? Blu-Ray vs DVD

[zxcvbob]

I don't watch much TV or DVD's, but I do some.  Wife watches a lot more of both than I do.  Biggest TV in the house is a 36" or maybe it's 37".

Amazon has a box set that I want on Blu-Ray for about $40 cheaper than the same thing on DVD.  For $40, I can get a refurbished LG Blu-Ray player.  

Is this pricing difference a new thing, or just a one-time apparition?  (aberration?)  I can wait for the price to drop on the DVD set; I'm in no hurry.  Is there some reason that I really want a BR player and just don't know it yet?

[makattak]

I've been thinking about getting Band of Brothers, too.

I can't speak to all the improvements a Blue-Ray player has, but it can play all your Dvd's as well. No need to think of it like when the Dvd replaced the VCR.

But the current price difference is likely just an aberration.

[mtnbkr]

I've been seeing the price difference a lot lately.  The last few BD were cheaper than their DVD counterpart.  I think they're trying to push DVD out in order to standardize on BD.

Chris

[CNYCacher]

I've been seeing the price difference a lot lately.  The last few BD were cheaper than their DVD counterpart.  I think they're trying to push DVD out in order to standardize on BD.

I think that theory might have been right 5 years ago.  More likely now they are trying to sell off as much BR stock as they can while people are still buying discs. Streaming is taking over.  I never made the jump to BR and I probably never will, since for less than the price of the disc, I can buy a movie in HD on Amazon and stream it any time.

[Perd Hapley]

I assume the advantage of Blue Ray is that Blue Ray discs won't have commercials for Blue Ray on them.

[makattak]

I assume the advantage of Blue Ray is that Blue Ray discs won't have commercials for Blue Ray on them.

No, just for upgrading your dvd's to Blue Ray. Disney is one of the worst for this.

[mtnbkr]

I think that theory might have been right 5 years ago.  More likely now they are trying to sell off as much BR stock as they can while people are still buying discs. Streaming is taking over.  I never made the jump to BR and I probably never will, since for less than the price of the disc, I can buy a movie in HD on Amazon and stream it any time.

I guess.  We've purchased a few digital copies for the portable devices and a couple items for streaming, but we still buy stuff on disk for the kids.

No, just for upgrading your dvd's to Blue Ray. Disney is one of the worst for this.

They at least sell combo packs, which is nice.  We keep the BD in the den with the BD player and send the DVD upstairs to the kids' rooms or rip it for the portable devices.

Chris

[Brad Johnson]

Be careful with refurb units.  I got my Blu Ray as a refurb, but as a factory unit.  Third-party sourced refurbs could easily be older, outdated players that may have compatibility issues.  I think the current UDF standard is 2.5.  Most recent players conform to the 2.0 standard (around for a couple years) and can be upgraded via the interwebz or a hard patch on CD.  Some, though, require return to the factory.

Also, the cheap (new cost) players tend to be slow and problematic.  Think full minutes of startup time, menu access, etc..  They also tend to have very clunky interfaces.

You can get a really good new unit with built-in wifi for under a hundred bucks.  I saw some at Sam's last weekend.  The players on display were Samsung and Sony, but other mfgs have units in that same price range.  Check out Amazon.  Be sure to read the ad very carefully.  A lot of players still pull the "Wi-Fi capable/ready" trick.  Sure, the unit is Wi-Fi capable, but requires a separately purchased dongle to turn "capable of" into "can".

Finally, if you're thinking of running your Netflix through your new BR player, a word of caution.  The Samsung player I purchased got rave reviews for the Netflix interface.  However, compared to the xBox interface, the BR interface is slow, clunky, and frustrating.  Pic quality is about the same.

Brad

[Sergeant Bob]

Be careful with refurb units.  I got my Blu Ray as a refurb, but as a factory unit.  Third-party sourced refurbs could easily be older, outdated players that may have compatibility issues.  I think the current UDF version is 2.5.  Most recent players that conform to the 2.0 standard that was around for a couple years can be upgraded via the interwebz or a hard patch on CD.  Some, though, require return to the factory.

