JediDefender.com Forums
Community => Watto's Junk Yard => Topic started by: Brian on August 3, 2009, 07:14 PM
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I wasn't sure if this could go in the DVD thread or not, but I was curious how many people here have made the switch over to blu rays over regular DVD purchases. We're in the process of saving up and finally getting an HDTV, as well as a blu ray player, sometime before the year is up. We've sort of been going back and forth wondering if the blu-ray player was "worth it" - but since we're really avid movie watchers, we thought it might be something worth picking up. My wife was especially on board after she watched Twilight at a friend's house in hi-def. Anyways, I was just wondering how many of you here have switched to blu ray, or if you're just standing pat with DVDs for now. Thank goodness you can still play DVDs on the blu ray players, or it would make the decision much tougher with these shelves of movies we already have :) (like many others).
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No. I don't even have a tv with Hi Def capability yet. And I work in broadcasting! ;D
Right now I think almost all of the hardware is overpriced. Especially given the economic climate. I'd love a 50" flatscreen, but the prices are crazy. The same goes for the BluRay players. They're still at least $200. But get this. You can get a standard DVD player that can upconvert your DVD's for hi-def capable monitors, and the unit will cost you less than $50.
Still, a BluRay player is going to give you the highest quality image that you're going to see outside of a gaming console like the PS-3 or X-Box 360. Most broadcast HD signals max out at 720 p. But BluRay and the game consoles will put out 1080p.
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I got a Playstation 3 at launch and have been enjoying movies on Blu-ray in high-def since the following March, when I dropped way too much money on an HD-TV. Blu-ray v/s upscaled DVD is night and day. I can't even watch DVDs anymore unless it's animated like The Simpsons. Live action just looks soft. And the difference between Blu-ray and broadcast HD is even greater, due to compression artifacts. They're not as bad on FiOS, but awful on DirecTV.
I think you'll be thrilled with your purchase if you're a movie buff. My best advice to you is to also invest in a decent home theater system. Movies are significantly more immersive with crystal clear Dolby or DTS. I have a 7.1 receiver but only have 5 speakers + subwoofer hooked up due to the shape of the room. Unfortunately I got mine before HDMI, so I had to be creative with the wiring. But it still does a fantastic job. I have Netflix, so I'm loving a new Blu-ray every few days. Just fantastic.
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My family made the switch last September. We went from a 10-inch TV and a VCR in our bonus room to a 50 inch Plasma and BluRay player. The only thing we opted not to get was surround sound. The Best Buy clerk tried to sell my parents on that, but I convinced them that it was unnecessary as after this year my brother and I will both be out of the house, and my folks barely know how to work electronics. (Not just the TV/BR, but anything)
The upconvert for DVDs on our Samsung unit is very good. I've only re-purchased a handful of movies that were my favorites. (300, King Kong, Cloverfield) I've still purchased DVDs, despite having the Bluray player. I decided when my family upgraded to get comedies, horror, and dramas on normal DVD. Plus the 4 for $20 deals at Blockbuster are really hard to beat.
Anyway, if you're planning to get a good hi-def TV and have the cash to spend on the movies, then go for the Bluray player. If not, I'd say settle for the upconverter for now. You wouldn't be missing out on too much and will probably save money in the long run.
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Still waiting for the PS3 to drop in price before I go BR. Even then - I'm not sure how deep I'll get into rebuying/buying new BR discs. I have about 1700+ DVDs and granted I wouldn't want to rebuy all of them in the new format, I'm just not sure I'll go crazy with the newer discs especially with the higher prices. I'll have a new HD set before year's end so perhaps that will be the kick in the pants I need to upgrade.
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I will switch when Star Wars comes out in Blu Ray. Right now we have a 62" HDTV and it's great to watch shows in HD, but the dvd player we have looks just fine for now.
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we just bought a 42" HDTV. Cable HD channels come in at 1080i, and the DVD player looks good. I do want a the samsung blue ray though that also connects to the home network for streaming Netflix, but it will wait until the retail price comes down or I find as good of a bargain as I found on the TV.
