Comments on: Blu-ray: Now, Wait, or Never?

By: Cons

Cons — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 22:21:06 +0000

im surprised to see the bashing on bluray. currently im doing some reading on whether to get a bluray drive for my pc, or get a ps3(as i also love playing games).

the negative comments are kinda ironic coming from someone who owns 7 bluray players(maybe it's related to your job?). i think it is a big step up from current generation. it's the best out there right now.
one big problem about it is it's price, once that comes down, then things will be better. c'mon, years ago a dvd drive(pc) was so expensive because it was new back then, then priced started dropping, so why bash the bluray?
about dvd upconvert, yes it does improve pq, but i guess you cant really talk about it if you dont own a bluray player(and a good tv) and a player that can do up scaling.
and bluray won the format war, so it will be just a matter of time.

By: James B from Concord, NC

James B from Concord, NC — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:15:29 +0000

Just my 2 cents,…. I personally dont see myself buying Blu ray in the near future or possibly not at all. I think the majority of people that claim Blu ray is the greatest thing since whatever are the people that have just recently(within last 3 years) purchased a High Def set. I bought my first set in 2002, a 38″ crt RCA F38310, and it was great….back then. The novelty of HD for me has worn off and im used to seeing HD all the time now. I recently upgraded to a 60″ plasma….,and still to me HD is not that big of a deal like it used to be. Im perfectly fine using Netflix and renting plain old DVD's. The improvement in PQ and price as some have already said are not quite justifiable. Just my opinion though.

By: Brent Green

Brent Green — Mon, 18 May 2009 11:16:30 +0000

I will never buy blu-ray. Any company that is a conglomerate of a motion picture company, an electronics manufacturer and a recording label is a bad idea. I tell everyone I know not to buy anything that has the label "Sony" on it.

I have a 52" 1080p Toshiba television and my upconverted dvds on my XBox 360 look marvelous. The high-def streaming from Netflix on my XBox 360 look awesome. My dvd player in the car keeps my children somewhat subdued and it is so easy and inexpensive to get DVD media. I think Blu-Ray is a dead technology and I feel sorry for anyone who wastes money on a player or media.

The future is high-def on demand downloads. Save your hard-earned money for this technology.

By: Dr Dan

Dr Dan — Mon, 18 May 2009 10:40:55 +0000

thanks for the update, bluray has been a dilemma for me as well and I have yet to buy a player despite the fact that they are very afforable for me now and before.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Mon, 18 May 2009 09:29:21 +0000

The cost vs performance is my sticking issue also. Heck, my xbox 360 upconverted dvd's look just fine in comparison to blu-ray for a fraction of the cost. It just isn't worth the premium price.

By: John Hout

John Hout — Mon, 18 May 2009 06:11:58 +0000

You have been anti-Blu-ray since the beginning. You are bragging about Toshiba's upconverting abilities, and Toshiba was the main entity behind HD-DVD, the competitor of Blu-ray. In a blind study 92% preferred Blu-ray to 720p downloads, and that was image only without the lossless audio. When downloads can have 1080p video AND lossless sound, let me know. And then I may still want physical media due to the fact that hard drives can crash. Also, Blu-rays are currently cheaper than DVDs were at when they were new. I can even remember when VHS tapes were over $100. The Blu-ray rack at my Best Buy is one third that of standard DVDs. Laserdisk was never anything more than an endcap at retail stores. There is nothing better for sound and picture than Blu-ray, so if I have an HDTV with a home stereo, why would I want something else. Further, many laptops now have Blu-ray drives, and they travel well. Please give a non-biased, reasoned article or either disclose how much money Toshiba has paid you.

By: ECA

ECA — Mon, 18 May 2009 01:13:30 +0000

the person that sets the RSS to these articles, should be shot.

BR isnt done yet.
but as with DVD, many options will be thrown out the door, or never used. A DS(remember that? Double sided) DVD holds a good amount of data, IT THEY would use it for the movie, and not all the extras.. they could UPGRADE the quality of DVD titles very easily.
Iv done abit of looking and the MOST dominant thing about BR, is copy protection, and BEING able to use a RAW format, insted of compressed. EVEN DVD uses RAW format(MP2 insted of MP4) with MP4 and being able to use 9gigs on a DVD, I really dont see WHY BR is any better.

By: Kerbe

Kerbe — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:06:03 +0000

I think the title of this article should be called “Value”. Bluray, despite all its wonderous glory, is not a great value by itself. I understand that with a little research, you can find bluray titles for very reasonable prices but this is not the norm and does not reach the masses. The individuals that mostly comment on articles like this are those who can and will spend the time, money, and energy researching, purchasing and upgrading for bluray. I want to be able to walk into Best Buy or Walmart and not frown at a movie I see on Bluray that I like because the thing is over $30. For that it goes right back on the shelf and I go to netflix for a rental. With the way the economy is right now, the industry will have to be more clever with bluray if they want it to succeed. I must agreed that there is a difference between upscaled DVD and bluray but is it worth the cost to acquire? I think the masses have answered and the answer is no. Bluray has already satrurated the enthusiast market. Its time for it to get to the masses and the masses are concerned with price. That is why it took HD so long to get into many living rooms. It is why the PS3 is still #3 (though it is the undisputed greatess value when it comes to consoles… the #1 guy is the biggest rip off IMO) and why computers are as common as DVD players in most households.

By: PeterD

PeterD — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:52:41 +0000

Blu-Ray won't brake a leg as long as the recorders aren't available.

By: meStevo

meStevo — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:30:41 +0000

Brian I think you're missing the point… for Blu-Ray to be more than something to show off your HDTVs, it needs to be able to fill all of the roles DVD performs. Do you expect that in the situations you disregarded that parents and those who are traveling should buy multiple copies of movies?

If it is to be the mainstream source for video, it needs to be the solution even when conditions are not optimal for the video quality that it touts. Until it gets there, there will be a ceiling that it will find when enthusiasts and others who have bought into the marketing are done adopting the format, and DVD will hold it off until the next big thing comes along and trounces them both.