Home audio & video: Poll: If it came down to buying a Blu-ray player, I would:
- 2/6/08 2:18 PM
Poll: If it came down to buying a Blu-ray player, I would:
by Lee Koo (ADMIN) - 2/6/08 2:18 PM
If it came down to buying a Blu-ray player, I would:
Buy a standalone player. (Why?)
Buy a dual-format player (HD DVD and Blu-ray). (Why?)
Buy a PlayStation 3. (Why?)
Buy a Blu-ray drive for my computer. (Why?)
Other. (What is it?)
Blu Ray vs HDDVD
by selshar - 2/6/08 6:18 PM In reply to: Poll: If it came down to buying a Blu-ray player, I would: by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have a fortune in regular old DVD's.....why should I buy a Blu Ray player? My current one works just fine and if I MUST buy something for BluRay then I'd go combo so my old DVD's can still be used! This is just a corporate ploy to grab money....
Watching the HD War, from the sidelines
by theophis - 2/6/08 6:50 PM In reply to: Blu Ray vs HDDVD by selsharI am patient to wait until the fat lady sings in this war of words, over yet another emerging technology.
1. The current quality of the best legacy DVD content and players is very good. I, like many others, have a huge investment in those items.
2. the price of HD-DVD & BLU RAY content is far too expensive for my taste, since I watch, and would expect to buy many movies. I can afford anything that I want, but choose to set limits. HD Movies priced at $15 and below could fullfill my sweet spot. The cost of a player is insignificant, when you own a disc library of 500 or more items, costing thousands of dollars.
3. I prefer the larger capacity Blu Ray disc, yet I'm willing to NetFlix (rent) all home theather content for as long as two incompatible technologies are competing to rule the marketplace.
4. Disc content will probably become obsolete (2015), due to emerging online delivery of HD movie titles. If this war continues in stalemate for another year, that paradigm shift will happen sooner.
I was the early adopter of DVD, so I'll let younger, and more eager buyers fight this one to the finish. Recent developments seem to favor the Blu Ray camp. But, HD-DVD proponents, must concede for a clear victory to be assured. This is about to occur, or so it seems.
Blu-Ray, Smoo-Ray
by jsp614 - 2/6/08 7:41 PM In reply to: Watching the HD War, from the sidelines by theophisBlu-Ray players are just too darn expensive ($300-400) and the present generation is buggy. That's why I bought an HD-DVD player that does 1080p and upconverts std DVDs, for $150. The unit came with 7 HD movies too.
I don't know who decided this war is over because Blu-Ray only sold 13% more players than HD-DVD did in Jan 08. I think Feb will be even more telling since HD dropped the price again.
It certainly is possible that demand for HD disks will increase with more players being sold. If it does, Warner would reverse their decision (they'd be stupid not to.)
If I'm wrong, I still have a fine player that will upconvert std dvds to 1080p and there will be loads of cheap HD-DVDs around.
The "fat lady" HAS sung...
by Wes#1 - 2/7/08 12:47 PM In reply to: Watching the HD War, from the sidelines by theophisand her name is Warner.
HD discs too expensive? I've bought nearly a dozen new (NOT used) Blu-ray discs for less than $15 online in the last month from places like Amazon, Best Buy, Tower, and Buy.com. I'm not replacing the hundreds of regular DVDs in my collection; only "blockbuster" movies or personal favorites that I want to see with spectacular HD detail and color. (And for those, I've sold the old DVD locally to a store that carries used discs -- thus cutting my losses.)
C'mon, get creative! You can ENJOY this huge step up on quality for very little investment if you try.
"Online delivery of HD movies"? Please. Download times and storage capacity (for HD) would be horrendous. Not to mention the risk of losing your entire collection of movies when you hard drive crashes ('cause they won't let you make copies)!
Now the fat lady is waiting on us! The sooner folks on the sideline take a Blu-ray player home and pick up a couple of discs, the sooner this "war" will be over and she can sit down!! (And don't worry, the BD player will play all your old DVDs... upconverted!)
Standard DVDs
by Web Webster - 2/6/08 6:53 PM In reply to: Blu Ray vs HDDVD by selsharWhat in the world makes you think you can't play standard DVDs on a Blu-Ray player?
Blue RAy Sucks
by mafisher - 2/7/08 1:43 AM In reply to: Blu Ray vs HDDVD by selsharAll the money I spent to buy it, and can't find any Blue Ray Movies to watch. Soney also Lie, They did not send my five movies it me, its been over 90 days, since I purches the ps3. I think it SUCKS too.