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I've had a 26" HD Samsung for ages, but I don't feel the need to go to BluRay. I just don't want to pay $30 for a movie, is all.
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On a 26" TV you won't see much difference. And as for prices, $30 is an exaggeration. Check out Amazon's Bestsellers in Blu-ray. Lots to be had under $20, and the only $30 regular movies I see are Taken (includes 2 discs) and Transformers 2.
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I have not. I'm not sold on BluRay yet. People I know who have it don't like the fact that there are no chapter stops like DVD and some in store demo's I've seem make excellent looking movies look horrible. But that was probably the TV it was playing on, not the BluRay.
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There are chapter stops on Blu-ray. I haven't noticed a single one that didn't have them.
It's strange where these rumors come from. Another I've heard is "You can't fast forward through the previews." Complete BS. Of the few I've seen with movie trailers, I haven't had one where I couldn't skip them.
In my experience Blu-ray offers everything DVD offers, plus a bunch of stuff DVD isn't capable of.
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some in store demo's I've seem make excellent looking movies look horrible. But that was probably the TV it was playing on, not the BluRay.
I've noticed that too....some scenes on demo discs of Pirates of the Carribean, everything is flat and too crisp. Doesn't look cinematic...looks like an A&E made for cable movie.
It's got to be that they punch up sharpness on the TV and the demo disc both.
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some in store demo's I've seem make excellent looking movies look horrible. But that was probably the TV it was playing on, not the BluRay.
I've noticed that too....some scenes on demo discs of Pirates of the Carribean, everything is flat and too crisp. Doesn't look cinematic...looks like an A&E made for cable movie.
It's got to be that they punch up sharpness on the TV and the demo disc both.
No, it's probably the 120 MHz refresh rate. It's something that the manufacturers have been pushing. Probably in an effort to make broadcast signals look "more Hi-Def". And it probably looks great for sports. But it also winds up making movies which are shot at 24 fps look strange, as if they were shot on video. And the cinematic quality of the image suffers.
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Nice to see all of the replies (and info). Like many others, we already have a ton of DVDs (although not in the ballpark of 1700 - wowza), so we won't be replacing all of those either. I've sort of been waiting for the "Star Wars on blu ray" announcement to make the switch as well, so we'll see (with LOTR coming later this year, and a possible extended version next year - that would make another one I'd like to "re buy"). Honestly, the new TV is much more important to us - but our DVD player is crapping out right now too, so we thought about looking at blu rays as well. We have $200 in gift cards to a local furniture place (Nebraska Furniture Mart, for anyone in the area), and thought we could use that for a blu ray player. We could put it towards a TV too, but they seem to be higher priced there than everywhere else (Target, WM, Best Buy, etc.)
As far as movies from now on, I don't know if we'd buy only blu rays either. I don't know if I'd care so much on certain comedies, etc. - but I'd spend the extra money for things like Star Wars, LOTR, Indy - or other sci-fi/superhero type stuff.
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On a 26" TV you won't see much difference. And as for prices, $30 is an exaggeration. Check out Amazon's Bestsellers in Blu-ray. Lots to be had under $20, and the only $30 regular movies I see are Taken (includes 2 discs) and Transformers 2.
Well, I don't believe $30 to be an exaggeration. I was at Target, and I noticed The Dark Knight and Serenity at $30. I didn't check Amazon, but that's probably because I don't hunt for BluRays.
Another reason I don't want to make the switch is I don't want to buy another TV. The one I have costs me lots of money I didn't have back in 2003. :)
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some in store demo's I've seem make excellent looking movies look horrible. But that was probably the TV it was playing on, not the BluRay.
I've noticed that too....some scenes on demo discs of Pirates of the Carribean, everything is flat and too crisp. Doesn't look cinematic...looks like an A&E made for cable movie.
It's got to be that they punch up sharpness on the TV and the demo disc both.
