Will you buy a Blu-Ray player?

[zelig2]

So now that it's all but over for HD-DVD what is everyone's opinion on getting a Blu-Ray player?

I've got both an HD-DVD player and a Blu-Ray player.

[Scott]

I'll most likely just buy a PS3 because they will eventually have a title out that I'll want to play.

[jchiso]

I'd like a choice for "I'm planning to buy a dual-format PC drive".

[SpaceGhost]

Apple TV Take 2 for me. I'm not into mail order high def movies nor do I want to go to the store. I get my box Sunday and the update is supposedly to be pushed to the net next week.

[Robbiee19]

I'd like a choice for "I'm planning to buy a dual-format PC drive".Me too! I have a HD DVD, but would like to get a dual player.

[betona]

None of the selections in your poll fit me. I got an HD-DVD player for $99 last April and it's been excellent plus it upconverts standard discs great. It's been a snap to upgrade it via the internet, too. I just watch movies from Netflix.

• I absolutely will not buy a game machine to watch movies, so the PS-3 is out.

• I would entertain a BR player or a combo one, but none of them are worth what they cost. Add on the news that came out last week that none of the current set-top players can be upgraded to the 2.0 specs keeps me on the sidelines and even more glad I didn't buy one.

If they can come out with a BR player under $150, then I'd probably grab one. But since they have been unable to get anywhere near there (yet), I'm not interested. And I'll bet there are at least 100 million more people like me.

[stevec999]

I picked up one of the $99 hd-dvd players at Walmart and have a PS3 for BR. The only game I have for the PS3 is Warhawk but it gets a lot of play time.:D

[nicholc2]

I'm with betona. I have an A2 which plays movies great (both SD and HD). I am format neutral, but my wallet is not. When BD releases a player that's sub $200 and supports profile 2.0, then I'll probably grab one. For now, I'll enjoy my HDDVD. Also, I don't consider hddvd dead just yet. IMHO this is still far from over.

[snodgrass23]

I'll also probably just buy a PS3 for my BR needs. I was going to buy one eventually anyway.

[zelig2]

I was planning on getting the 20GB PS3 originally but I found it was easier to get the wife to accept a stand alone BR player as we have the other two current gen gaming systems. The player we got ended up being nearly the same price as the PS3 but she wouldn't have been happy with me getting a PS3 (and in the end I'm quite happy with Panasonic).

[csujjhoov]

bought a 30 gig PS3 before thanksgiving, got it mainly as a blu-ray player and happened to get a PS3 for free :) That's how I convinced my wife to agree to it....that and I bought her a Wii for Christmas

[Shufflefield]

I voted "planning on buying a BD" even though this poll is a bit late and I already got a 40gb PS3 off of Sony Style. I got the card to get 100 off. I wanted a PS3 anyway, and there are a few games that I want to play, and alot of disks I want to watch. I wasn't planning on jumping in this early, but so far I like it.

[snodgrass23]

... I got the card to get 100 off...

You're going to have to give us more details here, unless I'm missing something and this is widely known.

[Shufflefield]

You're going to have to give us more details here, unless I'm missing something and this is widely known.

here is a link for you.

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentDisplayView?cmsId=sony_card

Basically you get 100 off your first purchase of 300 or more when you get the sonystyle card. I needed a credit card like I need a hole in the head, but I got the instant approval and the 100 dollar credit is suppose to show up on your statement 8-10 weeks after the purchase. Not the greatest or easiest way to get a deal, but due to the warner decision I went ahead and bit the bullet, 300 for the 40gb model isn't a bad deal.

[overly under me]

I was planning on getting the 20GB PS3 originally but I found it was easier to get the wife to accept a stand alone BR player as we have the other two current gen gaming systems. The player we got ended up being nearly the same price as the PS3 but she wouldn't have been happy with me getting a PS3 (and in the end I'm quite happy with Panasonic).

That's the same thing with my wife. She doesn't want a PS3 because we already own a Wii. But she's fine with buying a stand-alone player.

[festivus]

I won't get an HD DVD player until the price goes way down. 480p on a standard dvd still looks pretty good to me, even on my 106 inch screen. Yeah, I know it could better but it's good enough for now.

[nicholc2]

Well at this point, it looks like my vote was a little premature. Picked up a PS3 yesterday specifically for its Bluray playability. :-)

Now that the future truly is "Blu", might as well hop on board the train and enjoy the ride.

(Though, I'll still continue to enjoy my HDDVDs)

[snodgrass23]

I just picked up a PS3 today as well.

Also, I noticed that Blockbuster is renting HD-DVD's online now. I'm not sure when they started that as I've never seen them on there before (maybe I just missed them). With the PS3 and all the titles they have on HD-DVD, I was able to move most of my online movie que into one of the two.

