The cost of blu-ray!

[nads]

Big Aura:
With that in mind, it's really in the manufacturers and studios to promote the format more aggressively...

they also need to finalize the format. my pet grumbles. load times. and when it is a fast load "auto play" it is never with the HD soundtrack so i have to change it or restart.

still i buy too many discs. need to get through the unwatched ones soon.

 

[Big Aura]

I've stopped wasting my money on discs. Unless I'm certain I'll watch it more than twice, it's not worth paying for.

Life's too short to re-watch mediocre movies.

LoveFilm all the way!

 

[The_Lhc]

nads:still i buy too many discs. need to get through the unwatched ones soon.

After my initial splurge I've set myself a rule that I don't buy another disc whilst there's anything left I haven't watched. I think I've stuck to it reasonably well, just need to watch Payback and I can start thinking about my next purchase.

It has the happy side-effect that by the time I do get round to buying anything else the latest releases aren't latest anymore and are usually cheaper!

Hopefully this will stop me getting to the point with Blu-rays that I reached with DVD, vis-a-vis I've still got DVDs in my collection that I've never watched, and likely never will now...

 

[laserman16]

professorhat:

I understand what David is saying, I used to pay £15 or so for a brand new DVD if it was a film I really wanted and I do the same for Blu-Ray (like I did for The Dark Knight, Watchmen and Quantum of Solace). But it just comes down to how much you're willing to pay. If it's too much in your opinion, don't buy it.

So very true and really this applies to anything you buy and the percieved benefits you think you may get from that object, be it disc's, electrical equipment (including cables

) or anything else at all.

 

[Anonymous]

FrankHarveyHiFi:
Tell it like it is Jon!!

PMSL .

Andrew you're right - I try not to mix with 'em too often !

As regards to the comment about renting, maybe my local Blockbuster is in a league of it's own where this is concerned, but when I used to rent DVDs, it was extremely rare to get a disc that didn't have fingerprints and scratches all over it - new releases included. You insert the disc, start watching, get really into the storyline and then .....FREEZE ! Or the scratched disc would cause it to jump scenes so you missed a large chunk of the film.

Alas, I gave up renting years ago.

 

[Tonya]

Lest we forget :
I still remember paying around £70 pounds for some pre-recorded VHS films when they first came out, although I didn't buy that many.
Generically speaking, I'm sure that all new technology starts off with a premuim price level in an attempt to recouperate the research & development costs involved in bringing it to the marketplace (£18 for an E180 VHS cassette anyone?).
First started collecting when I got bitten by the LaserDisc bug and I've still haven't seen all the ones I've bought over the years.
A local rental shop went bust many years ago and I swooped in to buy the remaining stock of silver 12" discs.
But with so many film channels and Video On Demand, the pride of ownership thing is greatly diminished, I'm sure the day when you can download and store HD material with full HD sound will be the day BD will go the same way as 8 track cartridges.

We get price conditioned these days, I recall regularly paying British Airways over £500 for an Apex return ticket for the Norway-UK route some decades ago, when now I'm used to hopping on RyanAir for the same journey for under £20.

I'm currently replacing a few of my DVDs with BD equivalents only because the new format offers so much more in the way of quality and detail, something which a good remastering job will bring out: the Bond 007 discs in particular.
Here in Norway the average price for a new release is hovering around the £20 mark, but everyone I know order from online services such as play.com and cdon.com, the exception being if I see a new film in a shop and it's an impulse gotta have it now purchase.

What I am more concerned about more than the actual price of BD, is the fact that some companies are simply churning out BD releases using the original DVD masters, I've seen some downright awful transfers of films and unfortunately it's not just a few isolated cases.

If a film company takes the time and effort to lovingly remaster from the original film stock then I am more than willing to pay a premium for said title, but unfortunately this care and attention is apparently the exception rather than the rule these days.

 

[sonycentre]

i guess it all boils down to how much people are willing to pay,remember most of us have very good setups,so paying a little more for a blu-ray disc is worth the while,i purchased Up on sat (blu-ray/dvd) pack and the blu-ray blew us away when i played it in store and we done a direct comparison blu-ray dvd side by side using same tv 52z5800 with bdps760 same ixos xht458 hdmi cables.wow,wow,wow.So people look at it like this,if you have a godd set-up,then use it to the full(hd lol sorry),and its with this attitude that people dont care much anymore about paying the best price.And then we wonder why companys are closing down,cutting staff/jobs.look at bosh,they make some fantastic tools/drills and so forth,but alas you can buy some cheap rubbish from china,and then people stop buying bosh product.............now closing the main factory down,with the loss of over 900 jobs....but does anyone care....no,i rest my case.have a great day everyone.

