Sony to drop Blu-ray Player prices

[George Bellefontaine]

Article here:

http://hdguru.com/sony-to-drop-blu-r...to-follow/263/

Seems Sony is trying to get Blu-ray acceptance in time for Christmas. I expect others will follow suit and this could see the Funai players ( Philips, Magnavox, etc ) at the $200 mark. Interesting. But software still needs to come down before Joe6pack will bite. Still, this is a positive move by Sony and hopefully other brand names will follow.

[impala454]

Still needs to get lower, but definitely a step in the right direction. Maybe some black friday deals will drop the bottom line even more before Christmas.

[Hdale85]

I'm more interested in seeing media prices coming down. I don't mind so much spending 500 or so on a player. But when I have to spend 30 bucks a movie is what kills me. I haven't bought a blu-ray movie in quite a long time although I do have a few pre ordered online now.

[H.T.C]

Thats good strategy for the retail level especially lowering it just before that all important holiday shopping season (notice did not use the word CHRISTMAS just in case some politically correct group has issue with it) and its a plus for january get rid of stock sales which the price may come down even more.

With declining home sales,expensive fuel,taxes and paychecks not increasing its lucky folks can afford anything at all never mind a hobby.

I dont collect dvds as its like wasting money that might have to be used elsewhere and we dont live iong enough as humans to enjoy repeated viewings that many times to make it worth the cost and we cant take it with us or use it when we pass on to the afterlife or whatnot but its alright if others do and i enjoy renting films and firms like netflix store the movies to be enjoyed at anytime.

[impala454]

Eh things aren't as bad as the media makes it out to be. Gas is going down, the dollar is making big gains on the euro lately, it all seems to be levelling off. But you know how it goes, it's only news if it's bad. People complain about how bad the economy is and then go buy a $1500 TV. :roll:

[George Bellefontaine]

I dont collect dvds as its like wasting money that might have to be used elsewhere and we dont live iong enough as humans to enjoy repeated viewings that many times to make it worth the cost and we cant take it with us or use it when we pass on to the afterlife

I understand and respect your opinion, Robert. But I am 72 and I started buying and collecting when movies came to tape in the 80s. I have over 1000 dvds, some laserdiscs, still, and about 90 or so Blu-ray discs and I don't regret any of the purchases. I can't recall how many I have watched and rewatched, but as an example, the western SHANE became part of my collection as a vhs tape, then laserdisc and finally dvd. Since 1980 I have watched this movie once a year. And there are others in my collection that get repeated viewings over the years. I know I can't take these with me, but I have a couple of sons who will appreciate inheriting them when I am gone. But again, this is me, and I do realize there are others, like yourself, who prefer the rental route and as I said, I respect that choice.

[Alloroc]

I'm with you George. - I love to collect - for pretty much the same reasons albeit carefully.

While, like Dougie, I'm finding BR movies too expensive right now - about €35/$50 for a new release, I'm very selective as to what I get and tend to rent more. That's bound to change though.

[George Bellefontaine]

While, like Dougie, I'm finding BR movies too expensive right now - about €35/$50 for a new release, I'm very selective as to what I get and tend to rent more. That's bound to change though.

I agree BR prices are much too high. I buy most of mine on Amazon at reduced pricing. I bought quite a few earlier this year but now my buying has slowed down considerably. I bought only two titles this month. I do expect pricing to get better, but it will be slow going.

[impala454]

ouch! €35/$50 on a new release!? That's quite a bit more than we pay over here. Wonder what the deal is.

[Alloroc]

Everything is way more expensive over here..... Predominantly to do with higher taxes and import tarrifs etc. The quid pro quo is free health & prescription drugs & dental, free school all the way to college, social welfare & housing and so on...

[H.T.C]

ouch! €35/$50 on a new release!? That's quite a bit more than we pay over here. Wonder what the deal is.

