My Neighbour's New "Top of the Line DVD Player"

[viiv]

So yesterday I'm outside and I bump into my neighbour who is a very chatty person by nature and we begin chatting. Soon the conversation shifts to his DVD player that he just brought. He said his existing DVD player (a JVC) just broke and that was his second DVD player that broke and both he thinks didn't last long. So he said this time he wanted to buy a "high end" quality DVD player that "would last a long time" and "had a good picture". So he tells me how expensive it was and that it's Made in Japan, and that irks my curiosity cause I am thinking like with that kind of money he could have got a nice BD player that is also Made in Japan so I kind of end up inviting myself in.

His television setup is pretty simple. He has a late model Sony 32" CRT, a Sharp VCR and now replacing his old JVC player is a Panasonic DMP-BD30K. I am kind of suprised and also relieved to know he spent the money on a BD player and that he future proofed himself. So I remark to him "Oh, you got a Blu Ray player". What happened next SUPRISED me. He took it as almost like an insult that he got ripped off or something and got something LESS than a DVD player like say a Video CD Player or a VCR or something. So he says back to me "no, it's a DVD player, but it also plays Blu ray". Stunned, I ask him if he knows what Blu ray is, and he says "no, I don't".

I am sure you can understand why I was stunned. As far as HE is concerned he brought a DVD player that ALSO happens to play back Blu rays, the same way you can buy a DVD player that ALSO plays back MP3 CDs even though you may never use the feature. As far as he is concerned, the Blu ray playback is just an extra "bonus" value added feature the same way MP3 or JPEG playback is also an extra bonus value added feature on a DVD or Blu ray player to help pad the feature list. He is the type of person who thinks that DVD is (still) the latest and greatest and is cutting edge technology. As far as he is concerned, DVD playback is THE feature of the unit and the reason why it exists.

So, I am still not sure if this purchase was simply a product of his own ignorance just wanting to buy an expensive "high end" "top of the line DVD player", or I am more inclinded to believe that it is also the product of a sales person exploiting the ignorance of a customer who wants to buy a "high end DVD player". Cause surely the commision from selling a DVD player these days is slim and compared to the fat commision from a BD player, the salesperson jumped on the oppurtunity. If this is the case, I am sure the sales person presented the Panny in the way my neighbour wanted to see it, as "a high end DVD player" and as the salesperson is running down the feature list for the customer, mentions that it also happpens to play Blu rays.

Once again, I am not sad for him but happy for him even though he didn't know what he brought. When you think about it, he did buy what he wanted, a very nice "high end" DVD player and you know what, since DVD players are a commoditiy item these days, if you want a high end quality DVD player these days you really have to get a BD player, that also happens to be future proof. I think this means too, that there are people with (mostly with lots of money) not much tech knowledge, looking for high end DVD players and buying Blu ray players, who never will use them as a Blu ray player. I am wondering how often this is happening. Here is a tidbit I will leave people here to answer, if they are a significant percentage of stand-alone BD buyers (even like say 5%), are they not artifically inflating the success of Blu ray in terms of sales numbers.?

[Riff Magnum]

Take a hdmi cable over there along with a couple BD's and initiate that guy. If possible bring over a movie that he already has on DVD or something that you've double dipped on just to show him the difference. Some people don't care even after they admit it's better (my wife), but it's worth a try to convert this heathen.

[HDPlasma]

Originally Posted by Riff Magnum

Take a hdmi cable over there along with a couple BD's and initiate that guy. If possible bring over a movie that he already has on DVD or something that you've double dipped on just to show him the difference. Some people don't care even after they admit it's better (my wife), but it's worth a try to convert this heathen.

"He has a late model Sony 32" CRT"

Not sure if that TV even supports HiDef or an HDMI input.

[jurassic_pork]

Originally Posted by HDPlasma

"He has a late model Sony 32" CRT"

Not sure if that TV even supports HiDef or an HDMI input.

I suggest bringing over an LCD TV as well and you'll have this guy in your pocket....

