Playing Blu-Ray discs - A message to Sony

[NevilleBeddoe]

Will Sony makers of the VAIO Laptop VGN-AR11s please tell me how to play Blu Ray discs on my laptop which has a Blu-Ray drive.

One of the major reasons why I purchased the machine in September 2006 was to be able to play High definition movies.
And now my children have bought me for Christmas a BluRay version of the film "Swordfish" which just doesnt play.

Have I been misled by the Sony laptop advertising blurb, or do I have to download software to get the device to work. Alternatively do I have to send the laptop for repair by Sony with whom I have a two year guarantee for the machine, which works in other respects.

Yours sincerely

Neville Beddoe

[chris_lewis]

Hi, it depends on the model of BD drive you have in your machine, I have seen this link to an upgrade of the software here but Im unsure if its the same model drive as is in your machine.

HTH

C

[jumpsuit]

sorry to hijack - Chris pm

[kee-lo_]

Bluray is very new to me, so I'll ask VAIO-Link to look for you

[NevilleBeddoe]

Hi Chris
Thanks for your reply the drive mentioned in your link is the Sony BWU-100A Blu-Ray Disc, but the drive I have is the Matshita BD-MLT UJ 210S. Presumably there will also be a software fix for my drive? Will there, and how can I find out?

[kee-lo_]

Does it not have WinDVD BD Edition?

[NevilleBeddoe]

Hi Keelo

There you may well have the solution. Win DVD BD edition? No I havent got it yet, but I see it is available for download. I will try it and let you know if it works. Many thanks,

Neville

[kee-lo_]

Hope it works for you Neville

[NevilleBeddoe]

Many thanks Keelo. I've downloaded Win DVD BD and it works. giving a great picture on the laptop. I am thrilled with the prospect of not having to buy a terribly expensive separate BluRay player.

However, my HD TV has a 1080p capability but when I switch on the laptop external monitor the channel indicates 1080i on the TV. When I activate Win DVD BD on the laptop, the TV picture still looks great on the 46inch screen, but because of the earlier channel indication I dont know if I am watching a 1080p or a 1080i picture. Perhaps the picture has switched to progressive scan without indicating. I wonder if anyone can answer this point?

Thank you all you guys who helped. Nevertheless, I am not certain what the message from "Jumpsuit" meant. Is he just advertising his Angelo.com site?

[NevilleBeddoe]

Oh another thing. I like listening to 5.1 channel sound and I suppose my laptop will deliver this via the optical output.

However, the audio socket happens to be of the headphone type which I have never seen before, being used to standard hifi optical plugs and sockets. This must mean I need an optical conversion cable.