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Will Blu-ray players come down in price?


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Old 17-04-2009, 13:27
Kargo
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Hey guys, I was considering buying a Blu Ray player as I have a 32" HD TV and havent as of yet experienced the High def feature of it. I notice the prices of blu-ray players are generally quite high so im in cross minds whether to buy one now or wait a few months. Can we expect the prices of blu-ray players to reduce in the coming months?
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Old 17-04-2009, 14:09
simon69c
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Well they will inevitably come down in price eventually, but I doubt anyone can really tell you by how much and when. So I guess the question really is what you would consider a reasonable price and whether what you can get for that price would be worthwhile getting?

I'd be wary of trying to pick up bargains on BD players at the moment as there will still be some of the earlier generation players floating about that the retailers are trying to get rid of. Aside from the fact that those players may not play all the special features of newer discs (i.e. Profile 1.0 vs 1.1 vs 2.0 - which may or may not be important to you), they also had a tendency for really slooooooow loading times for discs. The latest offerings from the likes of Sony and Panasonic have really improved load times (and the PS3 was always nice and quick) while still remaining relatively affordable - I'm not sure how the latest Samsungs, Sharps etc fair in that department. I would certainly recommend asking for a demonstration of any player you are considering first and testing it from when you put the disc in to when it actually starts playing the film and determine if it's something you could live with.

Personally I still think the PS3 is a great choice for a Blu-ray player. Not only does it do a pretty decent job on the video side, it can also decode all the HD audio tracks (great if you have a suitable amp that can accept multichannel PCM over HDMI), and on top of all that it is one of the fastest Blu-ray players in terms of loading up all the fancy menus etc. thanks to its raw power. Then of course you have the fact that it can also play games, stream media, browse the internet etc. It may seem pricey compared to some of the standalone players, but when you consider all the other stuff it does it is actually very good value.
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Old 17-04-2009, 14:19
Willie Wontie
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I paid £230 for my first DVD player early to mid-nineties.

I paid just over £100 for my first Blu Ray player earlier this year.

The prices have dropped, and will continue to drop. By how much, and how quickly, depends upon the Blu Ray market.
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Old 17-04-2009, 15:58
Kargo
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Thanks for the replies guys they really have helped. I completely forgot that the PS3 could handle Blu-Ray, and you mention all those fantastic other things it does which has made me think whether to buy one of those rather then a Blu Ray disc player at the same price.

Thanks again
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Old 17-04-2009, 16:19
lawrenma2
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Thanks for the replies guys they really have helped. I completely forgot that the PS3 could handle Blu-Ray, and you mention all those fantastic other things it does which has made me think whether to buy one of those rather then a Blu Ray disc player at the same price.

Thanks again
I always push people to got for the PS3....think of it as one of the best Blu Ray players for £200, and a bargain games / media / internet console for £100.

Watch out for cheapo efforts from the likes of Argos, in case they don't have an ethernet port for linking to the internet for firmware updates, which effexctively rendures them useless if they don't have this feature.

Blu Ray will never take over from DVD, but is the preferred media for a lot of people now. Well worth getting.....
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Old 17-04-2009, 19:18
Deacon1972
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I paid £230 for my first DVD player early to mid-nineties.
I didn't think DVD was out until the late nineties (April 1998).

I joined in around 2000 and paid £600 for my first player, the cheaper players not arriving until 2001-2002.
I paid just over £100 for my first Blu Ray player earlier this year.
I paid £299 for a PS3 which is my first BD player, this was half the price I paid for my first DVD player. Bluray has been the cheaper format when you compare the dates I took up both formats - 2yrs after their launch.
The prices have dropped, and will continue to drop. By how much, and how quickly, depends upon the Blu Ray market.
I reckon by around Christmas time we might see some £50 players turning up in the supermarkets.
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Old 17-04-2009, 20:19
Willie Wontie
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I didn't think DVD was out until the late nineties (April 1998).
As late as that? I'm trying to remember what the first disc that I bought was - there were very few to choose from. Elizabeth (1999) and This Is Spinal Tap (1999) were two of the first. So yep, maybe it was 99 before I bought my first DVD player. Seems to be longer than ten years ago though.
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Old 17-04-2009, 20:22
chrisbartley
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Do bears visit the woods for toilet breaks
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Old 17-04-2009, 20:26
PrinceGaz
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Of course they'll come down in price. The longer you wait, the cheaper (and probably better) they'll be. You pay a premium to be an early adopter of any new technology.
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Old 17-04-2009, 21:04
cherrycottage
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I didn't think DVD was out until the late nineties (April 1998).

I joined in around 2000 and paid £600 for my first player, the cheaper players not arriving until 2001-2002.
I paid £299 for a PS3 which is my first BD player, this was half the price I paid for my first DVD player. Bluray has been the cheaper format when you compare the dates I took up both formats - 2yrs after their launch.
I reckon by around Christmas time we might see some £50 players turning up in the supermarkets.
DVD arrived in Japan and the US in 1997.

