Solving the dilemna of no Blu-ray on current iMacs?

[ViViDboarder]

I have a rather large number of irreplaceable files burned onto three Blu-ray discs, which are now sitting in my safe deposit box. There is a need, just not a big need. And I do trust optical discs more than hard drives. I've never had an OD failure, but I've had 4 or 5 HD failures.

Ok... For that I would want a blueray disk If I was really locking them up. I was more referring to keeping personal backups.

If you will be making regular backups, then I still stand by the fact that magnetic storage is a better solution. In 15 years I've only had 1 harddrive fail on me. Backing up to a RAID storage system also provides protection against such failures. For less than 250USD you could build a 1TB RAID NAS. (Built from two mirrored 1TB drives storing redundant data). This would be fast and easy to store information to regularly and provide a good protective system for data. Most companies don't resort to BD backups and go with RAID systems if that's any solace to you about reliability.

 

[cube]

PEOPLE, THIS IS A BUY!!

There are products that come out that are transitional tech, or short term. This iMac is not one of those - it is a very, very good buy. If you don't buy this edition of iMac when you need a computer and want to wait on another update, you're the kind of person who will never ever be happy with any update. This update is IT. Time to buy!

No, these Macs ARE transitional tech. They have no USB 3.0, no SATA 6Gbps, and no Blu-Ray.

 

[NJRonbo]

Would some of you go as far to say
that flash drives are the most secure
long-term form of preserving your
valuable content?

I know all my valuable content goes
on a flash drive.

 

[mrsir2009]

What non-magnetic storage would you suggest to backup a 250GB iTunes library? How about 300GB of photos?

I know some folks like to simply use an external hard drive for their backup but I really want something a little more stable.

BD dual layer will hold about 50gb compared to DVD which holds about 4.7gb.

Ah, I'm with you now... Though would you be able to rewrite them, put more stuff on, take stuff off? And how much do the disks cost?

 

[mrsir2009]

Would some of you go as far to say
that flash drives are the most secure
long-term form of preserving your
valuable content?

I know all my valuable content goes
on a flash drive.

So does mine. A flash drive never fails you

 

[OldCorpse]

No, these Macs ARE transitional tech. They have no USB 3.0, no SATA 6Gbps, and no Blu-Ray.

You are wrong. USB 3.0 has been delayed until 2011 - that's very far into the future, in computer terms, and so not relevant for the foreseeable future. SATA 6Gbps is an irrelevant technology for quite some time, because the bump from 3Gbps is practically nonexistent:

Hard drives rated to SATA 6Gb/s interface speeds will communicate with a PC faster, but at the outset the speed bump is going to be muted, and certainly in real world terms not twice as fast as a 3Gb/s drives. Put it this way; Serial ATA I operates at 1.5Gb/s, Serial ATA II operates at 3Gb/s and Serial ATA 6G runs at 6Gb/s. You'd be hard pressed to saturate a SATA II connection with 3Gb/s burst of data for anything more than a fleeting moment, and that's why SATA 6G, while faster , will initially only have a small impact on bandwidth intensive situations.

One day, when mechanical hard drives are gone, and we've transitioned entirely to SSDs, this may change, but that day is far, far off. Even if we double the capacities every 18 months on SSDs, the prices remain out of sight. Plus, there are serious technical problems with SSDs over 500GB in capacity - these are fundamental problems that don't have a solution even on the horizon. So, the day when SATA 6G makes a difference is very, very far off.

BluRay itself is a transitional technology which may be overtaken - and in any case, the current iMacs can easily be retrofitted with BD once it's supported in the OS.

Bottom line - every computer will eventually be obsolete. But the current iMacs (the quads) are absolutely not transitional technology - they are pretty future proof as far as these things go. IT IS TIME TO BUY (barring reliability issues).

 

[TheBearman]

Ah, I'm with you now... Though would you be able to rewrite them, put more stuff on, take stuff off? And how much do the disks cost?

No, I wouldn't be looking to re-write them or remove anything. The photos are the RAW images right from the camera. Edited images can always be recreated but the original "negative" is really irreplaceable.

As for the iTunes library, again not something I would look to replace or delete from. Most of that information would be replaceable, but there is a cost. How much does 50MB of songs/video cost? A blank dual layer BD can run as little as $15.

There are a few other files I would look to archive, but they might fit better on DVD media.

