Drexl

Well, regardless of what they said, I just don't think they're going to want to let Sony have the console/movie player market to itself. That will be especially true if BD takes off like some think it will.

As for the next generation, the next Xbox should come out in 2010, maybe 2011 at the latest. Are they going to be able to release games exclusively for download by then? Remember that games will require around 20GB, maybe more (they already require that, depending on who you ask).

davidlynchfan

I saw some Blu-ray player on ebay called JSC and it was only going for 200 bucks buy-it-now. anyone heard of these?

personally i'm a PS3 20 giger for life! (or at least until it breaks down).

RoboDad

I always find it pretty funny when people start making "demands" of a new format such as Blu-ray, expecting it to be positioned and priced as if it had a saturated market, when the reality is that it is still squarely in early adopter space.

If you want $100 players and $10 movies, that's fine, but you're going to have to wait a bit. And BTW, just because the studios don't give you exactly what you want right this minute, it doesn't imply that they are clueless, or that the format is doomed.

I have paid far less per title and per player for Blu-ray than I paid during the first two years of DVD collecting back in '97-98. And that was far less than I paid during the early days of S-VHS (I paid $1300 for my first S-VHS deck, and the BLANK tapes to record in it were $40 each).

HistoryProf

I don't see anyone here DEMANDING Sony sell them for $100. Myself an others are just willing to wait until they drop below $200 before getting one. Just because you have the means to blow $500 on a machine to watch movies, or can freely spend $25-35 per movie doesn't mean others do....and thus we wait.

And like i said, the upconversion of standard dvds by my A30 is phenomenal. So i'm happy for now and can wait em out.

Brian Shannon

I will be when the new generation of players are released

Mr. Cinema

Excellent post!

JayDerek

I'm extremely happy with my PS3 and am not going to purchase a standalone player UNLESS the PS3 doesn't get DTS HD-MA decoding by later this summer

RoboDad

I know. That's why I put the word in quotes. No one is making overt demands. But the tone is still there in a lot of the posts I read in the forum (the "if they want my money, they have to reach price and feature point 'X', and I won't buy a thing until they do" type of posts), and it sometimes represents an unrealistic expectation, from my perspective at least. But to be fair, my post was more of a general observation, than a response to a specific post. I've just noticed that there have been quite a few threads starting recently asking similar types of questions, mostly revolving around how much people are willing to spend on Blu-ray, and how soon.

As I said, there's nothing wrong with wanting to wait until players and titles are cheaper. But people who choose to do that need to realize that they are not early adopters, and that Blu-ray is still an early adopter medium. Just give it time, and it will get to where you want it to be. If Sony is right, that will be late next year.

Gizmo

Problem is, if the BDA waits to long to lower prices to where most people might actually buy it, it might be to late. They may have already invested in alternate means of getting HD movies (Apple TV, Sony's PS3 Movie service, Xbox Live Movies, VuDu etc.) The BDA guys have a limited time to get these people to buy machines and discs. I know, I know, some of you guys don't think VOD will ever happen...but the longer the BDA has these high priced machines, the less important they become to people waiting for them.

Still waiting for a confirmed date and price for the Panasonic BD50 and Sonic S350....STILL. Whats taking so long BDA?

RoboDad

Of course, that's true. But based on past comments, my guess is that you and I have very different ideas as to what constitutes "too long".

My belief is that, as long as there are players available with street prices under $200 by the end of next year, the format will be right on track to gain significant market share. And I do think that there will be players in that price range at that time.

Mr. Cinema

The player, just like the HDTV, is a one -time cost. Most will end up spending alot more on software in the long run. How many members do we have that have bought 1500-2000 dvds?

You can always save some money and when you have enough saved up, you can go buy your player.

wergo

Yeah, but first they have to have a decent enough selection of titles available in Blu-Ray to make that one-time cost worthwhile. Right now, there's very little that anyone not a big fan of action movies or kids' films would want to buy, and what is available most people probably have already bought two or three times already.

