When will Blu-Ray be available in US?

[Lightning838]

I am wondering if I should go out and buy a new DVD player or wait for Blue-Ray Player. But I don't know how long it will be until there are on the market in the US.

[Rob]

Probably mid - late 2006.

[erdega79]

by the end of the year. December-January looks like a launch date, though not official

[yogisanchez]

I suggest you go buy your dvd player, dont buy the best dvd player in teh market, but youll want one since launch BD stuff will be first generation and will be expensive, and will take some time to stablish in the market.

[Shadowself]

the BD players MAY be available in the U.S. in the first calendar quarter of 2006. A more likely availability is the second calendar quarter, but pessimistically the third calendar quarter.

However, I agree with yogi. The first players on the market (and possibly all players for the first six months to a year) will be rather costly.

Also the first players out the door will quite probably still have wrinkles in the firmware/software and other aspects of the implementations which will need to be ironed out.

I believe it will be "safe" to buy a BD player in about a year or so from now. (If there ever is such a time frame -- seems as though the only "safe" time to buy technology is when it is on the verge of being obsolete.)

The holiday season of 2006 should be a good time for BD players to sell in mass quantities.

[Rob]

A PS3 might be a cheap way (relatively) to try out Blu-Ray movies til stand alone players are released for more reasonable prices. That's what I'll be doing anyway. Can't justify spending £800+ on one of the first wave of players. Also, I wan't to wait for a recorder.

[Alex Pallas]

Originally Posted by Rob

A PS3 might be a cheap way (relatively) to try out Blu-Ray movies til stand alone players are released for more reasonable prices. That's what I'll be doing anyway. Can't justify spending £800+ on one of the first wave of players. Also, I wan't to wait for a recorder.

i think those prices are only if people want to purchase a prototype like some Japanese folk already have, the PS3 is going to debut at $300 and it will have a built in BD player so i seriously doubt the regular players will be that much

[Rob]

Originally Posted by Alex Pallas

i think those prices are only if people want to purchase a prototype like some Japanese folk already have, the PS3 is going to debut at $300 and it will have a built in BD player so i seriously doubt the regular players will be that much

I believe the 1st Blu-Ray recorder from Sony was £2,500 when launched in Japan April 2003. Thing is, Sony has said that the PS3 will be expensive. Now as the 360 launched for $400, it's very possible the PS3 will launch at $500. $300 is completely out of the question. Unless the $ stregthens massively over the next 6-12 months. Anyway, When Phillips launched the first ever recordable dvd player in the Uk it was £1,500 RRP which is why I think £800+ is a liklely Uk price point. Early adopters will be prepared to pay a premium for new technology.

[ske-zo]

PS3 will cost at least $399.
The $399 Xbox360 also comes with a HDD, PS3 will not.

PS3 probably won't play BD-DVDs any better than the PS2 played DVDs when it launched.

[Alex Pallas]

Originally Posted by Rob

I believe the 1st Blu-Ray recorder from Sony was £2,500 when launched in Japan April 2003. Thing is, Sony has said that the PS3 will be expensive. Now as the 360 launched for $400, it's very possible the PS3 will launch at $500. $300 is completely out of the question. Unless the $ stregthens massively over the next 6-12 months.

$400 is for the souped up Xbox, it starts at $300. from what i've read of speculation, the PS3 will be expected to offer a stripped down model at $299.99, possibly $349.99. i wouldn't doubt if Sony hasn't even decided what the price will be. i don't how you could rule these prices out, do you know something that the rest of us dont? prototypes always go for rediculously high prices.
i got this comment of the site www.ps3land.com faq:
"How much will it cost?
Typically the last two generations of the PlayStation have been priced at around $300 at launch. Both have continuously decreased in price year on year into their life, its quite likely PS3 will do the same. It's not known how much it will cost but around $300 is probably a fair guess, as this is the maximum price most gamers would be willing to pay. There are some unexpected extra features, such as the 2 HDMI outputs and 3 Gigabit RJ45 LAN connections, that will likely drive the price tag up a fair amount"