I am considering adopting a Blu-Ray player this summer. I know of the pros and cons of it. But the question is....should I go Blu this summer or should I wait and let the price come down and the kinks to be worked out some more or continue on the DVD format for another year or so. What do you guys think?
Question
- Thread starter btedford
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 42
- Views 5K
*) You should go Blu now if the player prices are ok with you, if not, then wait till Thanksgiving and I think youll get one for a better price. If you decide to get one now, plenty on here can point you in the right direction, the new Sammy $399 is prob going to be a good choice. The new Panny BD50 will be nice, but a little more pricey. PS3, as always, is a great choice.
*) No too sure what you mean by kinks?
*) I greatly enjoy HDM now, especially at 1080p so I would recommend it as soon as YOU are ready to buy the box. Price should really be the only big issue for anyone right now since Univ and Paramount are on board for new releases and Netflix has a great supply of rentals.
*) No too sure what you mean by kinks?
*) I greatly enjoy HDM now, especially at 1080p so I would recommend it as soon as YOU are ready to buy the box. Price should really be the only big issue for anyone right now since Univ and Paramount are on board for new releases and Netflix has a great supply of rentals.
Have you seen satellite hidef?
Do you feel something missing when watching SD?
Are you ready to pay more to see the same in HD? $15 vs. $30?
Do you value the program itself above any extras?
If your answer is "Yes" to all of those questions (and only then), your time has come...
Diogen.
Do you have a substantial DVD library? If so I’d recommend a upconverting DVD player that puts out 1080P. Until the BD format is complete (2.0) I wouldn’t recommend buying a player that will be obsolete shortly. And the problem with the 2.0 players is that most likely they will MSRP at or above $500. Then $30 a pop per movie.
Your joking right?
This is a decision only you can make. People here can guide you once you've made that decision, but you'll need to be specific about what equipment you have and what features you are interested in, so you can be guided in the right direction.
Prices will drop and continue to drop as time goes on. In less than two years, prices for players have dropped between 33% and 60% depending on the manufacturer. SDDVD only sold 946,000 units in NA during its first year and a half and really didn't hit dirt cheap from a reputable manufacturer until about 3 years ago (7 years after inception).
As for movie prices, if you shop wisely, you can get most new releases and catalog titles for $19.99-$24.99, except for Fox ($27.99). If you shop BB or CC you'll pay a premium. These prices are not out of line at this time compared to what SD DVDs cost during this same time period of adoption.
The problem is the Veruca Salt syndrome. People expect low prices out of the gate. The technical demand of HDM is unprecedented: internet connectivity, dual HD video decoders, advanced audio decoding/bitstreaming, etc. Would I like to see players hit $200? Absolutlely. But it is unreasonable to think they will hit that pricepoint so soon.
Good luck and let us know what you decide.
S~
Prices will drop and continue to drop as time goes on. In less than two years, prices for players have dropped between 33% and 60% depending on the manufacturer. SDDVD only sold 946,000 units in NA during its first year and a half and really didn't hit dirt cheap from a reputable manufacturer until about 3 years ago (7 years after inception).
As for movie prices, if you shop wisely, you can get most new releases and catalog titles for $19.99-$24.99, except for Fox ($27.99). If you shop BB or CC you'll pay a premium. These prices are not out of line at this time compared to what SD DVDs cost during this same time period of adoption.
The problem is the Veruca Salt syndrome. People expect low prices out of the gate. The technical demand of HDM is unprecedented: internet connectivity, dual HD video decoders, advanced audio decoding/bitstreaming, etc. Would I like to see players hit $200? Absolutlely. But it is unreasonable to think they will hit that pricepoint so soon.
Good luck and let us know what you decide.
S~
Last edited:
Thanks Teachsac.
I wish more on here would admit that prices are in fact realistic for this point in the game and that they would quite using $30+ when touting bd movie prices. I buy one every week and havent spent more than $27.95 from amazon with free shipping, even cheaper on ebay.
I wish more on here would admit that prices are in fact realistic for this point in the game and that they would quite using $30+ when touting bd movie prices. I buy one every week and havent spent more than $27.95 from amazon with free shipping, even cheaper on ebay.
We can nitpick all day about disks being $27.95 or $34.95, it’s all the same, expensive. Then there’s the issue of 2.0 players MSRPing maybe over $600.
Nitpick away. Some of these same BD $27.95 are 25.95 for DVD. Paticularly for new release.
I see you have a 47" TV. You will need to be sitting reasonably close to that to distinguish a significant amount of difference between BD and unconverted DVD. Look at the distance you sit back from the set to determine what, if any, difference you might be able to see. Then look at the cost of BD players/disks and your bank account and determine if the potential improvement will be worth it for you. Add in how much risk you are willing to take buying into BD. There is no guarantee that BD will be viable longterm.
Lots of variables to wade through here. Some will say, "Buy BD now", others will say "Think it over a bit first and maybe wait for prices to drop".
It is ultimately your decision. I have decided to wait a bit longer on BD myself, but that's not "The Answer", it is only my answer for my situation and my way of analyzing the current state of affairs. I spent maybe $150 total on an HDDVD player and a few disks to test out the HD waters. It's nice, but not so nice that I'd buy any more HDDVD's for a while (they're too expensive too!) Of course, HDDVD is now dead. BD disks are about the same price as HDDVD, but the players are priced higher.
You need to decide for yourself if the improvement BD gives you over unconverted DVD is worth the price they are asking for it. There is no right or wrong answer to this question, only YOUR answer matters.
Lots of variables to wade through here. Some will say, "Buy BD now", others will say "Think it over a bit first and maybe wait for prices to drop".
