Add a Blu-ray drive to your PC for $129.99

(Credit: Newegg)

Regular Cheapskate readers know that I'm a big fan of media-center PCs, which is why I frequently spotlight TV tuners. Now let's round out the movie side of the equation: Newegg has the Lite-On DH-401S-11 internal Blu-ray drive for $129.99--way, way less than the price of a standalone Blu-ray player.

This is a serial drive, meaning you'll need a system with a SATA interface. You'll also need a video card that supports HDCP, otherwise Blu-ray's copy protection will prevent movies from playing. Finally, Blu-ray requires a fair amount of horsepower; if you're not sure your PC has the right stuff, you can download Cyberlink's free diagnostic tool. It'll scan your system and let you know what components need upgrading (if any). On the plus side, the drive comes with the necessary software (Cyberlink PowerDVD) for watching movies on your PC.

Now that Blu-ray has won the high-def DVD war, it makes perfect sense to stock your PC--especially your media-center PC--with a drive like this. If you've already done so, post a comment and let your fellow readers know how it went!

[planblove]

I got one last week and was wondering how many people knew of this. I installed it and it runs perfect, no problems so far out of the 10 movies I own. Also make sure you get a SATA power adapter or plug if your machine only uses IDE power, the drive doesn't come with that. Its a very cheap way to get into blu-ray but make sure you've got the rig to use this. And also make sure you've got another drive installed that can do your dvd/cd burning since this one doesn't burn a thing. My machine I'm running Windows Vista Home Premium, AMD dual-core 3800, 3.5 gb RAM, Geforce 8600 GTS graphic card.

[PSwizzle]

Maybe you can help me, I have a Dell Dimension c521 and was wondering if I can find a Blu-Ray compatible with it?

[RWall]

Just ordered up the same drive on Amazon. Ran ~$79 with shipping.
:-) GB Google!