LG GGW-H20N BD writer

[multifaced]

Friends,

i would like to upgrade my pc with a BD reader/writer (Dont want to go for a BD player now. its too costly). i found that LG GGW-H20N is the only writer available in India. does anyone here owns one ? is it a good idea to buy one or should i wait further. i saw prices like 1.2k and 1.4k in various sites. dont know if its true, because in LG website the MRP given is 19.99k

 

[suprateep]

Friends,

i would like to upgrade my pc with a BD reader/writer (Dont want to go for a BD player now. its too costly). i found that LG GGW-H20N is the only writer available in India. does anyone here owns one ? is it a good idea to buy one or should i wait further. i saw prices like 1.2k and 1.4k in various sites. dont know if its true, because in LG website the MRP given is 19.99k

last time i checked a BD rom drive (writer) from LG for 9.5k - that was 2 months back.

BTW why do you want a BD player on the first place - ride it out for the next 4-5 months - expect a sharp price drop by Dec-Jan next year

 

[multifaced]

there are various factors,

1) i want to upgrade my pc. going to assemble one myself, so to make it future-proof
2) have loads of dvds as backup. facing problems to maintain them. so i can reduce the number of discs.
3) of course i can play BD movies when i get them

i also dont know the price of the blank BD. i think they are worth only if the prices comes down to 50-100 range.

 

[suprateep]

there are various factors,

1) i want to upgrade my pc. going to assemble one myself, so to make it future-proof
2) have loads of dvds as backup. facing problems to maintain them. so i can reduce the number of discs.
3) of course i can play BD movies when i get them

i also dont know the price of the blank BD. i think they are worth only if the prices comes down to 50-100 range.

BD roms are expensive - when a double layer DVD costs 70 INR what do you expect for a BRay. A DVD is safe for the next 2 years. Why not rip all the DVDs to HDDs as mkv.h264 rips - use some high capacity HDDs (i have 1 TB and have over 350+ movies) - use a front end software like XBMC/Media Portal.

No changing of discs - just click and play movies of the HDD.

Blueray mass acceptance in India is a long way:indifferent14:

 

[TechHead]

There was a deal at Croma about 6 months back for the GGW-H20L. They were closing it out at 6k. See if they still have that available. I've ordered a few cheap HD-DVDs at 3-4$ from "traderbora" store on Amazon.com -> great way to get some quality HD movies cheap.

 

[sanjub22]

BD roms are expensive - when a double layer DVD costs 70 INR what do you expect for a BRay. A DVD is safe for the next 2 years. Why not rip all the DVDs to HDDs as mkv.h264 rips - use some high capacity HDDs (i have 1 TB and have over 350+ movies) - use a front end software like XBMC/Media Portal.

No changing of discs - just click and play movies of the HDD.

Blueray mass acceptance in India is a long way:indifferent14:

Suprateep, This is a bit offtopic question and am sorry for that. Can you kindly let me know the best software to rip the dvd into divx,xdivx and mkv format . I dont mind paying if it can produce good PQ and SQ in those rips.

Thanks in advance and sorry again.

 

[suprateep]

Suprateep, This is a bit offtopic question and am sorry for that. Can you kindly let me know the best software to rip the dvd into divx,xdivx and mkv format . I dont mind paying if it can produce good PQ and SQ in those rips.

Thanks in advance and sorry again.

sure dada.

I have tried quite a few including free stuff but i think DVD fab Platinum offers the best bang for the buck. Ripping a movie (English) takes 30 -40 mins for a mkv.h264.aduiocopy (5.1 preferred over stereo in my case).. Hindi movies take some more time when ripping to this format (around 50-60 mins) but IMHO hindi dvds are badly mastered and produce not to good results.

I have tried xilisoft and others like handbrake etc (slight improvements but slower on my machine) when ripping to mkv.h264.

Xivd takes lesser time around 15-30 mins for english and hindi movies but h264 is superior.

BTW I have a dual core athlon 7750 BE - so a quad core intel might speed up the ripping process.

 

[hemantwaghe]

There was a deal at Croma about 6 months back for the GGW-H20L. They were closing it out at 6k. See if they still have that available. I've ordered a few cheap HD-DVDs at 3-4$ from "traderbora" store on Amazon.com -> great way to get some quality HD movies cheap.

techhead you have HD DVDplayer to play HD-DVD? Or what do u do?

 

[marsilians]

BD roms are expensive - when a double layer DVD costs 70 INR what do you expect for a BRay. A DVD is safe for the next 2 years. Why not rip all the DVDs to HDDs as mkv.h264 rips - use some high capacity HDDs (i have 1 TB and have over 350+ movies) - use a front end software like XBMC/Media Portal.

No changing of discs - just click and play movies of the HDD.

Blueray mass acceptance in India is a long way:indifferent14:

I think DVDs will be around for more than a few years. I can see some high density options coming down to the standard DVD disks. Also solid state storage like Flash etc. will increase in capacity providing a 3rd option though it will never match the HDD sizes.

Aside from these, I agree with your suggestion - HDD with one other for backup is the way to go.

 

[multifaced]

using HDD as backup is an option but i ruled out that because of cost factor + data safety.

cost factor will be clear if you just do a simple calculation what whould be the cost of 500 gb storage in case of HDD and DVDs.

also if you keep the DVD/BD properly the data is perfectly safe. the HDD is prone to crashes or other mechanical failures.

 

[suprateep]

using HDD as backup is an option but i ruled out that because of cost factor + data safety.

cost factor will be clear if you just do a simple calculation what whould be the cost of 500 gb storage in case of HDD and DVDs.

also if you keep the DVD/BD properly the data is perfectly safe. the HDD is prone to crashes or other mechanical failures.

i still think HDD is more VFM for cost per MB factor

500 GB~ 2250INR
120X 20~ 2400 INR

IMHO and whatever mathematics I know I just think HDDs are more economical - similar for 1 TB but not for 1.5 or 2 TB drives.

And the ease of not changing DVDs every now and then while playing - is a boon for couch potatoes aka audiophileshyeah: (like me)

 

[Spidey]

techhead you have HD DVDplayer to play HD-DVD? Or what do u do?

I presume he plays it off his 1) PC 2) Xbox or dont know what on..

 

[multifaced]

i still think HDD is more VFM for cost per MB factor

500 GB~ 2250INR
120X 20~ 2400 INR

IMHO and whatever mathematics I know I just think HDDs are more economical - similar for 1 TB but not for 1.5 or 2 TB drives.

And the ease of not changing DVDs every now and then while playing - is a boon for couch potatoes aka audiophileshyeah: (like me)

yes, HDD prices came down now. but it was not the case one year back. and DVD price also came down now you can easily get a sony DVD for 17 or 18 .

and for me major portion of data are work related or movies. music collection is still on HDD . so i dont mind changing disc once in a while. and many things i dont touch for one year or so.

so even a 100 Rs BD will make sense for me. less cost + fewer discs

 

[suprateep]

so even a 100 Rs BD will make sense for me. less cost + fewer discs

long time to that ma friend, long time

 

[TechHead]

techhead you have HD DVDplayer to play HD-DVD? Or what do u do?

The GGW-H20L plays back HD-DVD, which I can rip with AnyDVD-HD and make my own .mkvs or BDs.

 

[hemantwaghe]

cool man - so gtng a good deal
thanks 4 info

 

[TechHead]

long time to that ma friend, long time

They're already down to ~200 a disc. I ordered 25 TDK 4X BD-Rs from ebay.jp member NikoNeko Ya, from a group order on CDFreaks. I paid ~5100 with shipping from Japan.