greg hughes - dot net - So, what's the best Blu-ray option for me out there?

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

So, what's the best Blu-ray option for me out there?

I'm not one bit ashamed to say I've been a HD-DVD guy ever since I made the shift to watching movies in the amazing world of hi-def last June. I've enjoyed the red label discs, I appreciate the combo-format packages, and it was HD-DVD that pushed me into doing a lot of research into 1080p projectors and then purchasing one that I have been very happy with.

I also bought a HD-DVD player for my dad and his significant other's new home the day after thanksgiving, and another one for my mom and step dad over the Christmas holiday. If nothing else, they play regular DVDs on their hi-def (1080p) sets beautifully. Too bad the HD-DVD format looks like it's officially out. Glad I got good prices and minimized the "damage." I suppose I'll probably be buying replacement hardware soon eh?

At any rate, with Netflix, Wal Mart, an ever-expanding list of film studios, Best Buy and others making announcements about either going exclusive Blu-ray or favoring the format... Well anyhow I have a question. :)

Which Blu-ray players should I be seriously looking at? Is there a no-brainer, best-bang-for-the-buck option out there? I'm not really interested in PS3 games, so swaying me in that direction might be tough. I'm looking for full 1080p coverage via HDMI. I can (and do) hope that a Blu-ray player for the Xbox 360 is in the works, but until that happens I have to see what else is out there, and it's not something I've paid full attention to.

Suggestions?

Add/Read: Comments [5]

Tech

Tuesday, February 19, 2008 11:23:29 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

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Tuesday, February 19, 2008 12:02:22 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

I read some articles about a month ago regarding the limitation of current generation Blu players. Now that the format is the only game in town I expect most of those articles to dry up too. Anyway, the conclusion was that the only current generation player that was designed to retrieve firmware updates to handle tomorrow's Blu was the PS3. Enough to make me a HD-DVD convert as well. :( So, in October perhaps I'll start down this path again.

Jared

Tuesday, February 19, 2008 12:52:17 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

ARSTechnica to the rescue: New Blu-Ray 2.0 Spec Makes PS3 the Most Future-Proof Player

The bottom line is that if you want all the cool interactivity features they boast about, better make sure your player can handle Profile 2.0. Currently the PS3 is the only shipping device that supports this.

Rocco

Wednesday, February 20, 2008 5:34:18 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

I shopped around for Blu-Ray players for a couple of weeks and finally settled on the PlayStation 3. I'm not really into gaming on the PlayStation either, so I understand your reluctance to move in that direction. The factors that swayed my decision are that the PlayStation 3 costs about the same as a stand-alone Blu-Ray player and (as Jared and Rocco mentions) the PlayStation 3 offers regular firmware updates.

Another nice advantage is that the PlayStation 3 (at least the 80GB model I purchased) has wireless networking and media streaming support. Once I configured wireless networking, the PlayStation 3 magically recognized my Infrant ReadNAS NV and I could easily browse the media share. I haven't tried streaming video yet, but playing MP3 music and setting up a slideshow was fairly easy. It would be nice if it worked as a Windows Media Center extender.

Lothan

Sunday, February 24, 2008 3:56:36 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

Well, from my personal experience with Blu-Ray players, the PS3 is the only option for me. I don't know about you, but around $400 really is all I would pay for such a player. The entry level Blu-Ray player found at Wal-Mart and the like is typically a $20 difference from the price of a PS3 unless you find a super sale. From my experience at work, it dies very quickly. I'm talking all of our floor units have been defected out and don't last any more than 2 weeks, mean while, a PS3 runs for months on end without being rebooted.

Tim Gilbreath,
Sad HD-DVD guy.

Tim Gilbreath

Thursday, March 06, 2008 7:24:48 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)

Get the PS3. Upgrade proof, consistent downloadable upgrades. Even if you do not play games like I do.

Ken Hanscom

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