Keep in mind (AFAIK) that burner only outputs STEREO if you were thinking of using it with a HT system.

John

"Keep in mind (AFAIK) that burner only outputs STEREO"

That doesn't sound right. The burner is just playing a stream of data and it would be up to the computer soundcard to simply pass the audio bitstream via either optical or coaxial S/PDIF to the audio receiver to decode the 5.1 audio. Not all computer soundcards can do this, but I don't think it is a limitation of the burner. I could be wrong.

I'm in Winnipeg.

The LG H20l burner is a great burner and it even does lightscribe if you're into that sort of thing. If I remember correctly, FutureShop has them on for about $250.

You can get a 20 pack of inkjet printable blu ray disks from blankmedia.com (in Quebec) for about $200

The H20L Burner will not play Blu-Ray movies unless you have an HDCP video card and HDCP monitor. The Cyberlink Power DVD software that comes with the burner does not allow DD 5.1 playback. You will need to upgrade to the full version to do that.

John

OK, so it's not a limitation of the burner itself. The rest of what you say about an HDCP video card and monitor is true of any Blu-ray drive, not just the LG.

You can get a 20 pack of inkjet printable blu ray disks from blankmedia.com (in Quebec) for about $200

That's funny eh.... I know it's a good price but it's so expensive.... It's like when our gas went back to a dollar.
Such a good deal, meanwhile we're still getting screwed.

Thanks for your help people, it appears to be LG leading the way.

Any thoughts on the LG external burner? Should I stay away from this or will it be able to keep up? I have two computers, it would be nice just to have one burner and go back and forth.

"That's funny eh.... I know it's a good price but it's so expensive.... It's like when our gas went back to a dollar. "

I hear ya.
Last I checked, newegg.com has a deal on for a 25 pack of disks for $199... but then you throw in the shipping charges, and I'm pretty sure Duty... you know how they like to ding us on that! I rarely order from the USA anymore because of all the hidden extra charges. Good luck getting your GST/PST back if you return some thing too.

One of the reviews on the newegg.com site says this burner does not burn Blu-ray discs. Nor does the product overview say anything about burning Blu-ray!

Does it or doesn't it?

I just bought http://www.buffalotech.com/products/external-drives/mediastation/mediastation-external-blu-ray-hd-dvd-combo-drive/this[/link] drive yesterday. It was on clearance at a Circuit City that is being closed down. Hopefully it will be good because they're not taking any returns.

The LG GGW-H20LK burns Blu-ray discs.

I have the GGW-H20L (no K on the end) and it burns fine. The guy who did the review hasn't a clue what he's talking about.

Blink, your post above stated "LG H20l" and that's what I searched for. What came up was the GGC-H20L--not a Blu-ray burner. The GGW-H20L and LK are. Leaving off the prefix makes a BIG difference!

At futureshop. Listed as $199.00 CAD
MDL #: GGW-H20LAVBR03B
web ID - 10095656.

I think I might have to pick one up... Looks like a good deal.
Thanks everyone.

while were on the subject of blu-ray.
I haven't obviously burned one yet, I was wondering what the best render format is if I am working in a HDV 1080-60i (1440x1080, 29.970 fps) workflow.

Do I render to the .m2t/.m2v - hdv 1080 60i
or blu-ray 1440x1080 60i 25 mbps

or AVI HDV 1080 60i intermediate.
Since these discs are so much, I don't want to have to waste too many in a learning process.
I am assuming it's the blu-ray 1440x1080 60i 25 mbps

I do a M2V and a separate AC3 file.

Contained in your H20L package you should get some software, but more importantly... a re-writable disk. Practice up on that and you won't waste any money.

NIce, I like your thinking.
I'm excited- Do you know how many hours of HD footage you can fit on a single and dual layer disc at those settings?
And at what minimum bitrate you would go to?

I usually burn at 28M cbr and with that I can get about 1 hour 40 minutes. You can get a bit more but I need room for my motion menus and such. (that's on a single layer disk)