No, it's probably the 120 MHz refresh rate. It's something that the manufacturers have been pushing. Probably in an effort to make broadcast signals look "more Hi-Def". And it probably looks great for sports. But it also winds up making movies which are shot at 24 fps look strange, as if they were shot on video. And the cinematic quality of the image suffers.
EEEEEEnnnnnteresting. So if you have a 120hz set, can you set it to slow the framerate for movies?
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Check your owners manual for details like that.
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On a 26" TV you won't see much difference. And as for prices, $30 is an exaggeration. Check out Amazon's Bestsellers in Blu-ray. Lots to be had under $20, and the only $30 regular movies I see are Taken (includes 2 discs) and Transformers 2.
Well, I don't believe $30 to be an exaggeration. I was at Target, and I noticed The Dark Knight and Serenity at $30. I didn't check Amazon, but that's probably because I don't hunt for BluRays.
Another reason I don't want to make the switch is I don't want to buy another TV. The one I have costs me lots of money I didn't have back in 2003. :)
The movies are expensive, but if you're good with keeping up with sales then you can get the new ones for the same price as the collector edition DVDs ($20-$25) that you normally buy, or older movies for $10-$15.
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I'm sticking with DVD's because I'm slow like that on technology jumps. My harddrive on my PC is still only 20 gig, and not even half full. Technology, schmechnology.
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I just recently bought an HDTV but only because it was a hell of a deal I couldn't refuse. I won't be jumping into Blu-Ray for quite some time. For one, the price is way too expensive. Either $200 for a standalone player or $500 for a PS3, plus the $30-35 for movies. Another thing keeping me from switching to Blu-Ray is that it would look great for movies like Star Wars and The Dark Knight but is it really necessary for stuff like comedies and movies with no special effects? So I'd only be buying a handful of movies anyway, which isn't worth the investment at this point IMO.
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You can get a Playstation 3 bundled with two fantastic games for $399 (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9401417&st=killzone+2&lp=3&type=product&cp=1&id=1218099072505). ;)
I haven't bought any comedies I can think of... just stuff I'd watch a bunch of times over.
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I switched last January and I love it. Of the 1000 or so movies I've racked up, 300 are blu-ray.
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I got a Sony player last August. Quality is great, love the presentation. I'm pretty happy with it. The player itself is realllllly slow, however - just turning it on can take 2+ minutes before I can even get the disc tray to open out (if not longer). Loading the BDs takes some patience as well - being used to DVDs starting right up, it can be a little annoying. It's not unlike going from N64 to PS1 - you hated waiting for the load times, but once they did load, (often) the overall experience was better. That's the nerdiest analogy I could think of.
Anyway, that could be just my player, but it's not the most charming attribute. I also had to recently upgrade the software (another thing I never had to to with DVD) since some discs weren't loading up (Ghostbusters, for instance, which uses the newer Java based menus, etc.). Since I use a Mac, I had to special order an upgrade disc directly from Sony, as their website only had support for PCs. Not a big deal, but again, something that DVD never had an issue with.
Still, overall, it's great. I've only purchased about 15-20 BDs so far, as there haven't been a ton of releases that excited me, but the ones I have gotten really are fantastic, and it does seem to show an improvement in presentation of the DVDs I already had.
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What a difference a year makes. I'm glad I waited until recently to pick up a BR player. 2 minutes from turn on? Software upgrade? I picked my LG Blu Ray player up for just over 200 Canadian and it works basically the same as a DVD player.
The picture quality is night and day from DVD, it is an HD format and it shows.
Ever since I had to dump my most of my extensive VHS collection I have been reluctant to actually buy movies in mass quantities. Being a renter I find the selection to be quite limited. Even if I were to buy movies the selection is still quite limited.
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I got a PS3 the other day and I haven't hooked it up yet, but I'm going to rent a BR movie to compare to a standard DVD I already own of the same title just to see the difference as I've never really seen a side by side comparison.
BluRay discs are pretty expensive IMO. Been looking at them more closely at retail since I made my purchase so I dunno how far I want to dive into this new format.
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One alternative would be to buy a blu-ray reader for a computer. They can be found for as little as $59.
