Blue-Ray replaces High Def players

aclowers · 09-22-2008, 07:03 PM

I went to Blockbuster the other night and wanted to rent some high-def movies to play in my high-def player. They told me that they were no longer renting regular high-def movies, that blue-ray had replaced them. You cannot play the blue ray movies in your high def players, either.

Now, I have been pricing the Blue-Ray players and I think they may have jumped the gun a bit. Yes, the quality is very impressive. However, the prices of these new machines is unbelievable. Not many people are going to be able to afford them until the prices go down. So, here I am with a high-def dvd player and nothing to play in it.

Aaron62 · 09-22-2008, 08:05 PM

Oh my dad is going to be ************ed. Check out: Hd Dvd On The Way Out?: Blockbuster's Blu-ray Endorsement Having Major Impact on HD DVD Player Sales

Quote:

Blockbuster's decision to support Blu-ray in all of its 1,450 stores is having a bigger impact than it seems.

Blue-Ray players are wayyy too expensive yet. 1080P is such a great picture but, I don't want to pay $400 for a DVD player and $30-$40 for DVD's again. Besides, it's taken me almost 5 years to amass my 200 DVD collection!

Byte24 · 09-22-2008, 08:26 PM

You can't talk smack about Blue-Ray. It's so much better than HD anyway. Blu-Ray = 25GB/layer vs 15GB/layer for HD-DVD.

If there's one thing to complain about, why are we still using DVDs! Switch to something smaller and more durable.

Fardreamer · 09-23-2008, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aclowers

I went to Blockbuster the other night and wanted to rent some high-def movies to play in my high-def player. They told me that they were no longer renting regular high-def movies, that blue-ray had replaced them. You cannot play the blue ray movies in your high def players, either.

Now, I have been pricing the Blue-Ray players and I think they may have jumped the gun a bit. Yes, the quality is very impressive. However, the prices of these new machines is unbelievable. Not many people are going to be able to afford them until the prices go down. So, here I am with a high-def dvd player and nothing to play in it.

You know, though, the fact that Sony decided to reverse its previous stance of cooperation regarding formats when the DVD was developed a decade and a half ago to avoid "format wars" a la VHS vs. Beta really bites! Sony should have tried to get together with Toshiba and co-developed Blu-ray and made it the standard HD home video format from Day One.

Sony should also have made the Blu-ray players "downward compatible" so it could play DVDs until that format is phased out. Just my two cents' worth as a consumer.

40yearfan · 10-15-2008, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fardreamer

You know, though, the fact that Sony decided to reverse its previous stance of cooperation regarding formats when the DVD was developed a decade and a half ago to avoid "format wars" a la VHS vs. Beta really bites! Sony should have tried to get together with Toshiba and co-developed Blu-ray and made it the standard HD home video format from Day One.

Sony should also have made the Blu-ray players "downward compatible" so it could play DVDs until that format is phased out. Just my two cents' worth as a consumer.

Hey Fardreamer. I have been in the market for a Blu-Ray DVD player recently and am trying to convince my wife that the Sony BDP-S350 would make a great birthday present for my birthday in November.

I've spent a lot of time researching this unit and it is "downward compatable" as far as playing other DVD formats or being able to hook into non-HD televisions. It won't play the HD format DVD's, but it will play any other DVD you might have in your collection and even has a feature to upgrade your regular DVD's to the 1080p format. The regular DVD's will look better, but of course, they won't come up to the clarity of a real 1080p DVD.

According to buy.com, it will play these video formats:

Video Features:
BD-R/RE Read Compatibility: Yes (BDMV and BAAB format)
DVD+R Read Compatibility: Yes
DVD+RW Read Compatibility: Yes
DVD-R Read Compatibility: Yes (Video Mode AVR Mode
DVD-RW Read Compatibility: Yes (Video Mode AVR Mode
JPEG Playback: Yes

And these are the outputs it has:

Inputs and Outputs:
Analog Audio Output(s): 2 Channel: 1 (Rear)
Coaxial Audio Digital Output(s): 1 (Rear)
Component Video (Y/Pb/Pr) Output(s): (Y/Pb/Pr) OUtput(s):1 (Rear)
Composite Video Output(s): 1 (Rear)
Optical Audio Output(s): 1 (Rear)
S-Video Output(s): 1 (Rear)

The best price I've found for this unit so far is here:

SONY, Sony BDP-S350 Blu-ray Disc Player - BD-RE, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, CD-R - BD Video, DVD Video, MP3, JPEG, LPCM Playback - Progressive Scan, BDPS350, Reviews

If you plan on buying one from here, they are down to 289 units left and they had over 1100 units less than one week ago.

