Mac and Blu

[Andrew Forbes]

Anyone know what the most affordable way to go Blu via an iMac is? Is there a way of connecting a standard player as an external drive? I pretty much have no idea what is possible, let alone what the most cost-effective route is. I'm not going to be the owner of a new TV for years, so I figure I may as well start using my Mac as an HD display, if I can.

[Dan Mancini]

Hardware's not a problem. You can get Mac compatible external drives at a reasonable price. But unless things have changed this year and I didn't hear about it, there is no OS X compatible BD playback software. No one really knows if there ever will be since Apple has a vested interest in pushing HD downloads and streaming.

[Andrew Forbes]

Nuts. So it's Bootcamp or nothing, then?

[Dan Mancini]

Nuts. So it's Bootcamp or nothing, then?

I'd poke around a bit and do more research if I were you. I'm far from an expert on Apple products. I do know proprietary douchebaggery when I see it, though. Can I assume that you have an Apple display of some sort, and that its only connections are USB 2.0, meaning you can't plug a BD player directly into it? (You know, like if it had, say, a DVI port -- which it would if it were a piece of hardware manufactured by someone who doesn't want absolute control over how you, the owner of said hardware, use it.)

[Andrew Forbes]

In the iMac, the display is of a piece with the guts, with one FireWire 800 port, four USB 2.0 ports and an SD card slot.