My rays could be bluer

With the home release of The Dark Knight looming, it may be time to break down and invest in a Blu-Ray player. Anyone have one of the $200-ish machines out there now that can make a recommendation or anti-recommendation?

jg

I picked up one of the Magnavox models for $128 it works great does what it is suppose to and is fairly fast on loading up disks.

I still don't think that you'll visually be able to discern that much difference between Blu-Ray and an upconverted DVD via HDMI.

Given that Blu-Ray as a technology won't last as long as DVD's have, I wouldn't recommend it at this point.

With the release of GT5 sometime in the next 10 years maybe, don't you really want a PS3?

SupraWes wrote: With the release of GT5 sometime in the next 10 years maybe, don't you really want a PS3?

I've had this debate with myself for a while. I think I've come to the conclusion that I do the vast majority of my gaming on a computer and buying a console for one game is just not worth it. Unless that game somehow involved race cars, zombies, werewolves, high explosives, the music of Judas Priest and full frontal nudity.

jg

JG Pasterjak wrote: I think I've come to the conclusion that I do the vast majority of my gaming on a computer and buying a console for one game is just not worth it. Unless that game somehow involved race cars, zombies, werewolves, high explosives, the music of Judas Priest and full frontal nudity.

I want that game.

(Again, are we able to nominate GRM staff for the "Say What?" page?)

fiat22turbo wrote: I still don't think that you'll visually be able to discern that much difference between Blu-Ray and an upconverted DVD via HDMI. Given that Blu-Ray as a technology won't last as long as DVD's have, I wouldn't recommend it at this point.

You are so very wrong IMO, I have a very good upconverting DVD player with a nice fraoudja chipset and its still painful to watch dvd's after converting to blu-ray/hd-dvd. Unless your TV is very tiny there is a huge difference between DVD and HD.

Wes is right, Blu-Ray is really for big screens. In fact I suspect as large screens get cheaper and even bigger ones come out (maybe wall sized?) you will see that something even beyond Blu-Ray is needed.

The main problem with Blu-Ray seems to be that Sony is going a little heavy on the licensing which is keeping the costs high as well as keeping the smaller players out.

JG Pasterjak wrote:

SupraWes wrote: With the release of GT5 sometime in the next 10 years maybe, don't you really want a PS3?

I've had this debate with myself for a while. I think I've come to the conclusion that I do the vast majority of my gaming on a computer and buying a console for one game is just not worth it. Unless that game somehow involved race cars, zombies, werewolves, high explosives, the music of Judas Priest and full frontal nudity. jg

Who do you want to see nekkid? Zombies, Werewolves or Judas Priest?

fiat22turbo wrote: I still don't think that you'll visually be able to discern that much difference between Blu-Ray and an upconverted DVD via HDMI. Given that Blu-Ray as a technology won't last as long as DVD's have, I wouldn't recommend it at this point.

I would disagree. Completely. On both counts. Unless you are still watching movies on a 19" tube. In which case you shouldn't be thinking about BluRay.

On the player recommendation, I like the Samsung BDP1500

Try vanns.com

Edit: Or, I guess I could have just said "Yeah, what Wes said." Next time I'll read all the replies.

I stood in a store for hours staring at 2 identical TV's, one playing blu-ray and one playing DVD, and I honestly could not tell the difference (and yes, I do have good vision). It takes a seriously new and well-detailed movie (think shot in HD) to actually bring out the difference, and that difference was sure as hell not worth the extra $$$$$$$ it's going to cost me to by a blu-ray player and then a ton of blu-ray movies. Not to mention the large number of DVD movies that simply won't make it to blu-ray. I'm gonna pass on this medium...

P71 does make a very important point. Just because it is on Blu-Ray does not guarantee full image quality. I have a copy of TopGun that looks no better than a DVD (probably not transfered well, I am also told the original print was not all that good). But I also have a copy of Planet Earth that has some stunning images.

The source (as always) definitely makes a difference.

Yeah I don't get all these people getting so excited about some 20 year old movie getting put on Blu-Ray...it was not shot in HD people, its not going to look that much better than it does on a DVD with the same remastered video.

The reason I bought the player I did was three fold, it was cheap, my dvd player was dying so I needed an upconverting one anyway, this allows me to purchase the few movies shot in HD that I would want on Blu-Ray disks.

I have no doubts that Blu-Ray will become a thing of the past. Lets face it the next generation will be a flat out digital copy of movies stored on a media drive for your TV. In fact look at how many new DVD's and Blu-Ray disks are now offering "free" digital copy for your computer or portable media device.

^^good point, I wonder what quality you can get when it gets to the point of downloaded "SUPER HD ZOMG" that will be out soon enough.

I cannot put in a reccomendation for one of the 200 dollar ones, but I do have a PS3. I do enjoy it for watching movies, watched Wall-E this morning actually. But I do enjoy downloading demos of games, I think I have more demos right now than actual purchased games.

The one very nice thing about the PS3 is that since I purchased it last year, the firmware for he blu-ray portion of the player has been upgraded 2-3 times, on the cheaper machines that may not be the case. It does add some neat functionality, and with larger disks coming out, it should grow with the media.

I run the machine on a 50" 1080P plasma, I have Cars on both DVD and on Blu ray, there is a significant difference when seeing both of them on the same machine and TV, the plastation does upconvert as well.

JG Pasterjak wrote:

SupraWes wrote: With the release of GT5 sometime in the next 10 years maybe, don't you really want a PS3?

I've had this debate with myself for a while. I think I've come to the conclusion that I do the vast majority of my gaming on a computer and buying a console for one game is just not worth it. Unless that game somehow involved race cars, zombies, werewolves, high explosives, the music of Judas Priest and full frontal nudity. jg

Grand Theft Auto has most of that.

Get a PS3 for $249 after a $150 Sony Card credit - as seen on FatWallet . That link also includes details on buy one get one blue ray discs. I'm very close to pulling the trigger myself.

Tommy - Happy Birthday, and I thought the same thing about GTA