As for everything else, I'll use a regular hard drive. I'm not crazy enough to make full and regular backups of my system on CD/DVD/BD!

 

[ViViDboarder]

You are wrong. USB 3.0 has been delayed until 2011 - that's very far into the future, in computer terms, and so not relevant for the foreseeable future. SATA 6Gbps is an irrelevant technology for quite some time, because the bump from 3Gbps is practically nonexistent:

Hard drives rated to SATA 6Gb/s interface speeds will communicate with a PC faster, but at the outset the speed bump is going to be muted, and certainly in real world terms not twice as fast as a 3Gb/s drives. Put it this way; Serial ATA I operates at 1.5Gb/s, Serial ATA II operates at 3Gb/s and Serial ATA 6G runs at 6Gb/s. You'd be hard pressed to saturate a SATA II connection with 3Gb/s burst of data for anything more than a fleeting moment, and that's why SATA 6G, while faster , will initially only have a small impact on bandwidth intensive situations.

One day, when mechanical hard drives are gone, and we've transitioned entirely to SSDs, this may change, but that day is far, far off. Even if we double the capacities every 18 months on SSDs, the prices remain out of sight. Plus, there are serious technical problems with SSDs over 500GB in capacity - these are fundamental problems that don't have a solution even on the horizon. So, the day when SATA 6G makes a difference is very, very far off.

BluRay itself is a transitional technology which may be overtaken - and in any case, the current iMacs can easily be retrofitted with BD once it's supported in the OS.

Bottom line - every computer will eventually be obsolete. But the current iMacs (the quads) are absolutely not transitional technology - they are pretty future proof as far as these things go. IT IS TIME TO BUY (barring reliability issues).

I was about to post a comment on the "transitional tech" statement but you pretty much read my mind.

The C2D's are DEFINITELY going to be old tech very soon (if not already). USB3.0 isn't even ready... Would you suggest waiting until 2011? By then you'll be out of date on another front. Panasonic suggests BD will be obsolete in a couple years as well. So we'll see what kind of technology is on the horizon soon. I suspect one of the i5/i7 computers will stay high-tech for at least 2 years near the edge.

The biggest issue is that these have no expansion other than USB 2.0... It's not like we can add a 3.0 card or expand with a PCI to SATA 6gbps controller... All that said, I still feel like these are a good buy if you're wanting a computer sooner than 1-2 years from now.

 

[StruckANerve]

I refuse to make the jump to Blu-ray. I hate disc based media and I seriously doubt that DVD's will be around for much longer. Stupid things scratch no matter how well you care for them. I finally have an internet connection fast enough to download whole movies and I haven't bought a DVD in months. Now I just have to rip all the dvd's I already have and get them onto a HD.

 

[Nermal]

i understand that yup.

but if you look at the quote, it says its from my name i.e. "DoFoT9". but if you read the contents of the quote the reply is actually from iMerlin!

Wow, I completely skipped iMerlin's post. Even after you got all confused, I re-read both your posts and still didn't see iMerlin's. Apparently I was too tired yesterday

 

[JAT]

So does mine. A flash drive never fails you

Except when it falls out of your pocket. Somewhere......

 

[smetvid]

I just bought my first Mac and still use a few PC's. I am a designer and editor so I finally bought a Mac to move from Avid to Final Cut Pro.

Anyway as somebody who actually produces Blu-ray discs for clients on a commercial level I just don't understand the desire for people to have Blu-ray on a Mac. I mean I have had the option to have Blu-ray on all of my PC's for the last two years and I just don't want it. My Blu-ray burners can play Blu-ray discs but I just don't really care.

In my opinion Blu-ray was designed to play on a Blu-ray player. It isn't like when DVD first came out we had horrible computer video options. At the time really the best way to watch video of any decent quality was to use DVD. Today that isn't really the case at all. Any Mac can play full 1080p HD video from your hard drive or the internet.

About the only Mac I could see any form of use for Blu-ray would be the Mac Mini as a HTPC hooked up to a HDTV. Even then however it is just so much easier to buy a $200.00 or less Blu-ray player and be done with it. I love my new 21.5" Imac and think it has an amazing screen but I would never watch a HD movie on it when I can watch one on my 50" HDTV and enjoy the experience that much more.

 

[Rivix]

It pains me a bit, but I would rather buy a Windows 7 desktop with blu ray than I would an iMac without. Blu Ray is important to some people.