The movie studios more than likely could sell blu-ray for 15.99 to 16.99 a disc but that would require ether a} manufacturing costs to come down or atleast what they consider is appropriate or b] somebody(s) in the studio getting their payscale lowered and that most likely wont occur.

I dont have anything against collectors or collecting films in general it actually can be fun.

[impala454]

well lots of titles are going for that amount here in the states, i was just surprised at the prices vincent mentioned across the pond.

[Dean McManis]

I also started collecting VHS movies years ago, and moved onto laserdisc, and finally to DVD. And I also have over 1000 movies on DVD.
It is nice having a huge library of movies to choose from at any point in time.
I just had some friends over this weekend to watch a movie and it's a great feeling to be able to talk about a movie theme, or genre, or an actor that people particularly want to see, and to be able to conveniently pull out 40 DVDs that best approximate that group's favorite film to watch, and finally pick one or two that are the best choice for the occasion.

And with rental places like Blockbuster the choices are really limited to the latest new movie releases (often poor), and a few top favorite films.

It's true that there is a move to be able to order movies on demand from a large collection online or through DISH/DirectTV/Cable, but I'm not there yet. Plus it's nice to be able to view the DVD extras with fellow movie fans.

Still, I did get a HD-DVD player and 20 or so HD-DVD movies (most in a package deal), but even though Blu-Ray won the format war, one of the things that I was dreading most with Sony's victory has come true, and that is that they have kept the player and media price high, seeing that they have no real competition. :cry:

But it is shooting themselves in the foot because they are limiting the market expansion of Blu-Ray. I was willing years ago to pay these kinds of media prices for laserdiscs, and of course Blu-Ray is a league better in quality.
But for me at least, now there are some convenient alternatives with so much HD media programming and movies available on DirectTV, and having a Tivo box means that I do not have to pay any more than the mothly cost to enjoy HD content daily.

In fact, I had subscribed to Netflix ever since it started, and now I've cut back from 5 movies (in my queue) to one, and I have so much HD programming recorded that I have a tough time even watching my one DVD movie rental lately.

All of which adds up to a reluctance in tossing in several hundred into a costly Blu-Ray player and pricey movies. Even though I do see adopting Blu-Ray at some point in the future, their pricing (especially of the movies) has put me off of that purchase for a while now.

[wettou]

Even though I do see adopting Blu-Ray at some point in the future, their pricing (especially of the movies) has put me off of that purchase for a while now.

It is coming Warner announced price drops in Blu Ray the others will follow or the media is doomed and that would be a shame. I can't watch a DVD on a 2:35 128" (10 feet wide) screen, the quality is not that great even with up-scaling.

I want to build a collection of Blu Ray but when they are on sale at $15 a piece way to go Amazon:T

[Lex]

I see my clever plan of leaving more expensive discs on the rack is beginning to get someone's attention. I have not paid over 30.00 for any disc yet. Mostly I sought better bargains than that. They priced Die Hard at like 38 to 39.00 a movie here. I said, nah. Now it's 26.00 at Amazon. Better, but not quite. If we hold out on these high prices, they will come down. Got to.

But I am not just buying film, I did for a while, now It's got to be something I know I enjoy to bite.

As for archival collection, I guess mine is 400 regular DVDs or so. I just don't seem to have the time I want to watch many anymore it seems.

[wettou]

But I am not just buying film, I did for a while, now It's got to be something I know I enjoy to bite.

As for archival collection, I guess mine is 400 regular DVDs or so. I just don't seem to have the time I want to watch many anymore it seems.

I also have 500 DVDs or more if I count the kids stuff I watch them while I exercises every day for 45minutes on the Elliptical machine. I am also waiting for Blu Ray to be at $15 before buying and I am also very selective :T

[George Bellefontaine]

Well, if anyone is interesting in building on their Blu-ray collection, Amazon is having a sale right now with up to 50% off. Quite a few titles to choose from, too.