 

[Fisherking 145]

Got my BD player 3 weeks ago, and have mainly been going through my old DVD collection because I find the upscaling amazing. I also think BD's are very expensive at the moment , but this will surely change with the increase in sales of players. I was in Asda yesterday, where 2 BD's are £20, and after a good look around, and asking myself if I wanted to pay £10 for a movie I'd probably watch twice, ended up buying 3 DVD's for £9. So this week, my mates going on holiday and lending me half his BD collection, which will probably end up with me joining Lovefilm, which is probably the best way to enjoy HD movies from a financial point view.

 

[Anonymous]

well, when DVD came out it was a real step up from VHS - completely different format - a digital disc.

the blu-ray is a new upgrade from the DVD. and the difference shouldn't be as big.

that said, there should be a difference as there is improvement of audio and video. and the new process behind it.

i think the high price difference is just an attempt to earn more money from a new tech - not just because it's better.

also, you can always rent. don't forget - a blu-ray player is much more expensive then a DVD player (at the same level of device - not a high end dvd compared to a regular Blu-Ray)

 

[The_Lhc]

lt_dan: i think the high price difference is just an attempt to earn more money from a new tech - not just because it's better.

Curse those damn capitalists...

also, you can always rent. don't forget - a blu-ray player is much more expensive then a DVD player (at the same level of device - not a high end dvd compared to a regular Blu-Ray)

Once again, at this stage of its life, DVD players were still more expensive than BDPs are now, DVD players didn't drop in price anything like as quickly as BDP hardware has.

 

[nads]

lt_dan:

the blu-ray is a new upgrade from the DVD. and the difference shouldn't be as big.

but unfortunately the equipment needed for Blu is totally different to DVD.

while if HD DVD had "won" they could have used the same production equipment (with small mods IIRC) which could have lead to lower prices sooner.

 

[chudleighpaul]

The reason HD DVD didn't win was the studios inabilty to regionally code the releases. Blue ray offered regional coding so in the end it was a no brainer. After all they couldn't have cheap discs coming in from the far east could they? It would have dented their profits

 

[Anonymous]

makes you wonder with blu ray dvds costing £17.00 to £20.00 and most people not being able to afford them how on earth does these tv manufacturers expect people to invest in 3d i just can not justifying `in selling my tv blu ray and amp just so i have to upgrade again to 3d.

 

[Anonymous]

you're right.

my comment was incorrect in that matter.

why won't it be like a game console - the console itself gets price reductions but the games costs tons.

by that, Blu-Ray players should at least cost much less while the discs themselves would stay the same.

 

[Anonymous]

grant you blu ray players have been reduced somewhat in recent years for example they had a sony bdp360 for same on boxing day at richersounds for £89.99 good value, but blu rays still expensive i do though purchase a lot of blu ray dvds from ebay so can get a bargain.

 

[sonycentre]

Yes bips your right,we were selling the bdps363 in our sale for £99.99.the prices have come down to stupid levels now,you can go to far.The point i make is this if you have the set-up for it why not go for it.i work in retail.and we only get two good wage slips per year/dec/jan.and i work djing at the weekends,so i save for blu-rays that i want,like on sat i went to hmv a brought up on blu-ray ok so it cost me £19.99(chepest i found it online was £15,99 at play.com.but i wanted it there and then,and to me it was worth it.We seem to live in an age now where we all want things at the best price,and we are all human at the end of the day,but it seems to be the norm,i dont earn loads of money so i learn to save,i feel better about my purchases,and feel i get more value out of the things i buy,yeah sure i could go into a shop waving my credit card around saying is that your best price,followed by a silly nervous laugh that seems to crowd the market place.but i dont,sometimes i will buy discs online,but would never buy big price gadgets online,i would sooner pay a little more,cos a least i know that i could go back to a shop if i had any problems.But i guess thats just me,and maybe im old school.or its becouse i work in a store where value and customer service is paramount to our succsess.

 

[Big Aura]

Grant - and "breathe"!

That post reads like my excited nephew rattling off the days events at school with hundreds of sentences delivered at breakneck-pace; each linked with "..and then..."!

 

[lobby]

I do agree that all this technology costs a bomb to stay upto date, but i think we have it betterer than ever, look at the prices of dvds, with top titles coming down to £5.00 after a few months.The same happens with top title video games for under £20.00, it's a shame blu-ray titles don't drop so quickly. I always wait for the bargains and you don't have to go to the highstreet and buy them at £17.99 to £25.00.Rent them buy them in the two for £15.00 - £18.00 and stick to titles that you will watch many times. Do what i do i said it many times carbootsales. This week i picked up 60 cd albums for £4.00, Xbox, PS3 and Wii games for £2.00 - £ 5.00 and Blu-ray films for a fiver some where still sealed, i also managed to get some Walt Disney dvds like Dumbo, Lion king, Beauty and Beast etc for a pound each. Im also addicted to them and go 5-10 times aweek, what you don't want sell on.It's surprising what you can find. Also Play.com are selling a few blu-rays at £5.99 mainly comedy, but there might be something you fancy. Ive saved myself thousands and infact made more money then i spent, good carboot hunting check your area and give it a go. Remember dedication and arrive early or else you won't find anything decent left also haggle on prices and look for job lots.

 

[sonycentre]

Lol done a few car boot sales.......people at car boot sales are aggresive.....and all for nowt.......sorry not for me.I would sooner keep my dvds then give them away for a quid.having worked hard to buy them in the first place.

 

[sonycentre]

Big Aura:

Grant - and "breathe"!

That post reads like my excited nephew rattling off the days events at school with hundreds of sentences delivered at breakneck-pace; each linked with "..and then..."!

sorry big aura,my typing is not the best in the world.but as long as i can get my point across,Thats all that matters.and i do get over exited.

 

[2cool]

On the point of renting i have never had a problem with blu rays skipping or freezing, maybe cos most peaple rent dvds not blu rays and i think the disk is a little more protected. But on another note how you guys on this forum slate the price of disks is crazy you dont care about spending thousands of pounds or more on kit but then moan about £15 to £20 for a movie, come on i know all of us will spend £6 on a meter of speaker cable and £50 a meter hdmi cable at least. Having said that i agree with 3d being to soon if updates on kit can be made then fine but i dont think we will buy into it yet not untill the kit we have is out of date and as far as i'm concerned 1080p hi def and lossless audio isnt.

 

[lobby]

Exactly a good place for buying, i don't sell mine there, i just buy but a pound for a rare and deleted title why not as not all dvds will ever get relesed on blu-ray, also bought Whiteout on dvd for a quid not a great film but still over £6.00 on dvd, and it's one ill probably only watch a couple of times. I don't mind still watching dvds yes it's not as good as blu-ray but unless you rent them or have a bottomless pit for you wallet, getting to watch all the new releases will set you back a fair wack each week.

 

[sonycentre]

very well said 2cool.

 

[Anonymous]

thats true if you were to buy blu rays when released then it would cost a lot.

I personally wait at least 2 months before purchasing blu ray dvds usually the price has dropped or like i mentioned earlier buy them from ebay.

I recently purchased terminator 2 steel book from play.com for 7.99 a bargain considering it cost £18 when it came out.

The only blu ray i have paid full price was the new star trek only because i am a true trekkie fan and what a movie it is superb

 

[Anonymous]

As I see it Blu-ray has two problems. The first being the cost of the discs and the second being DVD.

I will not argue that BD looks better than DVD, but a good upscaled dvd hardly looks bad. A lot of people also don't understand what BD is and how it's different from DVD. Lets face it the discs look the same and dvd is good enough for most people anyway so why would they pay more than twice the price?

When dvd came out I think it was such a jump from VHS and people could really see the benefits of upgrading. Much better sound and picture as well as smaller boxes taking up less room. Would most people say the same about the jump from DVD to BD. A BD box is a little smaller, but not much, and surround sound is a non starter for most. Also lets face it many are prepered to put up with watching footy on ITV so picture quality isn't always top of peoples list.

If BD is really going to take off then they have to start dropping the price of movies and soon as surely HD movie downloads can't be to far off in the future.