[prerich]

Originally Posted by Riff Magnum

Take a hdmi cable over there along with a couple BD's and initiate that guy. If possible bring over a movie that he already has on DVD or something that you've double dipped on just to show him the difference. Some people don't care even after they admit it's better (my wife), but it's worth a try to convert this heathen.

Well you will have to take a LCD/Plasma Television over there also (his tv accepts nothing greater than S-video), and sound system. Can't initiate a guy than doesn't have the proper monitor to see the difference. 480i lines is still 480i lines.

[BruceWayne]

Originally Posted by jurassic_pork

I suggest bringing over an LCD TV as well and you'll have this guy in your pocket....

May be easier to have him bring his player to your house at this point...

[mgonzo2u]

Originally Posted by BruceWayne

May be easier to have him bring his player to your house at this point...

Why that wasn't mentioned by the 2nd poster is beyond me.

It is that simple to show the neighbor what a true high end "DVD" players will really do for him.

Never mind the side bar about the new TV he will need to purchase.

[krisjan]

Great story. I can just envision the acne-prone Best Buy employee launching into his sales spiel. His current AV setup certainly wouldn't do justice to this fine player (I am a BD30 owner). Ironically, some BD30 owners have reported that their BD30's stopped playing BD's - they continued to play dvd's and cd's just fine but there appears to be some early blue laser transport failures on some of these. If this guys drive fails, he may never know

[Riff Magnum]

Originally Posted by BruceWayne

May be easier to have him bring his player to your house at this point...

your smart

[mgonzo2u]

and you're not



j/k

[viiv]

Originally Posted by prerich

Well you will have to take a LCD/Plasma Television over there also (his tv accepts nothing greater than S-video), and sound system. Can't initiate a guy than doesn't have the proper monitor to see the difference. 480i lines is still 480i lines.

His TV accepts component video. I looked to see how it was hooked up to make sure he wasn't on s-video or even worse composite. He said he hooked it up using the same cables that he used on his old JVC, meaning he's been on component all along.

[theprophecy247]

lol funny story def need to convert him to the HD world

[DetroitSportsFan]

What's funny to me is he spent $500 on a DVD player in 2008.

[crackinhedz]

May be easier to have him bring his player to your house at this point...

im guessing viiv already has a bluray player, no need to even bring the neighbors player over!

just invite him in and show what Blu can do.

[viiv]

Originally Posted by crackinhedz

im guessing viiv already has a bluray player, no need to even bring the neighbors player over!

just invite him in and show what Blu can do.

Ya, I have a Sony S300. No need to be moving expensive equipment around like that. That said, I am not going to bother, simply cause he's not the kind of person to alienate like that with all this stuff. To put this in perspective for you guys, he's a retired teacher and I am a college student. He thinks he brought a DVD player and I am just going to let him be with whatever he wants to think it is.

Originally Posted by DetroitSportsFan

What's funny to me is he spent $500 on a DVD player in 2008.

This is the type of person who still thinks that DVD is cutting edge technology. Since its quite clear that he went all out with his new DVD player purchase, I think that if the BD50 was already out, he would have brought that instead.

[crackinhedz]

well, once he realizes what he has...maybe he'll get a new TV?

[Psychonaut]

I typically find myself trying to be happy for people when they buy new stuff, like my best friends B*se system. I hate talking about it because I feel like I'm trying to one-up them like when they ask, "Does YOUR DVD player upconvert?" *sigh*

[Riff Magnum]

[QUOTE=mgonzo2u;904498]Why that wasn't mentioned by the 2nd poster is beyond me.

Probably because i don't know the specs for every tv ever made.

[Riff Magnum]

Originally Posted by crackinhedz

im guessing viiv already has a bluray player, no need to even bring the neighbors player over!

just invite him in and show what Blu can do.

Why the 6th poster didn't say this is beyond me? Need that little winky smiley face that everyone uses to smooth over the tension. That's the one. See, I was only joking.

[Riff Magnum]

Originally Posted by mgonzo2u

and you're not



j/k

Wanna fight? I'm such a kidder. Wink-wink, nudge-nudge.