Would now be a bad time?

[Cinemaddict]

Ever since it became clear that Blu-Ray was going to win the format war, I've been dying to get a BD player. But this is still new technology, so timing is very important. I don't want to buy a player, and then have the BD player I really want come out a month later.

Right now, I am thinking about buying a PS3 at the end of April. Would it be better if I waited a few more months? Can we expect better/cheaper players to come out later this year since Blu-Ray has officially won?

I know I want to get one sometime this year.

[un4gvn94538]

Originally Posted by Cinemaddict

Ever since it became clear that Blu-Ray was going to win the format war, I've been dying to get a BD player. But timing is very important. I don't want to buy a player, and then have what I really want come out a month later.

Right now, I am thinking about buying a PS3 at the end of April. Would it be better if I waited a few more months? Can we expect better/cheaper players to come out later this year since Blu-Ray has officially won?

how much more official can it get?

[Cinemaddict]

Originally Posted by un4gvn94538

how much more official can it get?

... You can't. HD DVD is dead.

What I'm asking is, can we expect BD players to get better and cheaper this year since they've officially won?

I don't want to buy a PS3, and then a month later have a better and cheaper BD player come out.

[trey]

Originally Posted by Cinemaddict

... You can't. HD DVD is dead.

What I'm asking is, can we expect BD players to get better and cheaper this year since they've officially won?

I don't want to buy a PS3, and then a month later have a better and cheaper BD player come out.

we can expect it, but for it to actually happen we'll just have to wait and see.

I personally would just get a PS3 since you can update firmware and apparently it will be able to support profile 2.0 and I assume any other firmware updates. If you don't want a PS3 I would wait until you can get a BD player that either has a wifi connection or an ethernet connection.

[Anthony P]

What I'm asking is, can we expect BD players to get better and cheaper this year since they've officially won?

yes, it is likely, on the hand it is also likely that next year there will be something better and cheaper and the year after that.....

you can either buy and enjoy or wait for something better and cheaper and never enjoy something.

[crxvtec]

there will ALWAYS be something better and bigger or new and improved. I could say i wasted my money on buying a ps3 at launch for 600 or I could say that I got a great BD player for a great price( at the time) It may be months untill the PS3 drops in price or they could do it next month.

Just get a PS3.

[AikonEnt]

There will always be bigger, better and cheaper. Ask yourself this, do you want to wait months or maybe a year for your perfect BD player or do you want to enjoy HD perfection now? I bought a PS3 on launch day and have no regrets whatsoever. Even if BD players were now £50 I would feel no anger or bitterness that I'd paid over £400 for the PS3 to watch my BD on as I enjoy every minute of watching films in HD.

[chasarms]

In terms of delivering top notch HD video quality and stunning audio, the BD players are not going to make stunning leaps and bounds.

The current players produce AMAZING video and audio if you have the display and home theater to maximize it.

The players that are coming on the market are likely to (to name a few):

• give you more audio conversion options
• offer net connectivity
• load faster
• upconvert DVDs better

They will not, however, make a whole lot of tangible difference in your movie watching experience. (Except, maybe the onboard audio decoding if you want to use an older receiver.)

[newblu33]

We might see $300 players by the end of this year. Just be sure whatever player you get fits with what you need now and what your plans are for the future.

Like in my case, I'm waiting for either enhanced audio capabilities for the PS3 or for a fully-capable standalone to drop well below the PS3's price. I might have to wait awhile, but I'm willing :P

[tonyjk3]

Sony Blu Ray players were going for $299 right after Christmas at Best Buy and Costco.

Now that the format war is over, I bought a Sony S300. Haven't set it up yet, but I'm excited. I know alot of people complain about it, but I really don't care. I know it doesn't handle audio the best, but I'm not an audiophile. And I don't care about the interactive features. I just want to watch movies in HiDef.

That being said, I will probably upgrade to the 350 this within a year. I suppose I could have waited a few months. I'm just glad I made the Blu Ray jump and I don't have to be worried about buying movies any more.

[Clark Kent]

Once 2.0 players become common I imagine some of the older players will have their prices cut. It wouldn't surprise me if we see some lower end BD players regularly priced for $249-299 by the 4th quarter.

[DiverDRA]

Originally Posted by Cinemaddict

Ever since it became clear that Blu-Ray was going to win the format war, I've been dying to get a BD player. But this is still new technology, so timing is very important. I don't want to buy a player, and then have the BD player I really want come out a month later.

Right now, I am thinking about buying a PS3 at the end of April. Would it be better if I waited a few more months? Can we expect better/cheaper players to come out later this year since Blu-Ray has officially won?

I know I want to get one sometime this year.

Cinemaddict, a few questions ...
- do you care about playing video games with awesome graphics and matching audio? A: PS3
- do you care about streaming music, digital photos, video from a PC in your home to your HDTV & sounds system? A: PS3
- is your AV receiver older (i.e., can't handle Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio) so you want a BD player to handle these new HD codecs? A: PS3
- do you want a BD player that is very easy to update with new capabilities via firmare (using multiple choices of memory cards, USB drives or Internet connection (wired or wireless)? A: PS3
- do you want a multimedia server for your home AV system with a lot of HD storage capabilities (you can replace the HD on the PS3 with a 250GB drive and add on USB drives)? A: PS3
- do you want an excellent BD player? A: PS3 and several others
- do you want a very good upconverting DVD player for your old DVD collection? A: PS3 and several others

I have 2 PS3s purchased August '07 and January '08 and if I were buying a BD player now, I'd wait a few weeks to see what Sony brings out to replace the 80GB sku (that is getting hard to find). Maybe a 120GB PS3???

If you don't care about anything other than playing BDs, Panasonic would be my choice (model 30 if new AV receiver or 50 if older AV receiver).

Good luck and start enjoying the perfect home theater experience as soon as you can. You'll never regret it.