I'm not personally aware of anyone who uses a "Ultra HD" branded Blu-ray drive. The DRM requirements are just too extreme to be worthwhile (I think PowerDVD is still the only way to do it with an official drive). For Ultra HD Blu-ray playback a standalone player is the better option.
There are, of course, *other* ways to play your UHD Blu-rays back on a PC...
I was very early with high resolution optical media for the PC. I bought an HD-DVD and Blu-Ray external drive (LG BE06) when it was all the rage. I bought HD-DVD because I thought it was the better medium (less restrictions iirc, though also lower capacity at the time) and they were already cheaper (should have made me realize they were on the losing side). The bundled PowerDVD software was garbage and I mostly used "certain ways" to let my normal players play back the stuff. Once UHD Blu Ray was announced I kept looking at drives and playback for PC things. And realized it was all just crap. So I bought a defective Samsung UHD player and repaired it (was just a power supply thing) and have been using that. I still use an external blu ray drive to rip my collection (it's going slow though), but playback of non-ripped stuff is being handled by dedicated hardware mostly. It's a real shame too, DVD playback on the PC was always great. The best blu ray software I had was Leawo (some Chinese company). That was lightweight, started up fast, had enough options and didn't force me to watch all the trailers and piracy ads. That failed after a while though.
Osama doesn't seem to know ultra high end video and audio equipment have an RS232 bus that negates the need for infrared. You can have scripts that communicate between all the equipment via serial. My entire theater is setup like this from my Denon receiver to my Sharp TV. I don't even need a remote control for anything since it's all controlled from a keyboard or my phone, no need for line-of-sight and unlike iR its bidirectional so commands are verified received with a 10ms response time (iR is 250-500ms.)
No Thunderbolt 3 sucks considering all the I/O offered. The chipset might not support it or there is another logistical reason not to include it, but that is a huge perk to alternatives for longevity.
What's the point of this, just wondering. I mean, the high end CPU version. What are people doing with an HTPC which requires a fast CPU but not a fast GPU? I'm honestly curious.
Well, this isn't just a HTPC, it's a tiny computer, which could be used in an office by mounting it on the back of a monitor, or somewhere on the desktop taking up minimal space. Some office type programs do require more CPU grunt, so having a powerful CPU is not a bad idea.
For a HTPC, you could use a good Atom based quad core (I have a NUC J3455 based one) and it will play back media and run just fine. Ideally though, a good full blown low power quad core (ie: 8000 series i3 or 7000 series i5) would be the best balance between power and power usage.
I use an 8th gen i5 NUC as my HTPC currently. It's nice to have a slightly more powerful CPU so we can run things like (very) basic Steam games, and just generally have a decent PC experience on the TV. So for me, I'd be much more interested in the options with the 'high-end' CPU.
As others have mentioned though, I'm not sure how easy it us to use the disc drive given complex DRM requirements.
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27 Comments
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Inteli - Friday, January 25, 2019 - link
I'm not personally aware of anyone who uses a "Ultra HD" branded Blu-ray drive. The DRM requirements are just too extreme to be worthwhile (I think PowerDVD is still the only way to do it with an official drive). For Ultra HD Blu-ray playback a standalone player is the better option.There are, of course, *other* ways to play your UHD Blu-rays back on a PC...
Death666Angel - Friday, January 25, 2019 - link
I was very early with high resolution optical media for the PC. I bought an HD-DVD and Blu-Ray external drive (LG BE06) when it was all the rage. I bought HD-DVD because I thought it was the better medium (less restrictions iirc, though also lower capacity at the time) and they were already cheaper (should have made me realize they were on the losing side). The bundled PowerDVD software was garbage and I mostly used "certain ways" to let my normal players play back the stuff. Once UHD Blu Ray was announced I kept looking at drives and playback for PC things. And realized it was all just crap. So I bought a defective Samsung UHD player and repaired it (was just a power supply thing) and have been using that. I still use an external blu ray drive to rip my collection (it's going slow though), but playback of non-ripped stuff is being handled by dedicated hardware mostly. It's a real shame too, DVD playback on the PC was always great. The best blu ray software I had was Leawo (some Chinese company). That was lightweight, started up fast, had enough options and didn't force me to watch all the trailers and piracy ads. That failed after a while though.CharonPDX - Monday, January 28, 2019 - link
I own a UHD-capable USB Blu-ray drive. My kid has a gaming PC that meets the requirements for playback in PowerDVD.I don't think the drive has ever been plugged in to that PC.