Also, the cheap (new cost) players tend to be slow and problematic.  Think full minutes of startup time, menu access, etc..  They also tend to have very clunky interfaces.

You can get a really good new unit with built-in wifi for under a hundred bucks.  I saw some at Sam's last weekend.  The players on display were Samsung and Sony, but other mfgs have units in that same price range.  Check out Amazon.  Be sure to read the ad very carefully.  A lot of players still pull the "Wi-Fi capable/ready" trick.  Sure, the unit is Wi-Fi capable, but requires a separately purchased dongle to turn "capable of" into "can".

Finally, if you're thinking of running your Netflix through your new BR player, a word of caution.  The Samsung player I purchased got rave reviews for the Netflix interface.  However, compared to the xBox interface, the BR interface is slow, clunky, and frustrating.  Pic quality is about the same.

Brad

Lots 'O' good info there Brad. Thanks!

[RevDisk]

Finally, if you're thinking of running your Netflix through your new BR player, a word of caution.  The Samsung player I purchased got rave reviews for the Netflix interface.  However, compared to the xBox interface, the BR interface is slow, clunky, and frustrating.  Pic quality is about the same.

This is why I own a Roku box. v5.x of their software is VERY nice, and has several hundred channels. Most are junk, but it has Netflix, Amazon, and NASA. Interfaces are alright.

[Ben]

I also stream through a Roku box.

I'm also one of the people skipping Blue Ray. My only need for a DVD player at this point is to play the DVDs I have already collected over the years, and for Netflix DVDs I rent, only because the content isn't streaming. Some of that is modern TV shows, but a good portion is older movies that aren;t available streaming, and Blue Ray won't make much of a difference for something filmed in the 1930s.

Anything that I buy now versus rent, I buy through Amazon Instant View. My full video library is always with me as long as I have the interwebz, and when I go somewhere with no connectivity, I can download content  beforehand to most any device to watch offline.

[AZRedhawk44]

I have a BR player, and a handful of BR titles, but my primary use of my player is to watch Netflix/Amazon/Plex.

My player is a Sony, and I also find the interface clunky.  I own a Roku and it's on loan to a friend right now, but the Roku does have a much smoother interface for Netflix.  I don't care for Amazon's interface on any service.  I find the font too grainy and small.

I have ripped all my home DVD titles to digital and stored them on a home media server NAS, which acts as a Plex server... basically, my own little Netflix service.  I can even access Plex over VPN remotely.


Samsung and LG players are rumored to have the best Plex client integration, which I intend to experiment with once I am back home and have my next paycheck come in.  I'll be getting one of those two and replacing my Sony since the generic DLNA client isn't as smooth as a proper Plex client.  Roku also has a Plex channel that allows you to connect to a home media server.  Great interface on that.

[CNYCacher]

Agreed. Roku is where it's at.

Did you guys hear about the new version coming out?  There's going to be a headphone jack in the remote.

[zahc]

I have a roku, but I've been thinking about a BR player just so I can start using BR discs from Redbox, which is a nice supplement to Netflix and Amazon. The invention of BR means that the Redbox DVD inventory is shrinking.

Since I'm now addicted to Prime, I let my Netflix lapse for the time being. I can usually find something to watch on Prime the whole 3 hours a month I want to watch TV.

I'm slightly annoyed at the Netflix description of "HD" which they seem to put on everything. A lot of it comes from lower-def sources so it doesn't exactly look "HD".

[freakazoid]

I don't stream, prefer to have physical copies of things.

[MechAg94]

I don't stream either.  Sony Blue Ray players have been under $100 for a while now. 

As for that versus DVD, somes movies don't see improvement, some do.  Or maybe I should say that I notice the difference on some movies quite a bit and others the improvement is less noticeable. 

[lupinus]

I like the blu ray players, if for nothing else than they can play DVDs just fine right along with Blu Ray. And prices are very reasonable these days.

But I still stream more than anything else. Mainly for the fact that more often then not I rent a movie. Theres just very few titles that I will watch enough times to warrant buying. So when I do, it's usually when I find it on a damn good deal.