Edit: Forgot to put the buy.com website in I was quoting:

http://www.buy.com/prod/sony-bdp-s35...208670547.html

acwriter · 10-15-2008, 11:03 AM

Thanks 40yearfan for posting that link. I repped ya. It is a good price on this website at $243.99. I checked both Best Buy and Circuit City and these players are listed at $299.99. Since I have never bought anything from thenerds.net, do they have a good insurance and return policy? One thing I love about both Best Buy and Circuit City is that they have great insurance for their items. Sure, you have to pay more for them, but it is so worth it. As you know with technology anything can go wrong.

I bought a laptop from Circuit City and am so thankful that if I drop it, they will give me a new one. Laptop batteries are around $150 each and you have to replace them every year. Under my insurance plan they are free. That alone pays for the insurance I bought. I have had to take my laptop in several times for service and it would have cost a fortune if not for the insurance, but I didn't have to pay anything.

I don't know if I would buy the accidental insurance for the blue-ray, but knowing that they stand by their insurance and their products, may be worth the extra fifty dollars. Anybody buy from thenerds.net and have experience with their products and/or insurance?

datadee · 11-09-2008, 02:24 PM

Wow, 49yearfan. I had no idea you could get a backward compatible Blu-Ray player. Thank you so much for this information.

jack · 12-21-2008, 06:05 AM

Blu-ray, also known as Blu-ray Disc (BD), is the name of a next-generation optical disc format jointly developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA).he format was developed to enable recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition video (HD), as well as storing large amounts of data.Movies in High Definition is the key with Blue Ray. If picture quality matters to you then go with blue ray vs. a standard dvd

Fardreamer · 12-26-2008, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 40yearfan

Hey Fardreamer. I have been in the market for a Blu-Ray DVD player recently and am trying to convince my wife that the Sony BDP-S350 would make a great birthday present for my birthday in November.

I've spent a lot of time researching this unit and it is "downward compatable" as far as playing other DVD formats or being able to hook into non-HD televisions. It won't play the HD format DVD's, but it will play any other DVD you might have in your collection and even has a feature to upgrade your regular DVD's to the 1080p format. The regular DVD's will look better, but of course, they won't come up to the clarity of a real 1080p DVD.

According to buy.com, it will play these video formats:

Video Features:
BD-R/RE Read Compatibility: Yes (BDMV and BAAB format)
DVD+R Read Compatibility: Yes
DVD+RW Read Compatibility: Yes
DVD-R Read Compatibility: Yes (Video Mode AVR Mode
DVD-RW Read Compatibility: Yes (Video Mode AVR Mode
JPEG Playback: Yes

And these are the outputs it has:

Inputs and Outputs:
Analog Audio Output(s): 2 Channel: 1 (Rear)
Coaxial Audio Digital Output(s): 1 (Rear)
Component Video (Y/Pb/Pr) Output(s): (Y/Pb/Pr) OUtput(s):1 (Rear)
Composite Video Output(s): 1 (Rear)
Optical Audio Output(s): 1 (Rear)
S-Video Output(s): 1 (Rear)

The best price I've found for this unit so far is here:

SONY, Sony BDP-S350 Blu-ray Disc Player - BD-RE, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, CD-R - BD Video, DVD Video, MP3, JPEG, LPCM Playback - Progressive Scan, BDPS350, Reviews

If you plan on buying one from here, they are down to 289 units left and they had over 1100 units less than one week ago.

Edit: Forgot to put the buy.com website in I was quoting:

Sony BDP-S350 - Blu-ray DVD Player - BDP-S350 - Buy.com

Ah. Since we last "talked" about the subject, I went ahead and bought a Blu-ray player. Not a Sony one but a Samsung, and you were right. It is downward compatible with standard DVDs, and when connected to an LCD TV with a HDMI cable, it offers a really great image and clear sound, too.

pghmyn · 03-15-2009, 06:23 PM

I don't understand what the big hype with Blu-Ray players is. The quality of a High Definition DVD is so good, I didn't think it could get any better. I didn't notice much of a difference between the HD DVD and a Blu Ray. Maybe it's just me, but it's not worth it right now.


Home \| DTV & HD News \| Today's Posts \| JakesDTVBlog.com Interview \| Join DTV USA Forum