Reddit mentions of Samsung 6x SE-506CB/RSBD Portable Blu-ray Writer with M-DISC Support, Installation Disc, and USB 2.0 Cable (Black, Retail Box)

I have a Samsung SE-506[1] plugged into my iMac, which runs El Cap. Never had any problems at all: I plugged it in, and it worked. I did need to install additional software to play Blu-ray discs, but it played DVDs immediately.

[1] Specifically, this.

I had that same idea! My plan when I get some money is to get:

1. A small laptop/netbook.
   
   
2. A mini projector.
   
   
3. A usb BluRay drive.
   
   
4. And a bunch of BluRay disks.
   
   
   I burn all the movies, music, books, documentaries, archives, libraries, videos, tv shows, and games that I want, then put the projector, netbook and USB drive in a Faraday Cage. This gives me an unbeatable storage archive that is waterproof, drop-proof, EMP-proof, corruption-resistant, and very portable.

That's not really going to happen. Machines at that budget don't have 1080p screens on them, so why would they have Blu-Ray drives to play movies at 1080p if the screen can't even display it?

Your best option is to buy a refurbished Asus Q501LA, which has:

• i5 4200U processor
  
• 8GB ram
  
• 750GB HDD 5400RPM
  
• 15.6" 1920x1080 15.6" IPS touchscreen
  
• Integrated HD 4400 graphics
  
• ~4.5 hours of battery life
  
• 0.9" thick, 5.1 pounds
  
  The IPS screen on this laptop has an excellent build IPS screen that'll provide an extraordinary viewing experience. However, it doesn't come with a blu ray player built in, so just buy an external drive. It's more expensive than you originally planned, but you're really going to get the best experience.

The prices for external or internal Blu-Ray drives aren't great. Plus the added expensive of purchasing software to play the Blu-rays on the computer make it expensive. Then the fact you can buy some bare bones Blu-Ray player on amazon for the same price or less of a Blu-Ray drive it just makes the whole proposition no longer practical. Now if its more for the principle then the practicality. Then I'd go with the cheapest drive with the best reviews.
Like this one. But I have no experience with it.

> assuming

Yes and then use MakeMKV to remux them, by doing this though you will end up with 25-50gb movie MKVs which I love, but it's a lot of space to some people. I've been looking at this one I just haven't bought it yet. [Samsung Burner] (http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-External-Blu-ray-SE-506CB-RSBD/dp/B00JJGFRIQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459197428&sr=8-1&keywords=usb+bluray+burner)

I'm no pro. I don't know much about specs, and I'm not an audio/videophile necessarily. I just like something basic, uncomplicated, that works, while not sacrificing on audio/video quality in big ways. I always rip and store my own media to stream to any decide in my house, and stream lightly on both paid and unpaid services. My basic setup meets all my needs with no issues whatsoever.

I have this basic box from Amazon. I popped a small solid-state hard drive, 4GB memory, and Windows OS onto it, hooked it up by ethernet to my internet connection, and have it hooked up to my 3TB external drive. I stream my local media from this box to any other device in the house running Kodi via UPNP or SMB. I have a modest Samsung external Blu-ray burner for ripping.

This meets all my needs completely, and the basic box and accessories ran me a few hundred bucks. You may have some parts lying around you can use.

Ooo glad I asked! lol Definitely want to read and write!

So would this external drive work?

It looks like it has good reviews and a good price. Also I realized that since I wont be using it often, it doesn't need to be internal.

Or should I pay up for this one?

Thanks for all the help!

I got Brix, which is similar to NUC (but from Gigabyte instead of Intel). It has Intel i5, 4GB RAM and 128GB SSD. It runs Windows 7 and XBMC. 1080p BluRay runs flawlessly. Very fast boot time (few seconds from start to play). I stream through LAN from my server. If you want BluRay drive, you can easily attach it to that setup (it has 4 USB3.0 connections), they cost about $80 at Amazon.

You could get an external like this one if you want to use BluRay disks. If not, you can just mount the BluRay player to a SATA port on the mobo just for the install and then remove it.

Or I can look at those other cases, if you want a permanent drive that's attached to the case.

I have this: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-SE-506CB-RSBD-Blu-ray-External/dp/B00JJGFRIQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414634827&sr=8-1&keywords=external+blu+ray

That is the main one that I use here on my desktop and laptop, if you don't care about portability or size I would recommend a full sized drive as it will be faster. I have the one shown above, one pulled from a laptop and a full 5.25" in an external enclosure and the 5.25" drive is significantly faster.

Basically these devices were such low demand, and there was pretty much next to no market for them. Only a handful of companies made them, and most of stopped even bothering manufacturing them. The Silverstone one is pretty much the only one you can find new, and it costs $165 at the cheapest.

You can try eBay.

Personally, I think USB based drives are much more versatile and useful for multiple applications:

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-External-Blu-ray-SE-506CB-RSBD/dp/B00JJGFRIQ/

I'd get just something like this HP Pavilion 17. It has everything you're looking for without anything you don't need like a dedicated GPU.

Do keep in mind you can get an external BR burner to handle that easily enough.