Blu-ray playback reliability

[Ashaman074]

I wanted to see if I could get some input from those with knowledge regarding the "real world" reliability of blu-ray as a format. In other words - call me crazy, but I think the #1 desire of the "everyman" out there is to pick up the disc, press power, press open/eject, press play, and be DONE.

This has been far from my experience since adopting this format. I bought my first player last November. It was a cheap player, and I knew it at the time. Back in the days of analog, I used to be very particular about components, but shortly after the digital era dawned I realized that strings or 1's and 0's are the same regardless of manufacturer (in terms of quality anyway).

Since the purchase of this player - a Memorex MVBD2510c - I have rented 6 titles. My first-viewing attempt has been successful for TWO of those so far. The first failure was when trying to view "Taken," when after the usual agonizingly-long loadup time I was presented with a message informing me to contact the player manufacturer for an update. Well, I had a roomful of guests at the time so this was MOST unwelcome. I quickly ran up to the computer, jumped on the net, and sure enough, an update had just been released. I downloaded the image and found it required a blank CDR for the process (in spite of the USB port sitting right on the front of the player). Well personally, I haven't used a CDR in years! I had only DVD-Rs and flash drives on hand. Eventually I got it burned, flashed the player, and the title played, but it was days after the invited guests were gone.

Thinking my player could now pull off the incredible feat of playing titles rented from the nearest Blockbuster, I then picked up Braveheart and Gladiator. NEITHER would play. Both give me an exercise in patience while the LOADING screen displays, then giving way to an animated icon (sword and wreath respectively) and then doing NOTHING.

Frustrated I grabbed my Dell XPS M1530 with a Blu-ray recorder & HDMI output. I hooked it up to my HDTV and was able to watch Braveheart. Gladiator however did the same thing as my Memorex player - it sat at the animated startup logo and nothing else.

So - the bottom line is that I am thoroughly frustrated with this format. So much so that I am really considering just renting titles in DVD format because reliability is CRITICAL. No increase in sound or resolution can make up for the time lost and frustration of a new title that will not play.

I say this as someone who has worked as a network for the past 15 years - some people are so wary of any form of technology they wouldn't even know where to begin in terms of upgrading a player's firmware - can anyone explain to me why this is necessary? This is something that is unprecedented in the history of consumer media. The 45, LP, Reel to Reel, 8 track, cassette, VHS, DVD, you-name-it all have had one thing in common - they required the user to pick it up, put it on/in the player and PRESS PLAY to enjoy.

How long are these firmware updates going to go on? It seems to me that once a standard is published so to speak, every single disc adhering to that standard should play without issue. I can accept that new/immature formats can experience these types of issues, but there are way too many manufacturers experiencing way too many issues from way too many titles as it is.

Even more baffling is why I can take two titles, released at the same time, put them in the same Dell XPS, and have one play but one fail (coincidentally failing in the exact same way it did in the Memorex player).

So yes - I really don't know what else to do with Blu-ray at this point. At first I thought buying an inexpensive player was the reason and I was to blame, but after buying a second player, the problems have continued. Compounding the frustration is the search results I see after a Google search with various players - from budget to high-end.

Invariably posts like this attract the "Aw ur stoopid players sux I just hooked my xxBRAND up using coat hangers and it plays movies that aren't even out yet" responses - but I am hoping for some form of useful information or insight as I am in love with the quality of HD at this point

Thanks in advance!