Blu Ray Player or Media Streaming ?

[admin_exported]

I have been considering buying a Blu Ray player for a while but recently my tely has been bombarded with adverts for Netfix and other film streaming options. Now we have had superfast broadband installed I just wonder whether it is wise investing in expensive Blu Ray discs when this medium may be going the way of the Dodo. Any comments ?

 

[professorhat]

Depends really. Blu-ray won't be disappearing any time soon - there'll be sufficient demand for a disc based medium for at least the next few years (in the UK at any rate). Also, once you buy a Blu-ray disc, it doesn't disappear. So as long as you have a Blu-ray player available, you can always watch that disc. In that sense, "investing" in Blu-ray discs isn't really that risky (after all, I am still able to play all my DVDs and even VHS tapes today if I really wanted to).

There's also no chance of getting the kind of picture or sound quality that you can get from Blu-ray through a streaming solution any time soon - so some films will definitely benefit from being played on Blu-ray. But having streaming solutions will certainly augment any home movie collection, since it gives you instant access to any film offered by that service (though be warned, Netflix's choice is apparently fairly limited at the moment, so shop around and use free trials where available).

 

[bigboss]

It may be worth buying this to ensure your investment doesn't go wasted:

http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/01/sony-nsz-gp9-google-tv-blu-ray-disc-player/

http://www.whathifi.com/news/ces-2012-sony-launches-google-tv-powered-blu-ray-and-network-media-players

You'll get the best of both in one.

 

[landzw]

The promise of the sony system being able to connect to Apple devices is interesting, i wonder what they mean by that? The Sony could be on my shopping list too

 

[Andy Clough]

I have been considering buying a Blu Ray player for a while but recently my tely has been bombarded with adverts for Netfix and other film streaming options. Now we have had superfast broadband installed I just wonder whether it is wise investing in expensive Blu Ray discs when this medium may be going the way of the Dodo. Any comments ?

I subscribed to a free one-month trial of Netflix over the weekend on my Apple TV and wished I hadn't bothered. The choice of films was rubbish. Have already cancelled my account in iTunes.

 

[John Duncan]

I've tried several services and tbh I think video streaming has a long way to go. I find it easier nipping down Blockbuster, and when reasonable bluray players are available for 70 quid, it seems churlish not to.

 

[manicm]

JD, attached my portable 160gb drive to the 751's front USB, the drive's indicator lit up but the CA would not read it, what gives?

The drive gets powered by my laptop's USB port.

 

[Diamond Joe]

Might be the formatting of your HDD? I know my Humax PVR will only recognise FAT32 and my Samsung TV only recognises NTFS. (Or is that the other way around?? :?)

 

[John Duncan]

Drive format would be by first thought, certainly - OTTOMH it needs to be FAT32 and not NTFS. Hang on...

 

[John Duncan]

Hmm. Manual says: "Supported USB drives must be formatted with the FAT (File Allocation Table), FAT32 or NTFS (New Technology File System) file system"

The NTFS surprises me though, I think it's lying. Are you a windows user or Mac, manicm?

 

[John Duncan]

Right I've just tried two discs, one formatted FAT32 and the other NTFS, and they both worked fine with FLAC content, so a few questions:

- What's on the disc?
- It's not formatted HFS for Mac?
- Have you tried the rear USB to see if it's a socket problem?

 

[manicm]

Thanks, I'm a windows user, i think i'll get another portable and test. I use this one for backups etc, and was just curious.