I made up my mind, NO BLU FOR ME!!!

I know, a few of you will say "who cares about what you want IB." But what made up my mind, is the news coming about SONY doing what I expected all along. You know they almost duped me, and I am sure there a few more HD DVD supporters who feel the same.
Ok no more freebie Spiderman 2 packed in the PS3 and the SONY stand alone player. Which means no more freebie nothing. News that preices will explode when summer 2008 arrives. News that Blu Ray movies prices will sky rocket in the future. This is what made me NO BLU FOR ME. I was almost tricked, seriously, but not me.
So I will take my dead A2 and soak up all the HD DVD titles I can get my hands on. I will enjoy what I have and hope maybe one day SONY will jump off that high horse of theirs and look at the little guys, you know the consumer. The ones who buy their products and keeps them flying high.Maybe they will lower their prices so all can enjoy the NEW format. I doubt it, but who knows?

IB I feel your pain as a long term (Toshiba A1) HD DVD supporter. BUT....the MOST important thing for me is getting HD content, so I now own a Blu Ray deck too. Just swallow hard and jump in, HD in Blu is better than nothing.

I recently bought the Samsung BDP-1400, and have had ZERO problems with it (there were major issues when it was first released prior to FW updates apparently). The deck cost me $400 but I think the price will drop big time on these non profile 2.0 players as we head into Christmas.

IB, I feel ya there. I felt comfortable with HD-DVD for all the known reasons. Blu-Ray hasn't been stable for any reason. I have to say that until the right hardware comes out, and the pricing, and content are right, that's when to get into Blu-Ray.

I have to say though, it's easy to get duped when it's basically one-sided. When there's two sides to every argument, it's easy to find the ideal solution.

Honestly, who really cares about Spider-Man 3? I already have it on normal DVD, and it's far from the best movie in the world.

Anyway, with my Blu-ray player I got to choose any 2 movies that I wanted in the store, and to me that's much better than Spider-Man. I picked up Apocalypto and Pan's Labyrinth.

The player also just went on sale, so I also just got $56 back. W00T!

So these none-2.0 profile blu ray players... there's no way to upgrade them at all?

Hey Hood what did you pay total for your Blu Ray player?

I know Hood, Spidey 3 sucked big time. But my whole point was no more freebies from SONY.

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So these none-2.0 profile blu ray players... there's no way to upgrade them at all?

Nope...no upgrade option. I've never used the online features with my Toshiba A1, so I didn't care about that for my Blu player. At least the Samsung BDP-1400 still has an ethernet port for firmware updates.

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Ok no more freebie Spiderman 2 packed in the PS3 and the SONY stand alone player. Which means no more freebie nothing. News that prces will explode when summer 2008 arrives. News that Blu Ray movies prices will sky rocket in the future. This is what made me NO BLU FOR ME. I was almost tricked, seriously, but not me.

I don't know where this news is coming from, but I don't doubt it.

Don't you think this has been the plan all along? Of course it has. Those who seriously think that market forces will drive the price of BD products down are fooling themselves big time. There are no market forces any more because there is no competition. HD entertainment media software is now controlled by a cartel whose sole purpose is to impose higher priced products and more restrictive controls on the the consumer. Can you think of anything manufactured by Sony that is actually cheaper then the competition? Not a whole lot, right? Then why should BD be any different? If you plan to buy into BD, be prepared to pay for it.

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So these none-2.0 profile blu ray players... there's no way to upgrade them at all?

No, not all of them. And that's just another reason why downloads are NOT going to kill Blu-Ray. When the 2.0 players hit the shelves, all the 1.0 and 1.1 players will be a lot cheaper than they are now, and they will still sell because many consumers don't really care about special features anyways.

[Post edited by hoodaguy on Feb 26, 2008]

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Hey Hood what did you pay total for your Blu Ray player?

About $500. It really only cost me about half that though, since I had a bunch of gift cards from my birthday and Christmas last year that I kind of put in a drawer for something like this.

You know guys, It gave me great rejoice in purchasing a BR drive for my PC. I fell I can screw Sony in other ways!!! LOL

One thread was from here Steve, and general information on the net is that the movies will increase in prices.

IB,

I saw the thread after the fact. Thank you. I would like to say that I will never give in and buy into BD, but I know that, in the end, I will. My wife says that I have no resistance to new toys. She's probably right!

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I saw the thread after the fact. Thank you. I would like to say that I will never give in and buy into BD, but I know that, in the end, I will. My wife says that I have no resistance to new toys. She's probably right!

I saw the thread after the fact. Thank you. I would like to say that I will never give in and buy into gasoline, but I know that, in the end, I will. My friends says that I have no resistance to driving. They're probably right!

But Tim, you could buy one of these!


[Post edited by StevePro on Feb 26, 2008]

I went Blu last weekend. I'm still the proud owner of a HD-A30. Bottom line - I love HD content.

I decided to pull the trigger on a 40gb PS3 and buy from SonyStyle.com. They're currently offering $100.00 credit on your first qualifying purchase. Of course you have to open an account with them. But hey, 12 months no interest until the credit shows up on the statement. Pay it off and close the account. Did have to pay tax though.

My reasoning for the PS3 was strictly for it's multimedia & Blu capabilities. Have a Xbox360 & Wii that I'm more than happy to game on. Have yet to hook the PS3 up and have no expectation to see an increase in PQ between it and the HD-A30.

[Post edited by aVs75 on Feb 26, 2008]

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No, not all of them. And that's just another reason why downloads are NOT going to kill Blu-Ray. When the 2.0 players hit the shelves, all the 1.0 and 1.1 players will be a lot cheaper than they are now, and they will still sell because many consumers don't really care about special features anyways.

I think the 1.0 and 1.1 Blu players are going to sell because the average consumer won't know the difference and probably won't understand (or know) that they aren't full compatible with all the special features on the discs. They will sell simply because they are cheaper. I know there are some who don't care about special features, but I'd imagine that many of those people would still be upset that their very expensive BR players could not take full advantage of every feature on their BR movies.

OK, so you think that Average Joe will buy the profile 1.0 blu-ray player, then pop-in Ratatouille without knowing that maybe Ratatouille won't play? Average Joe won't care about updating!

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Average Joe won't care about updating!

Since firmware updating was a necessary thing to do with HD DVD (and still is), I'm not sure what format you're talking about here? Are you insulting my HD DVD player again?

Ok so you mean SONY had no idea that 1.0 and the 1.1 Blu Ray players would not let you take full advantage of the Blu Ray movies? It looks like me, that they used their loyal customers as guiny pigs. The price of those stand alone players and they did not work to their full capacity, what a con.

IB... blah, blah, blah and blah.

Like the A3 has 7.1 analog audio outs, 1080p, and DTS HD Master Audio decoding? And will a firmware upgrade help?

Give us a break. HD DVD is dead. Done. Stick a fork in it, and quit your freakin' crying. You should be over this by now. It's not like your wife or children died. It's not even human for God's sake! This grieving process among you dorks has got to end soon, or I'm gonna puke!

You know what Hawk F You you prick, make a statement and referance towards my wife and child like that. Your a pure asshole!

[Post edited by InvisibleBiker on Feb 26, 2008]

IB dude, I just said you can't compare the death of HD DVD to your family, including your wife and children. You have to get a grip on reality, before its too late. I've given you fanboys a break to get over this grieving thing and haven't said anything much about Blu-ray winning. But with your latest posts it seems you've seriously crossed the line between reality and compete mayhem.

Are you alright?

[Post edited by Skyhawk on Feb 26, 2008]

Hawk you can make any reference you want about me and my post, but keep the family out of it. And I am totally over this format war, I am just making a statement about what I read on here. Like I told vortex, you would think SONY would do more to lure HD DVD supporters to the bBlu Ray side. But with the news I read here and other sites, it just boggles my mind. Yes eventually I will go Blu, but prices have to drop. Now does that sound like a guy who is obsessed with the whole HD DVD thing?

