Shrike, completely honest question from someone who is going to buy a BR player in the future;

how log will it be before the BR group finalizes the hardware specs? I know that the HDDVD crowd had touted that was one reason HDDVD was better than BR.

2/16/2008 6:49:54 PM

In theory, they are already finalized. The problem is, there aren't any final spec players (or movies for that matter) out yet. Not even the PS3 is fully updated to final spec. Look to April/May for the first wave of 2.0/BD Live players to hit shelves.

As I've said before, if you're a casual movie watcher, you're best is still to wait a few months for new players to land. I wouldn't buy a PS3 or any Blu-ray player today unless you are absolutely dead set on watching hi-def right now, or you're buying a PS3 anyway for gaming/media center purposes.

Here's a good thread about players and profiles.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=977963

[Edited on February 16, 2008 at 7:02 PM. Reason : :]

2/16/2008 6:58:55 PM

sweet, I just won my 45 dollar HD-A35 player

That'll give me something to watch my 11 HDDVDs on till BluRay finalizes and gets something cheaper.

^Thanks

2/16/2008 7:02:25 PM

http://ps3.qj.net/CES-2008-future-PS3-BD-Live-update-Profile-2-0-players-Sapphire-3-4/pg/49/aid/111142

2/16/2008 7:28:04 PM

there's no debating it: the PS3 is currently the best Blu-Ray player you can buy. You can't whine about it not having IR because you can work around that problem for $10.

It is also the only player on the market that will be 2.0 capable.

2/16/2008 7:37:18 PM

That article doesn't make me believe that the PS3 will be full blown 2.0 capable. Maybe it's the way I'm reading it.

2/16/2008 7:39:49 PM

Quote :

"the PS3 is currently the best Blu-Ray player you can buy"

LOLLZERZ

2/16/2008 7:50:30 PM

^^^ and THAT'S the reason blu-ray sucks donkey balls...the very fact that a fucking gaming console is the BEST BR player available and that it's the ONLY console at the moment guaranteed to be 2.0 capable and that you have to buy even MORE shit (past its already ridiculous price as a BR player - since it has shit for games, i mean) to make it work like a standalone is what makes BR accepted only grudgingly

no one is arguing technology - the simple fact of the matter is that blu-ray is technically superior to HD-DVD and that is the ONLY reason that i'm glad i won out...sony is a shitty company that specifically sets out to fuck the consumer at every possible turn...they take it the point that they're willing to lose the battle despite their superior technologies (see betamax and MD and MS) just to stick it deeply into the collective ass of the consumer

[Edited on February 16, 2008 at 7:55 PM. Reason : arrows]

2/16/2008 7:54:51 PM

Sorry, not gonna bother to read previous pages - when did this "best blu ray is PS3" business come about? Just curious.

2/16/2008 8:01:26 PM

*sigh*

Hell with it, disregard my last post. You'll just call me an elitist prick anyways. So, I'll leave you to your blissful ignorance, and we all wake up in the morning anyway. Glad you like your PS3s.

In any event, to get this thread finally back on topic, I recently auditioned the Samsung BD-P1400. Currently my front runner. Not buying until April though.

[Edited on February 16, 2008 at 8:09 PM. Reason : ]

2/16/2008 8:09:31 PM

I second what quagmire said. There's no reason my Sony head unit cannot use an auxiliary input except for the fact they require it to have a controller to use it. At least it was a gift.

2/17/2008 12:55:25 AM

so I guess sony finally spent enough money to win with one of their inferior proprietary formats.
they must've still been pissed off about betamax.

2/17/2008 11:46:05 AM

^*5 well it's a good thing that Blu-Ray isn't an exclusively sony product like HD-DVD is for Toshiba...

i'm so glad the less proprietary format won out

2/17/2008 12:31:51 PM

are you responding to me or quagmire?
also, I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not.

2/17/2008 1:11:19 PM

^^So the LG, RCA, Samsung, and Oppo HD-DVD players that are or have been available do not exist?

2/17/2008 1:14:10 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray

Quote :

"On February 16, 2008, Japanese broadcaster NHK announced in a news report that Toshiba would cease production of products for the rival HD DVD format, heralding Blu-ray as the victor in the HD format war[4]. This has since been confirmed by an unnamed source at Toshiba itself, and an official statement can be expected as early as next week."

looks like its over

http://www.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/dailynews7.html


[Edited on February 17, 2008 at 1:38 PM. Reason : from nhk]

2/17/2008 1:34:45 PM

^ welcome to page 41

2/17/2008 2:10:58 PM

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/02/16/poll-so-what-are-you-hd-dvd-early-adopters-going-to-do/

2/17/2008 9:52:52 PM

^^ welcome to a month ago

2/17/2008 9:53:25 PM

My boyfriend wants a standalone HD DVD player, but he doesn't want to pay more than $20 because it's worthless. Any takers? Also, he'll throw in a copy of Wild Things on Blu-ray, because Denise Richards' boobies are a wondrous sight.