[Chris D]

FWIW, I saw a new Blu-Ray model in the store the other day, for $249 MSRP. I think it was a Sylvania. (take it for what that's worth)

[George Bellefontaine]

FWIW, I saw a new Blu-Ray model in the store the other day, for $249 MSRP. I think it was a Sylvania. (take it for what that's worth)

It's one of the FUNAI group made for specific retailers. They also make Magnavox for Walmart, Insignia for Best Buy, etc., and possibly even the Philips 7200. I understand they are pretty good player, too.

[impala454]

Mark my words, I bet we'll see those players drop to ~$150 for black Friday.

[H.T.C]

Did not philips of holland sell sylvania or was it ( translyvania)? and magnavox off too another firm ?

[Chris D]

Chuck, I bet you're right. We're about to see some bargain basement BD players.

(which also probably means we're about to see some really CRUDDY players, too, in addition to those that are just inexpensive)

[brendon]

I'm with you George. - I love to collect - for pretty much the same reasons albeit carefully.

While, like Dougie, I'm finding BR movies too expensive right now - about €35/$50 for a new release, I'm very selective as to what I get and tend to rent more. That's bound to change though.

Hi ,Have you tried this online store for blu-rays http://www.dvd.co.uk/index_bluray.htm?pgDYN-4=29 ?
They only charge one pound to ship to Australia(free in the UK) and although some titles are cheaper on special here some of the new releases are up to 10 aussie dollars cheaper including shipping.The titles are region B or region free which is the same as here which helps.
35 Euro sounds extreme the most expensive single disc new release I have seen in a brick and mortar store in Australia is AUD $48 (28 Euro)
Brendon

[George Bellefontaine]

Did not philips of holland sell sylvania or was it ( translyvania)? and magnavox off too another firm ?

Don't know about that, but Funai makes Sylvania, Magnavox, Insignia, etc., and according to some reports, it also makes the Philips 7200. Perhaps Funai bought the rights to mfg these players from Philips. What I do know is that these low priced players are getting good reviews.

[Nick M]

I've got a PS3 now for Blu-Ray, but I've only bought one movie (Ratatouille - it's one of my favorites). You won't catch me paying $30+ for a film unless I really really enjoyed it. Perhaps if Schindler's List is released on Blu-Ray (my favorite film).

I think name-brand players (like Sony) need to hit $200, and discs need to hit $20 for it to really take off. That, and we need to see 40-42" Sony 1080p LCD's hit the $750 mark.

A package deal that included a 40" Sony LCD and Blu-Ray player for $1000 would sell like wildfire. And with $20 media it would put a serious cut into DVD territory.

[Hdale85]

Yeah if media was 20 bucks you'd see a lot more movie purchases from me.

[impala454]

A lot of them are $20 or less now

[Hdale85]

Not locally. I was at Walmart today and saw maybe 3 or 4 titles that were like 20 bucks.

[impala454]

So don't buy them locally

I think walmart is pretty location dependent on pricing as well, as I've seen quite a few under $20 at my walmart. I have to go later I'll try and take note.

[Hdale85]

For movies I like shopping locally.... Usually when I buy a movie I want to watch it right away.

[H.T.C]

According to samsung electronic corporation (article from psu.com) they are giving blu-ray 5 years total for the format and then its obsolete by software downloads which makes everyone's collection on disc defunct as a physical format much faster then before as obsoleteness is concerned.

By then maybe will have higher capacity plug-in cards for a storage device.

[Chris D]

Yeah, I saw the same report last night. We'll have to see--I know we've discussed this before, but there are implementation factors that give me serious doubt to download/streaming media completely replacing physical media. Bigwigs sitting in the middle of metropolitan megacities, like Seattle, Tokyo, and Los Angeles probably don't realize:
1. A lot of the world still doesn't have ANY internet capability
2. For those who do, the vast majority do NOT have high speeds or bandwith
3. I think the expansion of high bandwith and high speed internet is going to be much slower than people think.
4. So... until the entire globe has that capability, there will be a demand for physical media.

