Others say...

"PC-Based Blu-ray Movies Not Ready For Prime-Time"
I was going to save myself some money by taking my home-built Windows Vista x86 PC and throwing a less expensive Blu-ray drive in it, and then buy some cheap DVI/HDMI video and Optical audio cables from the PC to my HDTV and audio receiver. That, to me, was in itself a controversial payoff -- it's a rather kludgy idea. The more expensive alternative, the "normal" route, is to get a standalone player. Right now I'm kicking myself ten times over for not doing that.

I went through hell settling for a kludge of a solution, only to find that a) switching between my second monitor and my HDTV on my 2nd DVI port is a VERY manual task, between cramming the ports where the outer casing won't fit on the video card and setting up scaling on the nVidia video card control panel, b) the bundled WinDVD LE software makes me race with it to move it to the TV as the 2nd monitor before it starts playback (I have like a split second) or else the HDCP detection will stop playback, C) the same WinDVD LE software disables audio output format selection so I can't choose S/PDIF, and d) after spending $99 on Cyberlink PowerDVD to fix these WinDVD LE issues, even though I was allowed to select S/PDIF it didn't output audio and Google browsing seemed to indicate that they crippled it on DRM purpose.

In the end, do I recommend this product? For DVD burning, nah, it's too expensive. For BD burning, no. It doesn't burn Blu-ray discs. For BD disc playback, yes, but ONLY if ALL of the following are true:

- You have an HDCP-compliant HDTV, or else an explicitly HDCP-compliant widescreen monitor that you intend to use for playback
- You have a high-end PC with:
-> a high-speed dual or any-speed quad core CPU
-> a high-end video card that supports HDCP and high-def video decoding
- Your PC is to be exclusively used with your television
-> .. or, you are willing to go through futz hell; A/B switches for DVI cost ~$200
- You intend to use the analog multi-channel audio outputs from your PC rather than use digital output to an audio receiver
- You are willing to risk being talked into buying a commercial Blu-ray player software package for $99, in order to enjoy multi-channel audio

There is no money to be saved here. Move on.

"Works great but may require a bios setting change"
Make sure this device is compatible with your computer BIOS before you buy it. The Serial ATA connection is fast but required a tweak to a setting or two to be recognized.

"Blu-ray drive rushed into market"
The drive does not work with computers with SB600 southbridge. You may have to flash the BIOS or get a external SATA controller (Ex.PROMISE SATA300 TX4) The list of supported motherboards provided by the Pioneer documentation is useless because they are so old that you will not be able to find them in the market. The WinDVD software has hardware detection code. You can only install into a computer with the Pioneer drive installed.

"Does not burn Blu-ray discs, SATA cable not included"
Pioneer BDC-2202 this is currently the cheapest Blu-ray drive, but it does not burn Blu-ray discs. It burns DVDs and CDs only, and reads Blu-ray discs, DVDs, and CDs. For some people that may be enough, since Blu-ray burning is still impractically slow and expensive.

The drive requires serial ATA (SATA) interface, but does not come with a SATA cable, which you need to connect the drive to your motherboard.

Pioneer's web site has a list of compatible motherboards for this drive, which you may want to see before buying the drive. Mine is on the list, but I still had to update its SATA drivers before I can burn successfully.

Bundled software includes WinDVD 8 LE (which plays Blu-ray movie discs), Ulead VideoStudio 11 SE, and Ulead Burn.Now SE.

I tested with seven Blu-ray movie discs -- "Flightplan," "Memento," "Apocalypto," "Descent," "Basic Instincts," "The Untouchables," and "Dog Day Afternoon" -- and this drive played them all successfully on PowerDVD Ultra.

To play Blu-ray movies (and HD DVDs, for that matter), your PC needs to be fast enough and equipped with HDCP-compliant graphic card and monitor.

I can burn CDs and single layer DVDs with no problem. But I cannot burn dual layer DVD+R ("Matrix" brand bought from shop4tech), not even with Nero Buring Rom. I'll have to try other brands of media.

"Performs very well"
I have used a "Home Theater PC" for a few years, and avoided buying a standalone HD-DVD player or blu-ray disc player because I expected the HTPC to perform those duties with a suitable drive. The Pioneer BDC-2202 is that drive, for blu-ray playback. It does everything the specs claim, and that's all I hoped for. If you have an HTPC hooked up to a high-def television monitor, this is a great way to get blu-ray playback.