LITE-ON Black 4X BD-ROM 8X DVD-ROM 32X CD-ROM SATA Internal 4X Blu-ray Reader Model iHOS104-06 - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106325)
or a DVD burner that plays blu-rays for $109
Pioneer Black 5X BD-ROM 12X DVD-ROM 32X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-Ray Reader and 12X DVD±R DVD Burner Model BDC-2202B - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827129016)
or even a full blu-ray burner for $159
LITE-ON Black 4X BD-R 12X DVD+R 4X BD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Burner 4X Blu-ray Disc Triple DVD Burner Model DH-4B1S-13-VAC - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106254)
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BluRay discs are pretty expensive IMO. Been looking at them more closely at retail since I made my purchase so I dunno how far I want to dive into this new format.
That all depends on how careful you are. There's a "hot deals" forum at blu-ray.com that is phenomenal. I recently bought 9 movies at WBShop for $10.25 each. This was a week after buying 9 movies at Amazon for about $9 each.
I don't average anywhere NEAR $25+ per movie in my shopping. I'd say I probably average around $15 per disc, which is about the same that I was paying for DVD's. It's all about waiting until a week or three or five after the release and watching the sales.
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I haven't really paid attention to any of the deals out there for BluRay because I never had a player. I've been extremely frugal on my standard DVD's and I think I've only paid full price for some of the Disney flicks I own.
What would be a good movie to "experiment" with the quality between a standard disc and BR? Heck - I'd just like to see what a DVD looks like upconverted. Still haven't hooked up my PS3 yet...
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I haven't really paid attention to any of the deals out there for BluRay because I never had a player. I've been extremely frugal on my standard DVD's and I think I've only paid full price for some of the Disney flicks I own.
What would be a good movie to "experiment" with the quality between a standard disc and BR? Heck - I'd just like to see what a DVD looks like upconverted. Still haven't hooked up my PS3 yet...
I would try Transformers. One of the best PQ around.
But the difference is really night and day. Its like watching a regular channel vs a High-def channel.
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Amazon is running some killer sales.
Spaceballs $8.99 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001UN1KVE?tag=bluray-033-20)
Live Free of Die Hard $8.99 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VNMMQ6)
Raging Bull $8.99 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001JQTSG6)
The Passion of the Christ $8.99 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001JNNDGA)
Harry Potter pre-order $15.99 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ZELISO)
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Blah..I guess $10ish is a "good deal" for these BF dealeos, but I own most of them on DVD so I'm not too jazzed about them.
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I bought a PS3 in september 2008, so have had blu-ray since then. I still have a regular 100Hz. Panasonic 28" TV, but bought John Mayer's blu ray and got 300 and Watchmen as a gift. I can't wait to see those in full HD one day and I've been whining to my g/f about a HD TV for quite some time now ;)
And indeed, blu ray's taking over the shelves fast! But I think you have to look closely at the blu-ray disc's specs. If it's just a minor dvd concersion, I'll pass. But things like BBC's Earth boxset on blu-ray? Gonna buy it for sure. And SW of course, no matter how bad George will mess it up this time :P
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Amazon is running some killer sales.
Spaceballs $8.99 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001UN1KVE?tag=bluray-033-20)
Live Free of Die Hard $8.99 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VNMMQ6)
Raging Bull $8.99 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001JQTSG6)
The Passion of the Christ $8.99 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001JNNDGA)
Harry Potter pre-order $15.99 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ZELISO)
It goes beyond that...Amazon is doing a lot of sales over the last week or three. I don't know if they're all still like this but in the last few weeks I've ordered:
Seventh Seal (Criterion) - $17.99
Kagemusha (Criterion) - $17.99
Wages of Fear (Criterion) - $15.99
The Third Man (Criterion) - $19.99
Passion of the Christ - $8.99
Raging Bull - $8.99
Land of the Lost - $14.99
Drag me to Hell - $14.99
Revenge - $7.99
The Getaway - $9.99
Big Trouble in Little China - $12.99
Dogma - $7.99
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly - $11.49
Last Chance Harvey - $9.99
Blazing Saddles - $8.99
Donnie Darko - $10.49
Wedding Crashers - $9.99
Sunshine Cleaning - $9.99
Then there was the deal where you got like $50 off your order if you bought 6 from a list. That led to...
