Can I play Blu Ray on my rig?

[johnwillyums]

Hi All. I'm just about to have a substantial upgrade to my rig-new mobo+new case. All my other components will be transplanted.
I've become aware of the LG GGC-H20L. This will apparently allow me to watch Blu Ray movies (and HD-DVD if I can find any) and is also a good DVD and CD writer. Also I can get it for just £66.
So I was thinking of swapping out my existing Samsung DVD/CD writer for this unit but have several compatibility concerns.
I have a BFG 8800 GTS OC 512MB GPU. This card has a 2 DVI outputs but no HDMI output.
I also have A Dell Ultrasharp 2408WFP monitor which has loads of inputs including, I believe, an HDCP compliant HDMI input.
So. Does anyone know whether I'll be able to watch Blu Ray movies on my PC using the LG unit through my GPU and into my monitor? I could get an adapter cable or maybe DVI would do?
It would be great if anyone has this thing and could tell me if it's any good. I could keep my current DVD writer as there's plenty of room in the Cosmos S I'm getting but if the LG writes CDs and DVDs well I might as well pass it on to somebody who needs it.
I'd appreciate any advice or comments, best wishes, John

 

[xguntherc]

I think you can get a adapter for both of those problems you have.. if you get a blueray player you'll be good. How much for the bluray in USD.. here the last I checked they were like $150+.

if they've gone down then maybe I need one soon.

 

[fieseler]

i have the same graphics card, & want to get a blu ray player some time this year. But i dont know what i actually need to be able to watch blu ray movies.

 

[ripbox]

Yes i think that you wont have any problem what so ever provided you have a spare SATA port on your mobo and SATA power dim on your PSU and wow £60 that's a bargin
I have the GGW-H20L and i havnt looked back the minimum req's for this 1 are:

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]System Requirements for Blu-ray & HD DVD Movie Playback: [/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]For the LG GGW-H20L is a Blu-ray & HD DVD [/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]1. CPU: 3.8 GHz or Equivalent[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]2. OS: Windows XP Home / Professional / Media Center Edition with SP2 / Windows Vista [/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]3. RAM: 1GB or More[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]4. HDD: 30BG or more space(60GB for blu-ray authering
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]5. BD/HD Disc movie playback(sould come with cyber link player)
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]6. Video card support HD[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Arial, Helvetica][FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Systems with not meeting these minimum requirements may not be able to play Blu-ray & HD DVD-ROM DVD's.[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]

 

[HexManiac]

As long as the monitor DVI jacks (I believe they are; check the documentation) are HDCP compliant, you should have no problem.

 

[gazz496]

just a note on that not all graphics cards support blu-ray play back
but yours can so no worries there here's link to see
BFG Tech - BFG NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS OC 512MB PCIe 2.0

 

[johnwillyums]

Thank you all for your swift responses. I think I'll go ahead and get the LG GGC-H20L.
The next model up burns Blu Ray but is quite a bit more expensive.
Gunther, this model is $149.99 on Newegg but there are similar from Optiarc and Liteon for $139.99.
£66 is about three times the price of a regular DVD/CD writer here and this thing apparently does a good job on burning stuff (according to the reviews I've been looking at) so it effectively replaces it. There aren't many movies I'd want to keep on my hard drive or burn to disk anyway so I'll just rent the few Blu Ray movies I would want to watch in a year from a store.
Sign of the times. Last year us Brits used to moan that a £100 component in the UK cost $100 in the US. As there were two dollars to the pound that meant it should have cost us £50. Magazines had articles about rip-off Britain.
Turn on the TV and you can see capitalists rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Best wishes, John:D

PS does anyone know a supplier of , now, obsolete HD DVDs? They'll probably be going cheap and this drive plays both formats.