I had about 20 or so DVDs before I bought a player back in '97. And that was out of about 150 or so that I wanted that were available already. Two years after Blu-Ray was introduced, there's nowhere NEAR that kind of selection yet. Even if I were to buy a top-of-the-line $38,000 player, I'm still stuck watching my 'Battlestar Galcatica' DVDs or the 'Grindhouse' films in standard def, and that just ain't right.

If I had some reasonable expectation that, ten years from now, I'd own 1500-2000 Blu Ray discs, price would be no object. But most film buffs are looking at $400 for a player just to watch a handful of discs.

darkside

I can understand that, but that is not my issue. All I'm asking for is my $500 standalone to actually be able to handle the format. I never had this issue with my HD DVD player I bought in 2006. It was able to handle ever feature HD DVD had to offer, but my Blu-ray standalone bought in 2008 retailed for $500 and is the worst player I have ever owned. Charge $500 and up if you must, but don't sell people complete shit at that price.

DivxGuy

I just bought a PS3, so the answer is no.

atlantamoi

Exactly how I feel. I'd definitely enjoy buying a player (and put my HD-DVD player to pasture), but I have a limit I'm willing to spend and they are clearly not moving in that lower direction anytime soon. It's not a big deal to me, I can wait. I don't even really think about it that much. I guess I'm one of those people who never really had any problems with the quality of upconversion.

chanster

No is one demanding anything, but the point is I won't buy a Blu Ray player until the prices come down and the players actually play the movies without hassle.

danicus007

Not only this, but the media needs to come down in price a little bit too. I haven't seen a Blu-Ray disk B&M for less than $24.99 and most are $29.99 or $34.99. It's hard to get people to adopt something when the player is $400 and the disks are $10 more expensive than what their current upconvert DVD player will play.

To answer the original question, I just bought a PS3 this past weekend and love the thing. It's a pretty damn great bargain considering stand alone prices and the fact that they won't be sub $200 until the end of 2009. Here's hoping there are tons of new releases by then. I couldn't see myself waiting that long to start enjoying Blu-Ray. The PS3 is an awesome media server using TVersity and even though I'm not a gamer, the games look pretty amazing too. I didn't realize games were 1080p and had DTS tracks. My used copy of NBA 2K7 is pretty cool. I may get a stand-alone once they are sub $200, but right now I have no need.

Moezilla

In 2 to 3 years most likely, when there's a large enough library for rent and the players are more realistically priced.

Lt Ripley

Bitstream. Yes.

What is $200 over 2 years time? Nothing.

Quinty

I'm buying the new Panasonic blu-ray player DMP-BD50 when it hits in May or June.....
Very excited about it so here's hoping it doesn't dissapoint....

GreenMonkey

My investment to get Blu-ray was pretty low.

20GB PS3 last summer - $350 shipped from ebay
-$80 sale of my slimline PS2 to a buddy
= $270

And I can play my PS2 games! And thanks to scaling PS1 games work again (component video PS1 games drove my Onkyo 605 & 37" LCD crazy..projector worked fine). I bought the thing for PS1 scaling, continuing to play PS2 games, and the occasional Blu-ray.

Without the PS2 BC I would have never touched the thing. But $270 for a PS2 w/ BD was pretty good. And I'll buy a PS3 game or two...eventually.

I don't like using it as a standalone because the IR situation sucks with my Harmony (got the Schmartz IR adapter which is a half-assed fix). If the PS3 remote was backlit I could deal with running 2 remotes, but it isn't.

Instead of a standalone I will probably invest in a good Bluetooth-IR solution for the PS3 whenever it comes to exist. I'm fine with using it as a BD player otherwise - it's super fast.

kahuna

I've been real happy with the return open box Panny BD30 I picked up for $375 from BB a few weeks ago. I was waiting for standalone prices to hit the $200 mark. But decided to jump on the this open box BD30. I been very happy with it.