Army of Darknes
Shaun of the Dead
Hot Fuzz
Van Helsing (sucks I know, but if I added these last three movies the total only went up like $7.00)
King Kong
(and ordered a second King Kong)
All for about $40.00
And there are a bunch of pre-orders where Amazon has the best price too... I put in for:
District 9: $18.99
Inglorious Basterds: $18.99
Leon the Professional: $13.99
Public Enemies: $19.99
Terminator Salvation: $15.99
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince: $15.99
I spent too much this month, but the prices have been phenomenal. They seem to have new price drops just about every day.
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Is that $50-off deal still valid?
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It's over. The thread for it was here:
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=121074
The other hitch was that the first day, the prices were insanely low to begin with... most of the movies were like $15 or $16 and then you also got like $50 off when you ordered any 6. So I was just going to order Hot Fuzz, Army of Darkness, and Shaun of the Dead (you got like $20 off when you did 3). Van Helsing and King Kong were only $12.49 to begin with, and then you got another $30 off if you bought 6 total. So, it was only another $7.50 total to order 6 instead of 3.
The point of all that rambling, was that the prices all got jacked up on the second day, so it was a good deal but it stopped being a great one very soon after it went live.
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I'm looking to buy a second player for the bedroom... I'm looking for something that's not glitchy, has strong picture quality and loads reasonably quickly - without spending a fortune.
I don't care about wi-fi or BD-Live...
Any recommendations?
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Define "a fortune." PS3 is still one of the best out there, and one of the fastest to load.
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I recently purchased off ebay one of the PS3's that is backwards compatible so I could play some of my fave PS2 games and still get the newer PS3 titles (as PS2 is no longer being made for new titles)
Watched Iron Man on blu-ray as my first blu-ray viewing and have to admit the sound quality is excellent when paired with my stereo.
Hurt Locker also was very enjoyable to see on it.
Still have the high end pioneer dvd player there to watch dvd and burnt discs and USB based files so have best of both worlds.
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I havn't made the switch to bluRay yet. I don't know if I ever will. The way I see it technology is moving towards on demand streaming and digital copies. I see, just like CDs, that DVDs and BluRay are going to be a thing of the past in a couple of years.
Right now I'm ripping all of my DVDs to VOBs and storing them on my home server. Then I can use my 360 to stream them to the TV. Maybe someday I'll buy a BluRay reader for my computer to do rips.
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Define "a fortune." PS3 is still one of the best out there, and one of the fastest to load.
I was hoping for something between $150 and $200. I know the PS3 is a good deal, but I really don't need or want the system.
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My roommate got a PS3 so I'm slowly picking up Blu-rays for it. So far I've just grabbed a few that are cheap (my rule of thumb is $10 or less), or super cool like the Watchmen Complete Cut boxset. But it'll be a while before I'm at the point of rebuying stuff I have on DVD.
I agree that digital copies and Video On Demand are the wave of the future, but I think people will always want hard copies of favorite movies for their collection. E.g., I listen to Pandora and have a lot of random crap in my iTunes music library, but I still buy physical CDs for certain favorite bands or when I find a bargain.
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I agree that digital copies and Video On Demand are the wave of the future...
Eventually sure, but it's not as close as people think. Streaming netflix is great, if you don't give a crap about picture quality.
Getting a full 1080p stream to a player through the internet is still a ways off.
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Did you ever buy one Rob? Our trusy old DVD player (circa 1999) is getting finicky so it's time for a new player and it may as well be BluRay. I was hoping to get a Pioneer as I've had tremendous success with them over the years but it seems newer models are just rebadged models from others and maybe not so good, aside from start up speed.
Looking for suggestions that don't include PS3.
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Looking for suggestions that don't include PS3.