BR or HD or Both
by maldelus - 2/7/08 4:24 AM In reply to: Blu Ray vs HDDVD by selsharI struggled with this and opted for a LITE-ON player with Cyberlink Ultra DVD capable of properly interpreting the standard DVDs, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. I also upgraded my sound card to the minimum ATI 1650 and have max'd out on RAM. I'm using both a standard DVD reader and the LITE-ON. I'm finding the LITE-ON picks them all up better than does the standard player. Especially the Disney DVD's. My system is the Dell Dimension E521 which is passe now.
blu plays regular dvds
by beefmoney - 2/7/08 5:38 AM In reply to: Blu Ray vs HDDVD by selsharall blu-ray players play regulard dvds and convert em to 1080p the only reason to buy a blu player would be if you have a 1080p tv and good surround sound system. If you spent all tha money on a 1080p tv you would want to get the best out of it.
What's wrong with regular DVD? Nothing except...
by Wes#1 - 2/7/08 12:25 PM In reply to: Blu Ray vs HDDVD by selsharselshar writes: "I have a fortune in regular old DVD's.....why should I buy a Blu Ray player? My current one works just fine..."
This is what people were saying 10 years ago about their VHS machines when DVD came out. It's not a corporate ploy; it's an attempt to deliver HD content for the HD sets that are fast becoming the standard in the marketplace. Sure it's new, but give it time. It's the natural evolution of the decade-old DVD.
Buy the PS3
by maafla1 - 2/6/08 6:29 PM In reply to: Poll: If it came down to buying a Blu-ray player, I would: by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
No reason not to - the PS3 doubles as a gaming system. It obviously plays Blu Ray DVDs but also all formats of "old" DVDs - "+" and "-" formats as well as DOUBLE LAYER (DL), which I have many.
Buying Blu-ray???
by john3347 - 2/6/08 6:46 PM In reply to: Poll: If it came down to buying a Blu-ray player, I would: by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
If it came down to buying a blu-ray player, I would do without. I don't need blu-ray (or HD either for that matter). Someone made the comment earlier in this forum that "'not state of the art' didn't mean 'obsolete'". If that statement were true in the eyes of the bulging pockets public, there would not be any blu-ray or HD DVD. The reason that new products like this are developed is not to make the world better, but to make the manufacturer better (financially). They know that if something new is introduced, the buying public will have to have it even if they don't know what it is - just that is is new and Neighbor Jones doesn't have it yet. I can watch the same movie (or could if I watched movies) on my 27" analog TV and VCR as you can with your LCD Plasma blu-ray HD energy hog 60 inch monster. So, my friend, "state of the art" is the ONLY thing that obsoletes last weeks model.
That's ironic.
by lilsim89 - 2/7/08 1:06 AM In reply to: Buying Blu-ray??? by john3347You mentioned that a 60" set is an energy-hog? Check the facts about tubes. They use up their fair share of electricity and use FAR, FAR more dangerous and toxic chemicals like lead, etc. than plasmas and especially LCDs.
Just a fun fact,
Simon
A shame consumers have to wade through all the clutter
by boxcarbob - 2/6/08 6:50 PM In reply to: Poll: If it came down to buying a Blu-ray player, I would: by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
There is such a clutter of information and misinformation on the web, it's upsetting that a consumer has to wade through all of it. One thing that rarely gets mentioned is the quality of upconversion on the various high def players. Considering many people have huge standard def DVD collections, it might be helpful to know that - for instance - the Samsung BD-UP5000 has a superior upconverter to the PS3. Not bashing the PS3, just saying there is no "rule" on the web that says all blogs, forums and posts are unbiased.
Also, I'm not a fanboy of either of the high def disc formats, but I find it interesting that it rarely gets mentioned that an advantage of HD-DVD discs is that they can contain BOTH standard and high def versions of the same movie - so it's possible to buy HD-DVDs that will also play on the standard DVD player in your spare bedroom. Seems like that might be a pretty major factor for people who don't want to immediately update all the DVD players in their house.
And am I the only one to notice that we're still waiting for the "final" Blu-Ray standard (2.0) when HD-DVD has had one standard from the beginning? What a shame for the folks who recently spent big bucks on a 1.0-1.2 Blu-Ray player. Thankfully that's not an issue for me.
High Def is simply beautiful. But the technology is still evolving. My advice to anyone itching to enter the high def marketplace is don't, unless you are willing to rethink your purchase and/or upgrade in a year or two.
PS3
by dkreview - 2/6/08 6:55 PM In reply to: Poll: If it came down to buying a Blu-ray player, I would: by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I was lucky enough to be given a PS3 for my birthday, excellent graphics for games. I havent seen any Blu ray discs at the local video shop yet, but hope to be able to see HD movies soon. I agree that waiting for another few months will see the prices come down considerably but see no reason NOT to buy the PS3 as your standard player
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