You have to have hardware AND software to play the BD discs.

Many thanks for your advice, most appreciated. Suggestions will be most appreciated.

You DO NOT need hardware to play BD movie.

What you need to do is to get image of BD disc in .iso or .mds (download or get if from someone who has it), then install AnyDVD to bypass the protection check, use Daemon Tools or Alcohol to mount the image. PDVD9 can handle it just like playing real BD disc.

The image will be about 40Gb. So go make image from your friend who has BD drive, if he allows you : ). CPU......: i7-975, evga x58 Classified, Kingston 2000 1Gbx3
Display.: GTX285, Dell 2709W
Hdd......: x25M 80Gb x3, iRAM 4Gb
Sound...: Auzentech HTHD, Psyko 5.1, Razer HP1 5.1, Onkyo TX-SR876 AVR

My thanks for your help in playing BlueRay movies.
Could you perhaps advise as to where the download can be made.
I have no means to locate anyone with a BD machine and as you say 40Gb is rather large, equal to approximately 9 R-DVDs.
Could a certain BD title "State of Play" be able play using PowerDVD 9 Ultra and software that you mention installed in my computer? Suggestions will be most appreciated.

hmm... to make it works, you need the following:-

1) Complete image of whole BD disc content. You need to "make" that image from a PC with BD-drive. there are a number of software that can make the image i.e. Nero, alcohol 52% free edition, daemontools advance etc. The image will be about 40gb, bigger than the actual BD disc capacity of 25Gb (i donno why).

2) On your PC, you need these softwares:-
i) alcohol 52% free edition or daemontools lite to create virtual drive to mount the image.
ii) AnyDVD to bypass BD/DVD protection & region.
iii) PDVD9 for the playback. (or any other program)

3) Not compulsory, soundcard/displaycard that can output HDMI audio to AVR for lossless dolby trueHD or DTS MA HD.

http://trial.alcohol-soft.com/en/
http://www.slysoft.com/en/anydvdhd.html

It is not practical to download the BD image because of the size, and i don really think many people is uploading that kind of big image. Most of them are actually stripped version (remove unused soundtrack, intro, extra content, lower the resolution etc), and that does not come in disc image format. I am not sure if PDVD9 will play that type of file (AVCHD video format), but many other programs will.

I know the image stuffs working because I am making my own for transformer 1&2 BD. I donwan the original disc be scratched during handling or damaged by my son. By making them into image i can keep the original disc safe. CPU......: i7-975, evga x58 Classified, Kingston 2000 1Gbx3
Display.: GTX285, Dell 2709W
Hdd......: x25M 80Gb x3, iRAM 4Gb
Sound...: Auzentech HTHD, Psyko 5.1, Razer HP1 5.1, Onkyo TX-SR876 AVR

Doing that is the hardest possible way to watch a BD on your PC. After you buy AnyDVD you could have bought a BD player to go in your PC. That whole ripping process takes several hours per disc and the quality is not always 100%.

Yes AnyDVD HD is overpriced at 109EUR (20% discount until 31 Oct). I guess Moviebuff is using notebook that is troublesome to have external BD drive.

No, image making is not the same as ripping, it is 1 to 1 disc copy that takes about 20min only. The contents are exactly the same but only thing different is the protection cannot be copied so AnyDVD is needed.

For ripped movie with reduced quality but much smaller size, there are other softwares that can playback the movie file better than PDVD9. PDVD9 supports limited type of file only.

PDVD9 Ultra is meant to playback BD with best possible movie and audio quality (with correct display card and HD audio to AVR). Using PDVD9U to play ripped movie and output audio through analog or SPDIF is a waste of money; there are freewares around that can do the same task.

CPU......: i7-975, evga x58 Classified, Kingston 2000 1Gbx3
Display.: GTX285, Dell 2709W
Hdd......: x25M 80Gb x3, iRAM 4Gb
Sound...: Auzentech HTHD, Psyko 5.1, Razer HP1 5.1, Onkyo TX-SR876 AVR

My computer is a Compac Pressario, and I believe a BD drive can be added, however the price could be the main hurdle.
Cyberlink state that their PowerDVD 9 Ultra software can show blueray movies - what they fail to point out is a BD drive is required and no doubt many people myself included, think that PowerDVD9 Ultra will play bluray movies. Rather misleading advert?? Suggestions will be most appreciated.

It really isn't misleading.

Agreed with Jeffrey, it is not misleading, read here:-

http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdvd/requirements_en_US.html
WINDOWS 7 & VISTA
For Blu-ray Disc Playback
Disc Drive
Super Multi Blue combo disc drive.
BD-ROM/BD-RE.

BD movie is designed to be in disc form, it is not supposed to appear in image or movie file that can store in hardisk (illegal actually).

If your intention is to playback "Blu-ray ripped movie" and not "Blu-ray disc", then you might as well look for other programs and download those movies through bit torrent or other download services. PowerDVD is not the best to playback this type of movie. CPU......: i7-975, evga x58 Classified, Kingston 2000 1Gbx3
Display.: GTX285, Dell 2709W
Hdd......: x25M 80Gb x3, iRAM 4Gb
Sound...: Auzentech HTHD, Psyko 5.1, Razer HP1 5.1, Onkyo TX-SR876 AVR

I have gathered over the years, four hundred DVD titles and it may surprise you that every title in my collection has been bought in various retail outlet and paid the asking price. Now that a new media is now available "blueray, I have no intention of obtaining this media other than from authorised retail outlets and paying the full retail price. Ofcourse, on odd occasions, I may break this rule in accepting the few titles as birthday present etc.
As a pensioner, the price of blueray players are out of my finances, so hoping to substitute a playing mode, all withing the law. Suggestions will be most appreciated.

If you want to playback BD disc in legal way, you need BD drive. Wait for a while, in 6 months time the drive will drop when more and more people using it. BD reader is cheaper than BD writer, if you did not intend to write BD disc (very expensive), you might as well get BD reader at lower price.

Alternatively, you may consider Playstation3, it is one of the best value for money BD players in the market now. PS3 is priced below manufacturing cost. Can play game somemore

Both the method of making disc image and downloading the ripped movie i mention earlier are against the law anyway. CPU......: i7-975, evga x58 Classified, Kingston 2000 1Gbx3
Display.: GTX285, Dell 2709W
Hdd......: x25M 80Gb x3, iRAM 4Gb
Sound...: Auzentech HTHD, Psyko 5.1, Razer HP1 5.1, Onkyo TX-SR876 AVR