Buy a Sony then. ;)
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Did you ever buy one Rob? Our trusy old DVD player (circa 1999) is getting finicky so it's time for a new player and it may as well be BluRay. I was hoping to get a Pioneer as I've had tremendous success with them over the years but it seems newer models are just rebadged models from others and maybe not so good, aside from start up speed.
Looking for suggestions that don't include PS3.
I purchased a Pioneer Elite back around last Christmas. I would say there is somewhere in the neighborhood of a 15 to 30 second load time, but I've never clocked it. I'm not sure how that would compare to other units. The picture and sound are great and I've had no complaints with it except somehow you can turn off the continue feature (from where you stopped a disc). Not sure how I've done that on some discs, so it is a bit of a pain. I have to pull up the manual to see what I need to do to fix it.
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I haven't made the switch to Blu-Ray yet but when/if I do I have always strongly considered the PS3 - there are too many pros and little (no?) cons imo. It plays games in HD, supports Netflix (which is huge now as I am sure you all know), has always had wifi (which xbox is just now coming around to), internet browser, etc.
I already have an Xbox 360 so I probably wouldn't buy too many games on it - but there are a select few that are exclusive for PS that it wouldn't hurt to have it for (Gran Turismo anyone?).
Pretty much the only reason I haven't gone to BR yet is the cost issue of a couple of things -
1. do I really need to buy a new unit? the answer is no - I already have enough hobby/entertainment items
2. cost of bluray burners are high
3. cost of blank bluray media is/was high - this looks like it has been coming down recently
4. Finally, I am pretty satisfied with what I have going on now with my upscaling dvd player and plasma TV - I don't feel like I need better quality.
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From what I understand when it comes to Film transfers, the best Blu-Ray you can get are recent films.
Componies are not not transferring every classic with top notch quality.
The transfers on some of these are either not up to snuff or the media brings out flaws in a film that was not shot for Hi Def.
I would like Blu ray for recent films, but there are allot of older ones that I've seen on Blu-Ray that I would never re buy because I have what i think is the best version on DVD and the Blu Ray offers little more if that.
Films like Dawn of the Dead are a good example, no need for that on Blu-Ray IMO.
But I'd love to see Dark Knight and a host of other recent one on Blu Ray at home.
Not into the whole surround thing anymore, just stereo with two big speakers is good enough.(unless someone can tell me about cheap wireless speakers) I'll save the ultimate sound for my theatre experience.
cb
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I think it depends on the movie. I bought Close Encounters on Blu-ray, and it's gorgeous. Better than any previous presentation. But you need to be able to tolerate film grain to appreciate it. Anything shot on film (even the recent Pirates of the Caribbean movies) will have grain. On DVD you can't see it at all. On Blu-ray it's obvious. It's how the director intended it to look, but some viewers who are used to TV can't stand it. There are studios who are doing brilliant, faithful high-def transfers of catalog titles. And they look better than the films have looked anywhere since their original releases in theaters.
I'd recommend scanning the reviews on http://www.blu-ray.com. They're very picky about image quality. If you're worried if a catalog title is worth picking up, that's your place to check.
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A little while ago I rented Zombieland on BR and Ninja Assassin on DVD. I first watched Ninja Assassin on my HD TV and then Zombieland. Mindblowing difference between the two. Blu-Ray's the way for me. I recently bought BBC's Life series on BR (will buy Earth as well) and that is some pretty amazing stuff. Beautiful scenes, especially the ultra slow motion shots.
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I think it depends on the movie. I bought Close Encounters on Blu-ray, and it's gorgeous. Better than any previous presentation. But you need to be able to tolerate film grain to appreciate it. Anything shot on film (even the recent Pirates of the Caribbean movies) will have grain. On DVD you can't see it at all. On Blu-ray it's obvious. It's how the director intended it to look, but some viewers who are used to TV can't stand it. There are studios who are doing brilliant, faithful high-def transfers of catalog titles. And they look better than the films have looked anywhere since their original releases in theaters.
