Installing the drive was a snap, SONY includes all needed cables and even an replacement faceplate which I had to use in order to get this player in my Gateway desktop case.

The bundled software is Cyberlink PowerDVD BR Edition. This was a bit disappointing. I was expecting SONY branded software to supply the Blu-Ray playback (their menu system found on the PS3 on their stand alone Blu-Ray disc players is very intuitive). The PowerDVD software cost me about 3 hours troubleshooting. On launch the software detected and downloaded the latest patch, but even after it was installed I would try to play a Blu-Ray movie and I would get an error message "Fail to enable HDPC" right after the FBI warning.

This problem turned out to be Blu-Ray copy protection preventing the disc from playing with my hardware. Blu-Ray copy protection is picky about the output source (i.e. video card) and if you have a dual display card or if you're connecting your monitor over DVI (even DVI-I & DVI-D) instead of HDMI the drivers may trigger the Blu-Ray copy protection to block the playback. The solution is to download the latest video drivers for your card, firmware and make sure the PowerDVD application is updated. If you're connecting to your monitor through DVI, make sure your DVI cable is DVI-D or DVI-I and not analog only DVI.

After updating to the latest ATI Catalysis drivers everything began working great. Make sure your video card and CPU meet/exceed the minimum requirements before buying.

The whole purpose of buying these drives is to watch blu-ray movies. With players now as low as $200, and even $150 when on sale, I would recommend getting a player instead. Here's why:

I got the player for a low $79 on black friday. Even with this deal, it's not quite the steal it seems to be. At that price you get the drive and the bundled software. I popped in Transformers blu-ray. There was so much aliasing when running Cyberlink BD. The text and graphics were not as crisp as expected. The problem was the bundled software. You need to upgrade to Cyberlink ultra to get the full graphics as expected from blu-ray. That's another $100.

So $79+$100=179. Get a player instead if your purpose is to just watch movies (not read data).

After a searching and weeding through a bunch of forums and product reviews, I settled on this player (drive) vs. the LG/LiteOn/Pioneer/etc. It was just bundled with decent software, cables, and has the Blu Ray originator, "Sony," brand name. I just finished watching Narnia (Caspian) and the Sony drive worked FLAWLESSLY.

My base desktop media center is a Gateway GT5224. Here are the specs:
Windows XP SP2
Pentium D 2.8GHz (4MB cache) - not overclocked! Yes, it runs smoothly!
2GB DDR2 SDRAM memory - added 1GB aftermarket
XFX GeForce 8800 GT Alpha Dog Edition Extreme (256MB) video card -sweet!
300GB of free drive space - added 2nd 320GB internal hard drive

I am running 1080P (native resolution on my TV) through DVI->HDMI to my Samsung 56" DLP.

OK, now for the install pains...
I connected the Sony BD drive using the supplied SATA cables. Setup drivers using provided installation CD. Installed Cyberlink using same CD. Immediately, software recognized that an XP software patch was needed to continue. I ran the software patch after downloading it from Cyberlink's site. Reboot. XP recognized new hardware again. Finished self-installation. Reboot. Tried to run the BD and the top half of my screen was clear, but the bottom half looked like a "waterfall". Found new the latest nvidia driver for my card, "178.24 WHQL". Downloaded and ran it. Reboot. My screen size was now skewed wide. Oh, crap - check forums! Found it. Common problem with new driver & DVI-HDMI connection. Using nvidia settings, set screen resolution to 480P, resized screen, and then switched back to 1080P. BINGO! Screen back to normal. Ran Sony BD drive and played Narnia. Cue teary eyes. It was so beautiful!

My biggest fear was that my CPU (processor) wouldn't be up to the task, since all I've been reading has lead me to believe the BD drives were CPU intensive not GPU intensive. My video card simply kicks serious butt! Either my case is an anomaly, or Intel is spreading rumors to force people to upgrade their CPUs. Conspiracy??? hehehe

Anyway, it looks great, no frame drops whatsoever, and I am one true believer in Blu Ray. I'll never go back to DVDs again! Hope this helps! God bless & Merry Christmas!

The Bluray player installs great and works right away. Plays OLD Bluray discs just fine - beautiful HD and sound!

The critical problem is the software which is required to play discs - it simply will not play many NEW Bluray discs! Out of 3 Bluray discs, it could only play 1 of them! This is a notorious problem that makes your player practically useless without a manual workaround:
[..]
[...]

Ironically, this software problem even exists for the HD DVD version of this software too. The issue is with any disc that contains web-enhanced content (common among NEW Bluray discs).

Cyberlink, which makes the PowerDVD software, programmed it so poorly that it actually CRASHES when most certain Bluray discs are inserted. Heroes, Dawn of the Dead, Spiderman, and countless others ran into this problem back in early 2007 because they included new web-enhanced content. When PowerDVD tries to retrieve this content, it simply crashes. You cannot watch any of the movie other than navigate the title menu.

PowerDVD also has an automatic update feature for patches. This also fails. Cyberlink simply pretends this problem doesn't exist, so you have to email their support to get a patch - they actually make you promise not to share it!

Update: After a lot of pressure, they've finally made the patch public.
[...]

You'll need Internet Explorer to access this.

In summary, the hardware player is excellent. However, it requires you to use PowerDVD to decode Bluray, and that software simply fails. I've been able to play 1 out of 3 Bluray discs so far before complaining to Cyberlink. Sony needs to provide a different Bluray software, or stop locking Bluray discs so only Cyberlink can play them.

I built a new PC a few months ago, I have all the requisite hardware, and Blu-Ray is still too much of a headache. Don't get me wrong. The drive works brilliantly. However, as some have noted this drive requires you to get software that I think is still under par for consistency and ease of use. Some Blu ray discs are trouble free; many Blu Ray discs require too much time on Google trying to figure out how to even get it to play.

Who's to blame? Well ironically, I would put the blame on Sony. Their digital rights management (DRM) is one of the most consumer-unfriendly inventions in recent history. Even when you think you've got it figured out once and for all, they release updates that make you constantly have to find a post halfway down on some message board that explains how to get your software player to play nice with a given BR-DVD's new DRM. I will continue to struggle through this because I'm stubborn. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't regret buying into the Blu-Ray thing a bit prematurely. If you're still on the fence, go to the message boards of any of the players/decoders capable of handling Blu-Ray content: Total Media Theatre, PowerDVD, AnyDVD... Then ask yourself if it's a good thing that there is so much content related to troubleshooting Blu Ray on a HTPC.