Internal blu ray player for T530 or W530? If so where and why can't you add it stock?

I guess the title really sums up my question. I am baffled that you can't add it when building it! I am new to the Lenovo world so thanks in advance.

 

Blu-ray drive is not offered as a configuration option that you can select.

However, you can swap out the CD/DVD drive and insert a mechnically/electrically compatible Blu-ray drive. Such a drive is offered by Panasonic and can be purchased for about $70. The ThinkPad engineering attribute that allows for this to happen easily is called UltraBay. (By the way, the UltraBay can also accept a HDD/SSD caddy adapter that adds another drive to the notebook, in lieu of the stock optical drive.)

Watch this video. Textual details are provided at the blog URL shown in the first few frames of the video.

 

I talked to Lenovo and it is only available on one of there lines in general. Business class I could see why to a degree but not offering it on a consumer class, odd. Thanks for the info I feel better knowing I can add it but that is so screwy. Do you have any idea why?

 

Little actual demand, I suppose. Most people say they "would like" a Blu-ray drive, but come budget time, the Blu-ray is not a high-priority item. Also, backups are now rarely done on DVDs and Blu-ray discs: external hard drives (or corporate file servers) are used instead.

For a consumer-oriented media notebook, you might want to consider the Dell Inspiron 15R Special Edition.

 

I will admit that I barely use it but it is nice to have.

It seems like the 15R is Win8 only.

 

Agreed on "Little actual demand" but otherwise B.S.!

I for one would like an external Blu-ray drive, but I have close to zero use for it, so whatever the low price for one might actually be, it means zero to me!

I'm not a fan of any kind of Dell computer.

Given NBR stats, Dell gets the highest user attendance.

Do or have you recently owned any Dell computer? All ears.

 

My main answer was this:

Blu-ray drive is not offered as a configuration option that you can select.

However, you can swap out the CD/DVD drive and insert a mechnically/electrically compatible Blu-ray drive. Such a drive is offered by Panasonic and can be purchased for about $70.​

End of story.

 

Or you could get a more convenient USB capable Blu-ray unit for the same $70 ballpark price.

Nice to see that we are in general agreement.

 

Not sure about that. The initial question was: Internal blu ray player for T530 or W530? My detailed reply was given in that specific context.

 

I have bought a Dell desktop 10 years ago and never had any real problems with it. Before that (15 years ago) I bought a Gateway laptop and 4 years ago I bought a HP HDX 16. I don't remember having any issues with the Gateway but the HP has had plenty. My wife is on her 3rd Dell laptop (bought it around 1 year ago) but really isn't a power user. It isn't uncommon for it to sit for a week unused since she has her desktop at work (not sure of brand), a S3 phone, and the family Android tablet.

I am a "logical" fan-boy I guess you could say. If the product gets great reviews and has everything I need then I am all in. While I hold some Apple stock I am not a fan and Sony because of past anti-consumer tenancies is a no go for me. There are other highly praised laptops on the market but it seems like a lot of them are not customizable. E.g. no option for Win 7; can't get 1080 screen; etc. So as far a highly customizable laptops it look like I can only pick from Lenovo (T530 most likely) or Dell (not sure what model). I hear great things about Lenovo's business line tech support and that was a big problem for me with HP. Lenovo also seems to be one of the best when it comes to satisfaction on customers and reliability. The lack of a blu-ray drive (which I can add aftermarket) and no option for a 256 SSD is the only thing it seems to be missing. The lack of an option for a larger SSD drive; no real awards or top ratings for the T530; and maybe the rather vanilla look of the T530 are the reasons I am trigger shy. The biggest turn off is the lack of an option for a 256GB SSD. That alone almost makes me pick a Dell business class laptop that will allow it to come stock with that size SSD and a 3 year warranty even though it is a little most expensive. Buying and installing a blu-ray player, while being easy, is ok but having to buy a SSD drive and install that on a laptop that is brand new is just silly.