[Edited on February 17, 2008 at 10:01 PM. Reason : also]

2/17/2008 10:00:47 PM

The best part is

Like all through this thread I was like

Blu Ray is lame, you're going to lose, PS3 is for retards there's no games for it XBOX4LIFELAWL

and then when it came down to it, I bought a ps3

and watched blu ray movies

and none of you called me on it

because you're all wolfweb nigs

2/18/2008 1:00:44 AM

^^Hardly worthless -- its still an upconverting DVD player. Cheapest 1080p upconverting player is $62 on pricegrabber...which of course doesnt play HD-DVD. So good luck with that.

2/18/2008 4:26:37 AM

Upconverting is visual vomit compared to Blu-ray.

2/18/2008 11:19:41 AM

^ i'm quite sure no one equated up-converted quality to blu-ray

2/18/2008 11:26:16 AM

Quote :

"My boyfriend wants a standalone HD DVD player, but he doesn't want to pay more than $20 because it's worthless. Any takers? "

hahahahha, ok. lemme know how that works out for him

2/18/2008 11:53:47 AM

Quote :

"hahahahha, ok. lemme know how that works out for him"

philihp should be able to tell you for himself.

2/18/2008 12:18:37 PM

why digital downloads are not about to kill blu-ray: http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/17/digital-downloads-are-not-about-to-kill-blu-ray/

2/19/2008 6:22:06 AM

Quote :

"Toshiba Officially Drops HD DVD Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 03:15 AM ET Tags: Toshiba (all tags) Following several days of rumors, Toshiba has confirmed that it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders, effectively ending the high-def format war. In a just-issued press release, the company said that it reached the decision following "recent major changes in the market." Toshiba emphasized that it will continue to provide full product support and after-sales service for all owners of Toshiba HD DVD products. ADVERTISEMENT “We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called 'next-generation format war' and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop,” said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation. "While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality.” Toshiba said it will begin reducing shipments of HD DVD players and recorders immediately, with the aim of pulling all HD DVD players, recorders and disc drives from store shelves by March. The company went on to say that it would "continue to assess" the long-term viability of notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD drives. Asked at a Tokyo press conference whether his company had any plans to adopt Blu-ray, Nishida said Toshiba had no such plans at the moment. HD DVD first hit stores in April of 2006, and enjoyed an early sales lead against rival format Blu-ray up until the release of Sony's Blu-ray enabled PlayStation 3 later that year. Though Blu-ray software outsold HD DVD throughout 2007, a series of tactical moves from the HD DVD camp kept the format in the game up until early this January, when Warner Bros announced it would drop its HD DVD support and would release its titles on Blu-ray exclusively, beginning this June. In the weeks that followed, HD DVD backers vowed to fight on, issuing a series of price drops and embarking on a new marketing campaign, but it wasn't enough to convince retailers to stick with the fledgling format. Faced with the prospect of diminishing prominence at such top US retailers as Best Buy and Wal-Mart, insiders say it was only a matter of time before Toshiba would pull the plug. See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions."

2/19/2008 8:10:35 AM

well, that was quick. Sorry to all who bought HD-DVD, and welcome to Blu!

2/19/2008 8:30:26 AM

Sony Style has the 40GB PS3 for $300

if you sign up for a sony credit card

http://bensbargains.net/deal/57388/

2/19/2008 8:39:54 AM

2/19/2008 8:52:31 AM

awesome... I really didn't care who won, it just needed to stop so we'd all shift to the same format

2/19/2008 9:09:21 AM

Mehh i got one of those deals where i pretty much got 6 movies and a free hd-dvd player

and now i get to say "daddy had betamax"

[Edited on February 19, 2008 at 9:12 AM. Reason : .]

2/19/2008 9:12:13 AM

i pretty much got a brandnew hddvd player for 80 bucks, so i am happy with it being an upconvertor

2/19/2008 9:38:59 AM

I bought the XBOX 360 HD-DVD player, and I still use the hell out of it. I also have a ps3.


Both formats FTW.


I need to find some CHEAP hd-dvds now :-D

2/19/2008 9:45:52 AM

Both formats FTL

More like it

I mean clearly

2/19/2008 11:17:43 AM

Quote :

"and that you have to buy even MORE shit (past its already ridiculous price as a BR player - since it has shit for games, i mean) to make it work like a standalone"

wtf are you babbling about?

2/19/2008 11:24:10 AM

^ about the fact that the ps3 sucks donkey balls as a standalone BR player...if it doesn't work OUT OF THE FUCKING BOX as a standalone then it, by my definition, sucks as a standalone BR player...or do they come with IR remotes now?

2/19/2008 11:26:57 AM

^they don't even come with BT remotes out of box.