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This grieving process among you dorks has got to end soon, or I'm gonna puke!

/agrees

First I would never insult your family, as I don't know you or them. All I said was that you shouldn't be taking the death of your exclusive format in the same way you would the death of family. My entire point was: "IT"S NOT THAT IMPORTANT!". I just attempted to let you know how trivial this is in the scheme of things. And FYI, my first wife did die at the age of 26 of cancer and lost my first unborn child when I was also the same age, so I know what the hell I'm talking about. This means nothing - NOTHING in comparison. It's just a dumb, stupid container for holding digital data to be reconstituted to the movies we all enjoy watching in HD glory. Blu-ray or HD DVD it doesn't matter. Blu-ray won, but my 81 HD DVD movies still play fine. Just get a grip. I did long ago, and perhaps the adversity of real life that was actually important helped.

I do have a grip really I do. I said eventually I will adopt Blu, but not until the price comes down.

I guess it's my turn to play the peace maker.

this just in! BR discs cheaper than they were 28 days ago. They are trying to dump product on us, they must be desperate!!!
http://www.eproductwars.com/dvd/

mvckalel:

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OK, so you think that Average Joe will buy the profile 1.0 blu-ray player, then pop-in Ratatouille without knowing that maybe Ratatouille won't play? Average Joe won't care about updating!

That's not what I said. I'm saying that they will probably sell because the average consumer doesn't know about the different Blu profiles and things like that. The average consumer is not educated on technology at all. I couldn't tell you how many people I have talked to that have paid well over $1,000 for TVs and they couldn't even tell me if it was 720p or 1080p.



InvisibleBiker:

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Ok so you mean SONY had no idea that 1.0 and the 1.1 Blu Ray players would not let you take full advantage of the Blu Ray movies? It looks like me, that they used their loyal customers as guiny pigs. The price of those stand alone players and they did not work to their full capacity, what a con.

Yeah... that's basically it.

i been suspicious about blu since the start, ps3?...forget it....not interested.
was looking at some "reputable" bd players i might have been interested by, pioneer bd @ £900 approx, not even full function so no thanks...$ony is out of the question full stop, samsung or lg.....now i have to admit to being a bit of a snob about "cheap name brands", if i were to get one of those it would be a dual and a very reluctant purchase as i dont want bd

so for my part...sd dvd wins.

I bought American Gangster in SD DVD? Weird I know, but I bought the regular version...

Invisible, I like the way you think. Unfortunately, many blu adopters have gotten into BR because of the PS3's abilities to be 'future proof'. They don't give a shit about those that don't know and will be buying a SA player that won't be able to play bonus content. I think it's time we stop giving a shit about it either.

We didn't get duped into buying an HD-DVD player, we were just cheated out of not being able to buy more movies for it. You and I (and many others) will wait until there is a player that is 2.0, upgradeable, and affordable. We are the educated consumer, and even though we'd like to make a difference, the BDA is going to get away with suckering people into buying broken players. And Sky, the issue about 1080p and audio codecs is pretty worthless to somebody who bought an A2 for $98. Or to somebody that doesn't have an $800 hdmi capable receiver. Bonus content on the other hand is relevant to EVERY single buyer. Maybe not everyone will care, but unlike the 'limited' capabilities of HD-DVD players you mentioned, the missing features of BR players (which isn't affected by lack of extra hardware to take advantage of 1080p or TrueHD audio) will affect more people.

I don't give a crap about the PS3's capabilities, and I refuse to be Sony's puppet. Right now if you want to get into BR, you need to buy an expensive player that will have limited features, or a PS3, even if you don't need a gaming console. That's ridiculous, so I'm staying away. So let these guys enjoy their decision, and when their system goes DRE on them, maybe they won't have the nerve to post that here, and I guess it really shouldn't matter to us, but I hope it makes them realize what makes us 'anti-blu' boys so bitter.

This is the thing: Average Joe will buy a $1,000 720p 42"...then he will be lured into a 'cheap' blu-ray player. Most of the times, Average Joe doesn't care about special features, he just cares about being able to watch a movie.