Happen in 5 years? I highly doubt it. Happen in one year, or even TODAY for major urban areas like those mentioned above? Sure. But those people living there, claiming that constitutes the death of physical media? Not by a long shot.

[Hdale85]

Well I think the bigger countries where most movies are sold more then likely have the internet speeds required. In 5 years we'll probably all be able to have some sort of FiOS type connection in the states. Although not sure about Alaska

[Chris D]

Exactly... even me, a major A/V buff, won't be able to have that kind of connectivity capability for maybe a decade or so. I'm still limited to 768k, and a GB download limit every month.

[Hdale85]

A GB....what the heck. Thats horrible. Even FiOS is considered ancient compared to what they have in Japan. FiOS is fiber to the neighborhood while in Japan they are sporting fiber to the house....

[Dean McManis]

You never really know as the storage and faster internet connection technologies move forward VERY quickly these days.

Personally, I have been shifting from buying DVDs to recording more movies on my HD DVR, so the only piece left is being able to save the movies permanently (and legally) on a hard drive for later viewing.

Of course the content providers prefer the distribution model where they control everything, and you have to pay per view, but I'm sure that there will be a happy medium created.

[Chris D]

Yeah, I just meant that there is a certain total download limit I have each month. I forget what it is-- 20GB/month or something.

[impala454]

Looks like the Insignia (Best Buy brand) BD player has dropped to $229.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/09/08/best-buys-insignia-ns-brdvd-blu-ray-deck-falls-to-229/

and Dougie, AFAIK FiOS is fiber all the way to the home. U-verse is the one doing fiber to the node (neighborhood).

[Hdale85]

Not around here fiber is only to the neighborhood. They don't actually bring it all the way to the house.

[littlesaint]

The medium doesn't really have much to do with the bandwidth until you factor in distance. Copper cabling can support up to 10Gbps (Cat7) up to 100M, beyond 100M, regardless of speed, you need fiber.

In the US, I don't think you'll start to see widespread, high-bandwidth (>10Mbps) to the home until television providers move away from broadcast technology and re-allocate their spectrum for 100% IP based networks to the cable box using multicast streams for "channels". With this model, it would be fairly easy to provide 50-100Mbps connections (even over coax) to any home that subscribes to cable TV. They're working on it, and most of the infrastructure is already in place.

[Hdale85]

Well around here you can get up to a 50Mb connection through FiOS (they are finally starting to get it in majority of area's) and with Cable/DSL you can get up to 20Mb connection. In AZ when I was there we had 10Mb available although it was expensive. I'm pretty sure that 10Mb is pretty wide spread right now but things higher aren't so much. The only thing I hate about Cable/DSL is the upload speeds suck... I have 2Mb up and its the fastest thing I can get. As soon as I either move into an area with FiOS or they install it here I will be jumping on board to their 10/10 or 20/10 connection.

[impala454]

That's weird I thought FiOS did fiber all the way for everyone. I know they do it in at least some cases though as my buddy in the DFW area has it and had the fiber come all the way to the side of his house.

and yeah saint copper can support a lot of bandwidth close, but these FTTN connection boxes are usually much further than that (i.e. our U-verse node is about 2500 ft away).

And btw, blu-ray players need to get cheaper :P

[Hdale85]

Yeah so far all I've seen here is them run the lines up the street and then from street to house its copper. Business solutions may be different but if they had to run fiber to everyone's house installation would be crazy spensive

[impala454]

eh I think it's been getting a lot cheaper. here's some dude's documented install as an example:

http://www.bricklin.com/fiosinstall.htm

[Hdale85]

Hmm I don't know I guess I'll have to see what they do out here. They only offer up to a 50Mb service though and usually fiber to the house can do much higher speeds then that. Not that I need higher then that just stating I'd probably want the 20/10 service as I think its like 60 bucks a month here.