MakeMKV supports it just fine, though.
Ej24 - Friday, January 25, 2019 - link
I'd prefer to buy this as a barebones kit and supply my own memory and drives. Otherwise this looks fantastic.Gadgety - Saturday, January 26, 2019 - link
Great form factor and packaging. That RS-232 could serve me well. Too bad the UHD drive is only available in Japan, an odd decision.Gadgety - Saturday, January 26, 2019 - link
I agree.Samus - Monday, January 28, 2019 - link
I think they totally nailed it. Internal PSU, RS232, compact size, HDMI 2.0, powerful low-watt cpu...Asus totally hit it out of the parkosamabinrobot - Friday, January 25, 2019 - link
is that a fuckin serial port????Inteli - Friday, January 25, 2019 - link
I'd say so. How dare they put a potentially useful legacy port on a computer?Lord of the Bored - Saturday, January 26, 2019 - link
RS-232 for life, brother!PeachNCream - Saturday, January 26, 2019 - link
Now all it needs is a game port! But seriously, 9-pin serial ports FTW!Valantar - Saturday, January 26, 2019 - link
Hey, what about FireWire? I'd also like a Zip drive, thanks.Lord of the Bored - Sunday, January 27, 2019 - link
IEEE 1394 was a good standard. Shame Apple screwed everyone over on it.mode_13h - Saturday, January 26, 2019 - link
I don't know about these days, but it's long been a common feature of high-end home theater gear.Used a lot for home automation.
Samus - Monday, January 28, 2019 - link
Osama doesn't seem to know ultra high end video and audio equipment have an RS232 bus that negates the need for infrared. You can have scripts that communicate between all the equipment via serial. My entire theater is setup like this from my Denon receiver to my Sharp TV. I don't even need a remote control for anything since it's all controlled from a keyboard or my phone, no need for line-of-sight and unlike iR its bidirectional so commands are verified received with a 10ms response time (iR is 250-500ms.)So there. RS232 101.
perry1mm - Saturday, January 26, 2019 - link
No Thunderbolt 3 sucks considering all the I/O offered. The chipset might not support it or there is another logistical reason not to include it, but that is a huge perk to alternatives for longevity.mode_13h - Saturday, January 26, 2019 - link
My Oppo blu-ray player and my TV's ability to stream from a PC (or Pi) running SlimServer (http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.php/Squeezebox_S... eliminated my need for a HTPC.Well, with Oppo gone, I guess I have more reason to reconsider. So far, I still watch all of my movies on blu-ray. 3D, when I can.
Samus - Monday, January 28, 2019 - link
I have an Oppo with an RS232 ;)mode_13h - Wednesday, January 30, 2019 - link
Yeah, I'm with you there.ET - Sunday, January 27, 2019 - link
What's the point of this, just wondering. I mean, the high end CPU version. What are people doing with an HTPC which requires a fast CPU but not a fast GPU? I'm honestly curious.bill.rookard - Monday, January 28, 2019 - link
Well, this isn't just a HTPC, it's a tiny computer, which could be used in an office by mounting it on the back of a monitor, or somewhere on the desktop taking up minimal space. Some office type programs do require more CPU grunt, so having a powerful CPU is not a bad idea.For a HTPC, you could use a good Atom based quad core (I have a NUC J3455 based one) and it will play back media and run just fine. Ideally though, a good full blown low power quad core (ie: 8000 series i3 or 7000 series i5) would be the best balance between power and power usage.
MattMe - Monday, January 28, 2019 - link
I use an 8th gen i5 NUC as my HTPC currently. It's nice to have a slightly more powerful CPU so we can run things like (very) basic Steam games, and just generally have a decent PC experience on the TV.So for me, I'd be much more interested in the options with the 'high-end' CPU.
As others have mentioned though, I'm not sure how easy it us to use the disc drive given complex DRM requirements.