[nicholc2]

Actually, from what I gather, they have always rented both. Hopefully they'll keep doing that as new HDDVDs continue to come out until Paramount and Universal go fully Blu. The turnaround is very good on the HDDVDs as well. I usually get them within a couple days at most. I also have a local Blockbuster here in Grove City that stocks both in store too, so that's really cool! I was able to change over all the reg dvds in my queue to BR so I'm pretty stoked!

Got a great deal on the PS3 too. CC matched Targets deal from this past week so I got the PS3 at $20 off with a $20 CC gift card which paid for the BD remote. :-)

[darkfiber]

I have Blu-Ray via my 60GB PS3 and I have the XBOX 360 HD-DVD player.

[betona]

Circling back to this topic, Gizmodo posted an interesting review of where Blu-Ray stands now:

Why there won't be a Blu-ray victory party (http://gizmodo.com/366260/whole-blu-world-the-format-wars-bloody-aftermath)

[Scott]

Circling back to this topic, Gizmodo posted an interesting review of where Blu-Ray stands now:

Why there won't be a Blu-ray victory party (http://gizmodo.com/366260/whole-blu-world-the-format-wars-bloody-aftermath)

Looking back over the past year, it's pretty interesting how many strides Blu-ray has made. The gizmodo article above doesn't even exist any more :D

I really thought HD-DVD would win out in the end. The name itself made a lot of sense and I figured people would "get" it more. In the end, marketing mistakes and loss of huge motion picture clients killed them.

I still can't get past the name "Blu-ray Disc".

:tantrum: Can we please just start calling it "BRD"??

I don't ever remember saying, "I can't wait to go out and get that Digital Video Disc of Back to the Future II to replace my Video Home System copy."

/rant

Oh, and I just got a PS3 which has a BRD player in it :D

[festivus]

I totally agree with the article stating that the biggest enemy of blu-ray is simply DVD. I don't have a 1080p set or projector so my 480p DVDs look just fine to me to on my 1080i set and my 720p projector. I'm sure that a blu-ray player would be some improvement but I'm betting that it's just not enough for me to take the plunge with today's still relatively high prices.

Maybe when my old crt 1080i set dies and I'm forced to buy a new one I'll go 1080p and also get a blu-ray player. But until then I'll probably stay with dvd.

[nicholc2]

I totally agree with the article stating that the biggest enemy of blu-ray is simply DVD. I don't have a 1080p set or projector so my 480p DVDs look just fine to me to on my 1080i set and my 720p projector. I'm sure that a blu-ray player would be some improvement but I'm betting that it's just not enough for me to take the plunge with today's still relatively high prices.

Maybe when my old crt 1080i set dies and I'm forced to buy a new one I'll go 1080p and also get a blu-ray player. But until then I'll probably stay with dvd.

You actually don't have to have 1080(p) to see the benefits of bluray. Since you have a 1080i set, you'll get the exact same resolution as someone with a 1080p set has. The only difference between the two is the way the picture is sent to the TV. One being interlaced and one being progressive scan. Other than that, your TV will still display the whole pic. The TV I have right now is a 720p TV and I can easily see the difference between regular DVD and bluray.

I'll bet you could see the difference easier than you think. :D

One good thing is that player prices are starting to come down. Hopefully that trend continues.

[bucks17]

I love the HD audio formats that come with Blu Ray. The picture is definitely a step up, but the audio is just amazing.

[snodgrass23]

yeah, my projector is 720p and Blu Ray is a big step up from normal DVD. It is even a noticeable difference from HD programming through DirecTV since it doesn't have the compression.

[Robbiee19]

yeah, my projector is 720p and Blu Ray is a big step up from normal DVD. It is even a noticeable difference from HD programming through DirecTV since it doesn't have the compression.I agree with snodgrass. I have a HD DVD player that is 1080i only, but the picture is great and I can see the difference from DVD. Also I now have a Blu-ray/HD DVD combo player and the blu-ray discs are superior to just the DVD in picture and sound. I have a 1080p plasma too which gives a better picture overall.

[Chase]

I love the HD audio formats that come with Blu Ray. The picture is definitely a step up, but the audio is just amazing.


I can quote that. Audio on Blu ray is superior. We moved recently and I haven't hooked up my Surround. I watched the Dark Knight with just the speakers on my Toshiba 1080p LCD. And I was really surprised at the difference.

[betona]

I'm kinda sniffing around to buy my second BR player. I recently put an HDTV in the bedroom and you know what happens then...

And then in this morning's Dispatch was HH Gregg's ad selling the Samsung BDP1500 for $199 which I think is about 50 bucks less than it's ever been anywhere else (It's on sale @ Amazon for $247 for example...). How long can I resist?

Side note: was at a good friend's house last night and they've not bought a BR player because they didn't think it could play regular DVDs, figuring they'd have to buy all of their movies again. I set 'em straight.

[bspvette86]

I'm thinking more along the lines of a BDROM in a HTPC... Does that count?

[betona]

I'm thinking more along the lines of a BDROM in a HTPC... Does that count?

I think that's even cooler than a set top player.