OK, so he buys the blu-ray player, pops in Ratatouille for the kids and...it randomly stops/freezes (according to some reports). What is he going to do? What is he going to do about updates when his SD DVD player has never needed one, and he doesn't know what or how to update?

Oh, and I agree Fumbled.

EDIT: BTW Skyhawk, I haven't updated my $98 HD-A2 and I haven't had a problem so far...oh, and really, I don't get your bitterness towards HD DVD and your fanboyism towards blu-ray.

[Post edited by mvckalel on Feb 27, 2008]

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BTW Skyhawk, I haven't updated my $98 HD-A2 and I haven't had a problem so far...oh, and really, I don't get your bitterness towards HD DVD and your fanboyism towards blu-ray.

I'm bitter because I spent more than 4 times that amount for my HD-A2!

In all seriousness, you're really looking at the world through rose colored glasses. Put on the purple glasses and you'll see everything in a whole new light and you'll stop making up stupid crap that for the most part I ignore.

PS. And if I were you I'd also consider doing a firmware update for your HD-A2, as the manual and that little slip of paper in the disks recommends. Since you're always hyping the internet features, I'm sure you have your player connected to the internet anyway. Just look in the manual for directions. It only takes a few minutes.

Edit: Are you excited about buying a PS3 yet?

[Post edited by Skyhawk on Feb 27, 2008]

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PS. And if I were you I'd also consider doing a firmware update for your HD-A2, as the manual and that little slip of paper in the disks recommends. Since you're always hyping the internet features, I'm sure you have your player connected to the internet anyway. Just look in the manual for directions. It only takes a few minutes.

Edit: Are you excited about buying a PS3 yet?

Hey HD, thanks for the support, man I needed you when I was getting dry gulched the last few days. (vortex you are still ok with me though) Thats all I have been trying to say. I am not overly obsessive with my support for HD DVD. When it is 100%, totally in the ground throw dirt on it call the coorinor, put it in a pine box DEAD, then I will move on. Until then, I will continue to be very caucious about Blu Ray and SONY and try to build up my HD DVD collection.
I love movies, and I would love to have some of the Blu Ray titles, but the price has to come down for me.

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I love movies, and I would love to have some of the Blu Ray titles, but the price has to come down for me.

That's understandable. There are a lot of people who are in the same boat as you. See, I just didn't couldn't wait for prices to drop or players to have better features. I was itching to get into high-def for quite a while as I've been following the development of Blu-ray for at least 5-6 years, and when I finally found a great deal online last year for a brand new first generation player, I just had to pounce on it. All I cared about was the great picture and sound improvement that came with the experience, and I haven't been disappointed at all. As far as the feature set of my current player is concerned, it is really unimportant. I know that in a year, I'll probably own at least 3 or 4 players and pc drives and they will all be full profile. By that time, this argument about Blu-ray not having finished specs and this and that will be a moot point. All anyone will care about is how great the movies look and sound, and what great new and innovative special features studios will include on their releases.

Invisible, no prob. I've cut down on my posting here because of Blu's victory. Our arguments now hold less water simply because we lost. As vortex said, in a few years, players prices will be down and (hopefully) all these compatibility issues will be ironed out. Until that time comes, I'll be picking up titles that I still can on HD-DVD, just like you.

I like to indulge in debate - it gets my mind working more than many things I do, but it sucks when it no longer makes a difference what you think. I'm guessing that Sony and the BDA will eventually get things right, but until they do, HD-DVD is good enough for me.

First of all, I have never 'hyped' about the whole internet/HD DVD interactivity thing (and I'm not even going to start with the blu-ray Live thing, ugh)...also, even thou the PS3 thing wasn't aimed at me, I could've been excited (as I was) about getting a PS3 a long ago, like a couple of months after it was released (and when my bro didn't have his X360 Elite), not now.

As just so you know, I don't put rose, red, pink, or blue glasses to see the 'format wars', I don't think most of us are biased towards attacking or commenting about a format. Actually, just looking thru your bear eyes will help you see without biased, it's a suggestion for many of you...