Blu-ray cost in perspective

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by JTK

Honestly, the complaints I see from people tell me one thing right off the bat: They've never early adopted anything before and/or can't remember what the early months and years of DVD, laserdiscs, VHS, etc. were like.

If you don't like it? Don't buy it. End of problem.

You hit the nail right on the head. The one unfortunate byproduct of Toshiba's initial price drop is that it drew in people who really had no business as early adopters. That's why we see the complaints about price all over places like AVS. Now these folks are trying to "protect" their "investment", which is why just about every thread at AVS degenerates into fanboyish, video-game forum style arguments. As I've noted, part of the new HD DVD rally cry is trolling the BD forums claiming, "Format neutral is so nice" and "HD DVD ain't going anywhere". It's like they're desperately trying to get BD'ers to buy HD DVD to ensure it's survival. Of course, you and I know that Universal will be coming over to BD and that buying a HD DVD player to get the 10% of releases we're missing is useless.

Whatever, just about the entire industry is behind Blu-Ray. Why people cannot see this is beyond me. If one wants to dabble in next gen optical disc, there's very little risk in buying a PS3 for $599. That's what I've done until a high-end fully featured standalone BD player comes out.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Esox50

You hit the nail right on the head. The one unfortunate byproduct of Toshiba's initial price drop is that it drew in people who really had no business as early adopters. That's why we see the complaints about price all over places like AVS. Now these folks are trying to "protect" their "investment", which is why just about every thread at AVS degenerates into fanboyish, video-game forum style arguments. As I've noted, part of the new HD DVD rally cry is trolling the BD forums claiming, "Format neutral is so nice" and "HD DVD ain't going anywhere". It's like they're desperately trying to get BD'ers to buy HD DVD to ensure it's survival. Of course, you and I know that Universal will be coming over to BD and that buying a HD DVD player to get the 10% of releases we're missing is useless.

Whatever, just about the entire industry is behind Blu-Ray. Why people cannot see this is beyond me. If one wants to dabble in next gen optical disc, there's very little risk in buying a PS3 for $599. That's what I've done until a high-end fully featured standalone BD player comes out.

Exactly right.

I loved a post I saw from you yesterday that talked about the HD-DVD mantra of:

I think the new HD DVD motto/spin is, "Look, we're not getting our @sses kicked THAT bad"

[gerard786]

If this too expensive.......don't buy it.....it is after all....a free country. As a consumer, we can exercise the right to protest and not purchase the item if its too expensive....the lack of demand will make these companies re-think their pricing strategy and drop the prices....

The only problem is we don't have patience....i know i don't. Now I have to work over-time for the next 6 years to buy that "latest and greatest" Blu Ray player....

Any chance of them making a Blu Ray VCR player for 30 bucks?

[cawgijoe]

My first VCR was an RCA at $1,000.

My first DVD player was a Sony at $400......the first ones that came out were $1,000 and up.

This makes the $599 PS3 seem like a real bargain to me being that Blu-Ray and hidef discs are in their infancy.

[nhaase]

Originally Posted by cawgijoe

My first VCR was an RCA at $1,000.

My first DVD player was a Sony at $400......the first ones that came out were $1,000 and up.

This makes the $599 PS3 seem like a real bargain to me being that Blu-Ray and hidef discs are in their infancy.

That's exactly it. People complain about higher prices for BD, but that's just start-up costs, which are associated w/ any new technology, not just video formats. It comes w/ the territory.

[Brent]

This complaint is pretty tiresome. There is always (hopefully) going to be incremental improvements in, for example, consumer electronics. The people who buy the current increment today are always going to pay more (e.g., higher $ price, less features, infant techology issues, limited support) than the people who wait until later to purchase today's current technology. A related complaint is that if you wait until tomorrow, you can purchase tomorrow's incremental improvement... I guess if you feel life is so bad, then the best thing is to just never purchase anything during your entire life.

[baccusboy]

But the reason it comes up here is because this format war may be decided by who offers the cheaper players first.

I haven't been very impressed by the list of movies BR has been offering-up lately, despite having so many studios supposedly backing them. Not that HDDVD has been offering much, either.