 

[cube]

You are wrong. USB 3.0 has been delayed until 2011

No. YOU are wrong. The first USB 3.0 motherboards and external drives are AVAILABLE this month.

And those motherboards also have SATA 6Gbps.

 

[ViViDboarder]

It pains me a bit, but I would rather buy a Windows 7 desktop with blu ray than I would an iMac without. Blu Ray is important to some people.

Ok. Do it. I'm just going to buy a PS3 for my Blueray needs.

 

[ViViDboarder]

No. YOU are wrong. The first USB 3.0 motherboards and external drives are AVAILABLE this month.

And those motherboards also have SATA 6Gbps.

http://gizmodo.com/5396965/nvidia-confirms-intels-senseless-usb-30-delay-until-2011

Intel is delaying using it on any of their chipsets. Implications are described on that link. This will likely hinder widespread adoption for a while.

There are suspicions that this is likely due to the fact that Intel (and Apple, coincidence that 3.0 isn't on iMacs?) are working on LightPeak technology and will probably not want to have people feel like they have "Just upgraded to USB 3.0" when they release a totally new system. People are much more likely to want to go from USB 2.0 to LightPeak than from USB 2.0 to 3.0 to LightPeak (which is 2x as fast as USB 3.0).

 

[Rivix]

Ok. Do it. I'm just going to buy a PS3 for my Blueray needs.

I already have a PS3

Now that I have a collection of Blu Ray, I want to watch them in my room. The discs are basically tied to one room. Thats why I wish more companies were adopting blu ray more.

 

[cube]

Intel is delaying using it on any of their chipsets.

I know Intel is delaying. He said "USB 3.0 not coming until 2011". False. Product is coming out now.

 

[Cave Man]

I think we're closer to Blu-ray for Macs than anyone realizes. There's talk by the MakeMKV developer to incorporate on-the-fly decrypting and de-HDCP'ing of Blu-ray discs. If that happens, then you should be able to open the m2ts file straight from Plex or XBMC for playback. No ripping required.

 

[jmpage2]

Funniest part about this thread is that when Apple inevitably DOES offer Blu-ray disk to stay competitive many of the people declaring downloads are king will rush to embrace the format, because their God Apple hath delivered it.

Too funny.

It's also worth noting that Apple might have held off on offering BD because the ability to do a single backup copy of BD was only just recently finalized. This will make it legal to make a copy of the disc for your own purposes, and I can definitely see Apple wanting to take advantage of that in iTunes.

 

[NJRonbo]

You are correct. It will be warmly embraced.

 

[topmounter]

It's great that someone is finally making a mobo that supports USB 3.0, but I really need device ubiquity before I start replacing my cheap, fast-enough and reliable FW800 drives.

Optical media is sort of a has-been for me, regardless of whether it is CD, DVD or Blu-ray. Sure, I have a BRD player attached to my television, but I don't have much use for one on my computer. Hard drives and off-site network back-ups are cheap and easy nowadays.

 

[JAT]

I refuse to make the jump to Blu-ray. I hate disc based media and I seriously doubt that DVD's will be around for much longer. Stupid things scratch no matter how well you care for them.

This is completely false. I have discs that are over 20 years old (those would be CDs) with absolutely no scratches on them, and I have some that are a couple months old that are scratched all to hell. The difference is how well they are cared for. My children tend to trash their discs, I tend to not trash discs.

The kids aren't allowed to touch the BDs.

 

[ViViDboarder]

This is completely false. I have discs that are over 20 years old (those would be CDs) with absolutely no scratches on them, and I have some that are a couple months old that are scratched all to hell. The difference is how well they are cared for. My children tend to trash their discs, I tend to not trash discs.

The kids aren't allowed to touch the BDs.

I'm pretty sure that BD is easier to scratch than CD's. Something to do with the way they make them. I could be totally wrong.

 

[DoFoT9]

Wow, I completely skipped iMerlin's post. Even after you got all confused, I re-read both your posts and still didn't see iMerlin's. Apparently I was too tired yesterday

you're from NZ, its ok i understand

I'm pretty sure that BD is easier to scratch than CD's. Something to do with the way they make them. I could be totally wrong.

yea i think you might be wrong there. there are all these spiels going around about how scratch-resistant the BD are! i havent tried it out for myself though lol.