXAGGERATED FOR EFFECT.

How long 4K will be around before the hype over 8K and 16K create selling frenzies, who knows?

[pikacho]

Buying a DVD/CD drive is OK, but adding BD read capability is only a few euros more. UHD BD... that's where the big jump in price is. Many titles in the future won't be issued on DVD. And when titles that were issued on DVD are "remastered", it's going to be on BD, at least. BD titles also do not have interlacing of the video (usually!), so they're less annoying to watch on modern monitors.

M-Disk is probably not going to be 1000 years before it breaks down, but it's less likely to be unreadable in 5 years, like normal writable CDs and DVDs. Is that worth the cost? Hard to judge.

3D is dead because those who bought it got sick of waiting for all that awesome content they were promised, and sales were never that good. Not to mention that people started to realize that the methods being used gave lower resolution than 1080p, AND people got headaches watching it... Part of which was that the 3D effects were often EXAGGERATED FOR EFFECT.

How long 4K will be around before the hype over 8K and 16K create selling frenzies, who knows?

So if I buy a BW-16D1HT and downgrade the firmware to the version suggested here I should be covered?

[Woodstock]

For your current intended usage, the BW-16D1HT would be fine without modifying the firmware right away. I have one in use that way right now; the only thing it doesn't do is UHD. Swapping out the firmware does have the advantage of allowing LibreDrive to work (LD has advantages beyond allowing UHD), but that's not a necessity for dealing with every day non-BD usage.

The problem is that drives that are "UHD capable" are priced higher nowadays.

I only own UHD-capable drives so that I can test things. Simple BD reader drives are all I really need. If it can burn DVDs and CDs, that's fine; I've not been able to get my BD-burner drives to create a readable disk in 5 years of trying, so it became a non-issue for me.