It is ultimately your decision. I have decided to wait a bit longer on BD myself, but that's not "The Answer", it is only my answer for my situation and my way of analyzing the current state of affairs. I spent maybe $150 total on an HDDVD player and a few disks to test out the HD waters. It's nice, but not so nice that I'd buy any more HDDVD's for a while (they're too expensive too!) Of course, HDDVD is now dead. BD disks are about the same price as HDDVD, but the players are priced higher.
You need to decide for yourself if the improvement BD gives you over unconverted DVD is worth the price they are asking for it. There is no right or wrong answer to this question, only YOUR answer matters.
I disagree on one thing. Seeing the diff between a upconverted DVD and a BD on a 720p/1080i tv is easy(I could see it on a 720p 46" RPLCD at 13ft). Seeing the diff between 720p/1080i vs 1080p is more what you are pointing at. Ill admit my 50" 1080p is sharper than the 46" 720p, but Im about 10ft away which is closer and 1080p should be sharp at that range. While I say its sharper, the jump from a 720p tv to a 1080p is not as good as the jump from upconverted discs on a HDTV to Bluray on a HDTV.
Last edited:
Very true.
You have to be around 6' from a 47" TV and the TV has to be 1080p in order for you to see every pixel a BD image can deliver.
As soon as you move further away or switch to a 720p screen (even worse - 766-768p), information gets lost.
How much is lost depends on many factors, from your eyes to the equipment, calibration, etc.
With a 4-5 year old HDTV, there is a good chance the TV set f*cks up the image so badly, a DVD will look just as good from very close...
And when played on a properly configured HTPC - even better.
Diogen.
I do have a massive DVD collection and so if I did get an Upconversion DVD player...how much life or use would I get out of it before Blu-ray becomes more of the standard?
I love HD but the problem would be with the Blu-ray player is that I would still have like 99% of DVDs and then slowly get Blu-ray movies. I do have a Sony 47'' 720P LCD TV.
I love HD but the problem would be with the Blu-ray player is that I would still have like 99% of DVDs and then slowly get Blu-ray movies. I do have a Sony 47'' 720P LCD TV.
To make the answer short - it boils down to passion...
Are you ready to spend money on a new player, pay more for movies, seek and find
differences why BD looks better (invent them if you can't see), hunt for deals, etc.?
If you are - you are passionate, go for it.
If you are looking for rational proof why going for BD now is the right time - forget it, you won't find it.
Come back in a couple years to find that.
Diogen.
Are you ready to spend money on a new player, pay more for movies, seek and find
differences why BD looks better (invent them if you can't see), hunt for deals, etc.?
If you are - you are passionate, go for it.
If you are looking for rational proof why going for BD now is the right time - forget it, you won't find it.
Come back in a couple years to find that.
Diogen.
IMHO, BluRay will never become the standard, it will remain a niche product. But that's just my opinion. And those who believe Bluray *will* become the standard aren't predicting BD outselling standard DVD's any time soon. We are talking years and years ... and years.
If you are talking about only sporadically buying a few BD disks here and there - as you said "slowly get Blu-Ray movies" - then I would recommend waiting until BD player prices drop. No need spending top dollar on what would be mostly a high-priced upconverter in your described situation. Buy an upconverter now, then a BD player later, and I'll bet you'll end up with both for less total cash outlay than buying a single BD player now. And the BD player you get later, for less money, will probably be much better than what you could buy today.
Nobody can scientifically determine that you NEED a BluRay player now. But do you WANT one bad enough to buy one now? That's really the question. Buying now will cost you more money. No doubts about that. But if it's worth it to you, why not? I buy lots of stuff that I can't justify a NEED for!
A dedicated upconverter will deliver a much better picture then trying to upconvert it from your BD player. BD players for some reason didn’t put much emphasis on upconversion, PS3 being a prime example. I’ve followed the reviews for BD players and most score average to disappointing when it comes to upconverting. A dedicated upconverter sinks all of its resources and computing power into upconverting and not all the other things, thus the better picture. If you have time do a little research on the chip set inside of a BD player and then look up the chip set for a good upconverter and you’ll see the difference. You’ll be viewing your entire DVD library at near HD quality.
Sony, Panasonic and Samsung are all shaping up to have a good one. I'd wait until you get close to buying one and then evaluate them all, to soon to guess if you are going to wait a few mo's.
As far as waiting for BD to be the standard, if we all did that none of us would have purchased an HDTV early, I have personally had one for 4 years and I know some on here much longer.
As stated above, evaluate it yourself, just beware there are guys on this forum and others that are bitter and will use negativity to sway you. Just decide for yourself.
I spent $499 on a player and have not looked back while buying a disc a week(some catalog like I robot, some new releases like Golden Compass) and I use Netflix for the rest. If you rent from netflix, 90% of your major studio rentals are BD right now and thats going to be 100% soon with Univ and Paramount coming.
I think BD may survive, some think not, if you are worried about that then dont buy in and let us early adopters enjoy it. If you waited to see what was going to happen with every format, or always waited for next years model because it may be better/cheaper, then you'd never buy anything
I never try to sway anyone. I just state the facts which always seems to upset you so much. Anything that points a BD flaw or legitimate alternative you immediately attack or call it negativity. The original poster deserves all the info not just the one side that will cheer and sweep all the BD flaws under the rug. You always paint such a delightful picture.
I would go with the PS3 for a couple of reasons.
1. If BD fails you will still have something for your money.
2. The standalones are either incomplete in their specs, i.e. not profile 2.0 compliant or wayyyyy overpriced.
You will also need a new HDMI audio reciever to listen to the new audio formats, (coax and optical wont pass them) unless the player you pick has analog jacks out. In which case be prepared to open your check book really wide.