2/19/2008 11:29:08 AM

2/19/2008 11:32:02 AM

well i don't recall doing anything special to get mine to run blu-ray movies....

it comes with a bt controller right? and miraculously it can be used as a remote too!

like someone said before the IR remote for the ps3 (or a separate remote for it for br use) is less than $40.... so I don't really see what the major malfunction is...

i mean the ps2 didn't come with a IR port built in either....

not arguing that it's the best BR player, but it's not el-shitty

isn't the picture quality pretty good on it though?

2/19/2008 11:36:20 AM

Nix my previous call out. My new front runners:

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=478

2/19/2008 11:51:11 AM

i mean the ps2 didn't come with a IR port built in either....

the slim PS2s that they've been making for the last 3.5 years have had IR ports.

2/19/2008 12:02:55 PM

^^^ that's stupid...any BR/HD-DVD player is going to put out a good picture, that's the whole point of hi-def (unless we look back to the early BR days, when it seemed that a DVD had thrown up all over the craptastic picture blu-ray was puking onto the screen)

my whole point is that it's downright retarded that the BEST blu-ray player is shit as a standalone - congratulations, you can use your controller as a remote control...i can use a $5 remote from wal-mart with my HTPC and it's more user friendly...sony has intentionally and knowingly made it so that the only blu-ray player worth buying (due to 2.0 upgrade ability and price) is a gaming console for which you'd have to throw down an additional $40 to have it work like a standalone...that doesn't smack of ass-fucking the consumer to you at all?

for all the pissing and moaning about toshiba monopolizing the hd-dvd market, at least their players had more features and greater (average consumer) functionality right out of the box, all for a lower price and the same visual quality

if you don't think that sony is a shitty company in the way that they consistently and intentionally fuck the consumer, you HAVE to be a fanboy...there's no other possible explanation for your blindness

[Edited on February 19, 2008 at 12:04 PM. Reason : arrows]

2/19/2008 12:04:40 PM

what company doesn't intentionally fuck over the consumer then by your standards?

2/19/2008 12:06:17 PM

^^They're having their revenge at the us for choosing VHS over Betamax a couple decades ago.

[Edited on February 19, 2008 at 12:07 PM. Reason : ^^]

2/19/2008 12:07:13 PM

I agree, it'd be nice if the PS3 came with a remote, or at least an IR port.


but really... all this bellyaching for a $15 remote is just a little over the top, don't you think?

[Edited on February 19, 2008 at 12:11 PM. Reason : r]

2/19/2008 12:09:01 PM

^^^ good point...i guess asking for reasonable features at a reasonable price really IS asking too much

i'm just saying that after taxes/shipping and the accessories, the "best" blu-ray player on the market is what? $450? what are ps3's down to?

hd-dvd players, though, were a lot lower than that pretty early on (obviously not at the get-go), and they were user-friendly, feature-packed, and upgradeable from day one

you don't see the difference?

^ i thought it was said that it's a $40 remote? besides, you're completely missing the point...when was the last time you bought a standalone player of any kind that didn't come with a remote? i'm glad you're happy to pay for more less-functional equipment (i guess you'd have to be, if you're buying a ps3), but i'm not

[Edited on February 19, 2008 at 12:12 PM. Reason : .]

2/19/2008 12:11:18 PM

Quote :

"sony has intentionally and knowingly made it so that the only blu-ray player worth buying (due to 2.0 upgrade ability and price) is a gaming console for which you'd have to throw down an additional $40 to have it work like a standalone...that doesn't smack of ass-fucking the consumer to you at all? for all the pissing and moaning about toshiba monopolizing the hd-dvd market, at least their players had more features and greater (average consumer) functionality right out of the box, all for a lower price and the same visual quality"

The console market is different from the stand-alone player market. It's pretty common for game consoles to be subsidized by the manufacturer. This has been done for the last decade, and it isn't anything new. Notice what Sony DIDN'T do -- they DIDN'T subsidize the price of their stand-alone players. By doing this, they didn't scare away other manufacturers (Samsung, Panasonic, Pioneer) from making players.

Toshiba did though, and nobody wanted to make an HD DVD player for fear that Toshiba would just undercut them out anyway.

Now I'm not saying that any player is better than any other... but Sony DID play its cards right. They know what they're doing. They've learned a lot of lessons, and this time Toshiba made the same mistakes that Sony did with Beta.

2/19/2008 12:16:33 PM

Quote :

"i thought it was said that it's a $40 remote? besides, you're completely missing the point...when was the last time you bought a standalone player of any kind that didn't come with a remote? i'm glad you're happy to pay for more less-functional equipment (i guess you'd have to be, if you're buying a ps3), but i'm not "

Nyko Blu-Wave -->$15, cheaper if you can find it on sale. The IR receiver can also be found in Harmony's database.

I bought my PS3 to play games. The fact that it's one of the highest quality + most customizable Blu-Ray player around is just icing on the cake.

Again, you're right. It would be nice if they had included a remote. But for something that is so easily remedied, I just think you're making too big of a deal out of it. The PS3 is a great value at it's current price point.

[Edited on February 19, 2008 at 12:19 PM. Reason : d]

2/19/2008 12:18:44 PM