I got my first R1 only player in Feb 1998 .
At that point the Panasonic A100 was the only UK player available and region coding had been hacked by simply disabling it altogether.
But about that time MGM and another label modfied the discs and if region coding was disabled the disc would not play.
This delayed my first multiregion player by 3 months
So I got a Toshiba player for £550.
3 months later switchable region coding was available and I got a Pioneer for a similar price and lost £200 on the Tosh.

Few UK discs were out although MVC were stocking Polygram and Columbia and possibly Warner too.

The original dvd launch in the UK was considered a failure - I can't remember why but possibly because some Hollywood companies were still refusing to take part - but later in 1998 there was a relaunch as the reluctant companies of Disney ,Fox and Paramount came on board in the US.

It was a slow start until 1999 when the release of The Matrix was perfectly timed with the appearance of the cheap (£250) Samsung player in Tesco.
Ironically The Matrix was the earliest disc to demonstrate what dvd was capable of and because it was so sophisticated it proved the undoing of the Samsung which had problems with the "follow the rabbitt" feature on the disc.
It was also the first player to have a remote hack accessible with it's own remote.

The rest is history.

I'm sure Bluray will follow a similar course.
The cheap and nasty players created by the far eastern importers who fill the supermarket shelves with tacky electronics have already started to appear although only in Australia and elsewhere from what I have seen

Not sure how they do it but these budget players are reputedly fully multiregion from the box
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Old 17-04-2009, 21:20
Nigel Goodwin
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Not sure how they do it but these budget players are reputedly fully multiregion from the box
They completely ignore any rules and legislation, and don't pay any of the required licencing fees.
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Old 17-04-2009, 21:30
kendoguk
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I got a Sony BDP S350 with 6 free blu rays for £199.

Awesome player and a great price. Dont know if the deal is still around though.
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Old 17-04-2009, 21:48
cherrycottage
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They completely ignore any rules and legislation, and don't pay any of the required licencing fees.
I would have thought that players available in Australia would all be legal.

But I don't blame manufacturers for paying less to not include hardware that prohibits playback
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Old 17-04-2009, 23:51
zantarous
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I got a Sony BDP and 5 free discs for £145 when ASDA had their VAT free weekend last year, I paid £299 for my first DVD player back in 01/02.

There was one in Argos that was just under a £100 a while ago, it won't be long before that is common place. But remeber just beacuse it is cheap doesn't mean it is good (doesn't mean it is poor either).
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Old 18-04-2009, 09:00
Deacon1972
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It was a slow start until 1999 when the release of The Matrix was perfectly timed with the appearance of the cheap (£250) Samsung player in Tesco.
Ironically The Matrix was the earliest disc to demonstrate what dvd was capable of and because it was so sophisticated it proved the undoing of the Samsung which had problems with the "follow the rabbitt" feature on the disc.
It was also the first player to have a remote hack accessible with it's own remote.
This is exactly what josephcavor said in another thread - the similarities are uncanny, are you related, identical twins. LOL
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Old 18-04-2009, 09:42
BKM
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It was a slow start until 1999 when the release of The Matrix was perfectly timed with the appearance of the cheap (£250) Samsung player in Tesco.
Ironically The Matrix was the earliest disc to demonstrate what dvd was capable of and because it was so sophisticated it proved the undoing of the Samsung which had problems with the "follow the rabbitt" feature on the disc.
I think that it was mostly Woolworths - and NOT Tesco - which sold the Samsung "cheaply"!

I can recall driving 30 miles to a store with stock - and then taking it back a few months later for a full refund due to the well documented "follow the rabbit" failings!
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Old 18-04-2009, 12:49
figrin_dan
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I think that it was mostly Woolworths - and NOT Tesco - which sold the Samsung "cheaply"!

I can recall driving 30 miles to a store with stock - and then taking it back a few months later for a full refund due to the well documented "follow the rabbit" failings!
I got mine from Currys, My 1st dvd player cost £650 (region 1 only) in Nov 98. Showed faults after 3 months, importers would do a thing to help.
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Old 18-04-2009, 20:30
missusbedford
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I got mine from Currys, My 1st dvd player cost £650 (region 1 only) in Nov 98. Showed faults after 3 months, importers would do a thing to help.
I got my R1 player from The Disc Emporium early in 1998 then later that year LVS in Kings Langley was able to offer multi region Pioneer players for about £450.
The lipsynch was notoriously bad on several discs via the Pioneer 505 so I was glad to change it for a Panasonic 360 for £450 from Sevenoaks Sound And Vision in 2001
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Old 18-04-2009, 22:07
azimo
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Yes they will, but I won't buy one until a)it records (b) there about £100
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Old 19-04-2009, 11:29
robbra
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Hi, what is this "follow the rabbit"?
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Old 19-04-2009, 12:14
Deacon1972
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Hi, what is this "follow the rabbit"?
From what I remember you activated this feature before viewing the movie, then a little "white rabbit" appeared on screen to alert you to some hidden extras, you pressed enter and you where then taken to alternate angles of the scenes you were watching.

Easter Eggs are another graphic used to alert the viewer there are hidden extras within the movie.
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