Blu Ray vs. HD-DVD: The final nail in the coffin

[Flint]

Back at S&V I debated and argued with many on this forum about the superiority, market scale, and support for Blu Ray technology over HD-DVD. One of the biggest most often argued case against Blu Ray was the cost of the players since Toshiba was essentially giving away players below cost in a desperate bid to save their asses.

Well, I was browsing around Amazon today looking at a potential upgrade from my second generation PS3 which is growing too annoying with its loud fan and astounding ability to collect dust when I realized the whole player pricing issue has been completely eliminated as I had predicted in my posts back during the format war.

Today you can buy Blu Ray players for as little a $50 for a standard model and $110 for a 3D capable version. These are not crappy slapped together prototypes like the awful Toshiba HD-DVD players they were attempting to steal the market with. They are extremely well designed, easy to use, simple to install models with the quality, size, and features everyone needs.

I have no idea how long prices have been this low, but I've been told by others regular players have been this affordable for over a year. Wow!

So, just to drive the last nail in the coffin for HD-DVD, and to rub it in one last time...

I TOLD YOU SO!!!

 

[Orbison]

Today you can buy Blu Ray players for as little a $50 for a standard model and $110 for a 3D capable version. These are not crappy slapped together prototypes like the awful Toshiba HD-DVD players they were attempting to steal the market with. They are extremely well designed, easy to use, simple to install models with the quality, size, and features everyone needs.

So when are you getting one of those Oppo $500 players? :teasing-tease:

 

[Flint]

I am seriously considering the Sony 770.

 

[DIYer]

Is it really worth extra $50 - $100 compared to 570?

 

[-B-]

Boscovs has the Panasonic BD-65 for $99

 

[PaulyT]

Flint, the 570 and 770 are 99.9% identical, there's no reason I can see to spend the extra on the 770 unless you have other sony bravia components to connect it to.

 

[Huey]

The one thing I will add, is that I never saw a bad looking hd-dvd, in the short time
i had it. Bluray's continue to be hit or miss, although the quality has vastly improved.

Not sure on the specs of the 770, but the 570 is great player. Quiet, FAST loading, and has played everything I have thrown at it.
Rob

 

[Flint]

You're kidding, right? I saw plenty of bad looking HD-DVDs, but in general the movies used for their short livetime were pretty good to start with. Though a few directors were disappointed by the studios cleaning up the noise they intended to be present in their movies when they made the HD-DVD versions of their work.

 

[Haywood]

I was going to buy an Oppo at some point, but I've decided that when the time comes I'm going to pick up a PS3 Slim. They've basically fixed all of the heat and noise issues and there isn't a Blu-Ray on the market that is as versatile, especially now that they've got such great Netflix, Hulu Plus and Vudu clients on the PS3. I am gradually spreading PS3s around the house and expect that they may eventually displace some of my dedicated Blu-Ray machines. This has as much to do with the PS3s local streaming capabilities as anything else. I currently stream my WMAL music to the PS3s as uncompressed PCM and the sound quality is excellent. I also like having the ability to stream downloaded and ripped video content across my network, as well as the ability to share photos. Given that the PS3 is arguably the 2nd best DVD upscaler after the Oppo and remains one of the top BD players on the market and given that they have corrected most of the issues with the first and second generation machines, I don't really see a compelling case for high-end stand-alone players.

 

[Huey]

You're kidding, right? I saw plenty of bad looking HD-DVDs, but in general the movies used for their short livetime were pretty good to start with. Though a few directors were disappointed by the studios cleaning up the noise they intended to be present in their movies when they made the HD-DVD versions of their work.

I would never shit you, you're my favorite turd!

Seriously though, for the fifteen minutes that I owned a hd-dvd, all of them looked really good. I did not have a bluray player to compare it to, so it could just be the wow factor of HD. On the other hand, when I did get my first bluray, I remember feeling underwhelmed by the quality of some movies. I feel the new players and better mastering has eliminated most of that at this point.
Rob

 

[Akula]

I just bought a Sony DBP-BX57 at Sam's Club for $128 and change. It's not too far removed from the 570; the features seem to be right in line:

3D compatibility
802.11b/g/n wireless built in
Ethernet connectivity
1GB internal storage for BD-Live compatibility
Internet streaming from standard sources
DLNA compatibility for streaming from local network sources*

*This last one is a feature I was wanting that seems to be in short supply. I didn't see it in anything but the Sony in the low $100 range; it basically lets you stream from a home computer, so you aren't limited to for-pay internet services.

If you don't want the built in wireless or the 3D capability, the BX37 is $10 less, but even though I don't expect to use either feature, for ten bucks I figured I might as well go for them.

And I do still have the HD-DVD player for my 360 (as well as a few movies- the freebies they were giving away at the time and the Planet Earth set). I haven't fired those up in half of forever, but I might use it just for kicks. It would be nice if current players would retain HD-DVD capability just for these old movies some have lying around, but I can understand why they wouldn't bother.

 

[MatthewB]

Not that I hold any bitter resentment or nothing. :teasing-neener:

 

[TitaniumTroy]

Awwww, this is Matt's way of saying our man Flint is #1. Which he is of course he is :text-+1: