Posted on 06/02/2008 2:40:19 PM PDT by Las Vegas Dave
The pinged subjects will be those of HDTV technology, satellite/cable HD, OTA (over the air with various roof top and indoor antennas) HD reception. Broadcast specials, Blu-ray/HD-DVD, and any and all subjects relating to HDTV.
Las Vegas Dave
Blu-Rays suck. We got a PS3 specifically for Hairspray. That one was marvelous. About another hour of Special features. Enchanted was pretty good, and Superman Returns was okay.
I have found that most Blu-Ray don’t offer the special features that the DVDs do. For me, that is what I want to see. With the space available on a Blu-Ray, they could hand the cast handheld video cameras and put it all on as special features. Instead we get squat.
I have been telling anyone that will listen to me that upscaling is the way to go. We have upscaling on our DVD Recorder/player and it is very good. Blue Ray will be a temporary blip on the radar unless prices for it drop to regular DVD prices.
Great time for a new product launch, just as Blu-ray is solidifying their grip on the HD format. I can’t wait to see how this will turn out!
The devices won't record to Bluray but they will play Blu-Ray.
I have an inexpensive LG upconverter that produces an amazing picture on an HD screen.
That is why it sucked that HD-DVD failed. Oh well I am waiting for BD 2.0 to be fully accepted before I jump on the blu-ray bandwagon. But if this player is as good as toshiba says it will be I won’t get a blu-ray until forced by the market.
Blu-Ray was the winner of the format war, so it's likely here to stay. A good indicator is that it's now widely stocked at Wal-Mart, Best Buy, etc. Blue diodes have fallen in price, so my guess is the manufacturers are recouping their initial losses a bit, and prices will start going down. But a full-functioning 2.0 player won't get to $100 any time soon, as that requires a certain amount of permanent storage, memory, multiple decoders and network connectivity.
I hedged my bets by getting a PS3, which is a great game machine and upsampling DVD player, so whatever format wins I still have the games and DVDs. It also happens to offer the best, most expandable (for free) Blu-Ray player on the market.
Where are you seeing Blu Ray players for $150. There are some computer drives in that range, but no freestanding players. Standalone players are still $400.
The PS3 is a great machine.
That’s what we have!
The bonus is that I get to watch Dad play Iron Man and hear Robert Downey Jr in the part!
I haven’t bought a Blu-Ray player yet because my current dvd player also plays DVD-A discs and SACD discs which I don’t think Blu-Ray players play. Do they? I wonder if te new Toshiba player will? If I find a player that plays “everything”, I’ll buy one.
Honestly, I won’t even rent them if I can get the DVD.
I got “I am Legend” for the Alternate Ending. Guess what wasn’t on the Blu-Ray???
I wasn’t clear,...they would be Computer drives...
LITE-ON Black 12X DVD-ROM 32X CD-ROM SATA Blu-ray DVD-ROM Drive Model DH-4O1S-11 - OEM
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$129.99
3 Business Day Shipping $7.00
CUT&PASTED from the linked web site.
Pros:
* Works with SATA-IDE adapter (Rosewill RC-203 SATA to IDE Mini Vertical Bridge). I didn’t have an open SATA slot so I used this adapter and it works!
* Plays all my media including CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray. I use ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre software and it plays flawlessly.
* Cheap Blu-Ray solution for the PC at a buck thirty. Great for non-console gamers (i.e. PS3 alternative)
Cons:
* Doesn’t work with SATA-IDE adapter in IDE-USB 2.0 external enclosure. This is not the drives fault. I’m assuming the external enclosure must be SATA and not IDE to work.
* Does not write *any* media. Read only (no surprise). Not a negative really since it brings down the price and I already have a DVD burner. If you can only have one optical drive (i.e. HTPC, mini-PC, etc) then this may not be for you.
Other Thoughts:
* Haven’t tested it with a SATA external enclosure but I’m sure it works.
The problem with that — You need a powerful computer, an HDCP compliant video card and $100 software.
If you have the computer and software, it’s a reasonable upgrade.
Yawn. Wake me up when society has settled on one, and only one high definition standard. Till then, I’ll be perfectly happy with standard DVDs, they’re just freaking movies, they’re really not that important.
16X DVD±R DVD Burner - Retail Blu-ray/HD-DVD reader & DVD Writer
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2x Winner of Customer Choice Award - CD / DVD Burners $159.99
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