I'd recommend scanning the reviews on http://www.blu-ray.com. They're very picky about image quality. If you're worried if a catalog title is worth picking up, that's your place to check.
Thanks for the info. This was very informative. Its good to see that they are doing good transfers. I doubt the grain would bother me(I like seeing them as intended) so this post just moved me more toward Blu-Ray...
cb
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Microsoft Exec Declares Blu-ray (Nearly) Dead (http://www.gearlog.com/2010/09/microsoft_exec_declares_blu-ra.php)
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No vested interests there... ;)
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I agree...this isn't a simple VHS vs. Betamax or the evolution from Record to cassette to CD. While MP3's have been quite popular, if I want to purchase an actual album, I rather have something physical rather than just digital. MP3's are great if you just want a couple songs from an album.
Dial up internet hasn't completely disappeared at this point, so I don't see BluRay going away in favor of direct downloads. With all the talk of possibly taxing the internet or restricting usage based on amount downloaded, streaming video could die off first. A lot of "high speed" internet doesn't even run that fast for downloading a movie. I would much prefer using an On-Demand service than streaming video.
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Netflix streaming quality is ASS even on their HD titles. If there's something that's not offered on Blu-ray, or where I don't care about the quality of the image because I have time to kill, I occasionally use it. But really, if I actually care about the movie I'll hold out for a physical copy on Blu-ray.
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I was hoping for something between $150 and $200. I know the PS3 is a good deal, but I really don't need or want the system.
Never did find out if you picked one up or not. I finally grabbed a player, a Panasonic DMP BD-65 for $150 but I think you can find them Stateside for down around $100. Basically the price drop means it's already obsolete in Panasonic's mind but I wasn't worried about it as it's just meant to be an upgraded basic player for the family room. It has really good reviews in most places including AVS forum so I jumped in. The BD-85 has the wireless built in and rumors are that it is running around $150 in the U.S.
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Yeah, I went with the PS3. I decided that for the extra $100 I'd get the game system this time. People seem to say it's a nice player and with all the investment in the movie collection, it seemed like a good chance to pick up something nicer than a low-end model, while also getting the benefit of the gaming stuff.
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Yup, lots of people happy with the PS3. I'm just not sure what actually qualifies as a "low end" Bluray player these days given how rapidly the price of a $300 model becomes a $150 model. And I'm basically boycotting Sony these days anyway, so that wasn't an option.
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The nice thing about the PS3 is the firmware can be updated to allow it to play 3D Blurays, should you want to do that in the future. (I'm not personally interested in a 3D TV, but at least I know I don't have to buy a new player if I change my mind later)
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Ya I couldn't even log onto the PS Network a week or so back without that 3D upgrade. I have 0 interest, but like you said Jesse - nice to have.....just in case.
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This is kind of random, but for those of you who have made the switch to Blu-Ray, would you mind answering a few questions for me?
- Approximately when you bought your first BR player
- Why you switched to BR
- Do you own a PS3 or an actual BR player?
- Do you buy movies online or at retail, and why?
- Are you married/have kids?
Basically I'm trying to find out what demographic is buying Blu-Rays for a research project. All I've found is that college students still buy DVDs, and since BR had a $330 million profit in 2009, SOMEONE has to be buying it. BTW if you choose to answer, I'll be putting the responses in a paper for class, so just wanted to give a heads up.
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Approximately when you bought your first BR player - November 2006 (Playstation 3)
Why you switched to BR - Quality. As soon as I got an HDTV it didn't make sense to buy DVDs anymore.
Do you own a PS3 or an actual BR player? - PS3
Do you buy movies online or at retail, and why? - Almost exclusively online due to price and convenience.
Are you married/have kids? - Yes and yes.
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- Approximately when you bought your first BR player - September 2010
- Why you switched to BR - conventional DVD player bit the dust
- Do you own a PS3 or an actual BR player? - nope
- Do you buy movies online or at retail, and why? - retail - online isn't really as advanced as it should be here (Canada)
- Are you married/have kids? - yup/yup