Blu-Ray for regular people

[Leisher]

Someone asked me if they should get Blu-Ray now and if they "needed" it.

My response was "No, you do not need it...yet. However, you will need to have it eventually."

Thus, I thought I'd make a list for those without Blu-Ray to cover their questions and/or concerns. If I'm wrong or forget something, please jump into the conversation to correct.

Things for non-techies to note about Blu-Ray:

1. When do you need to get it? Watch the shelves at Blockbuster, Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. Currently, about 1/4th to 1/3rd of their DVD shelves are Blu-Ray. Probably less. When those shelves become a 50/50 split, you need to upgrade immediately.

2. Movie companies are already starting to put exclusive things on the Blu-Ray version of a movie that the standard DVD won't have like exclusive content such as alternate openings of the film.

3. Be prepared to hook your Blu-Ray player up to the web. It doesn't have to, but if you want updates to your player's software (makes it work better and faster) and DVDs, then you should hook it up.

4. It does look and sound better. Hard to believe when you have a HDTV and DVDs right now. My wife couldn't care less about picture quality and such. She never saw a difference between our old DVD player and our upconvert model. When she saw our Blu-Ray player in action, she remarked about how good it looked and said she could tell the difference. I should also point out that she's one of the cheapest people alive, and thought the player would be a waste of money, but after seeing it in action, she was actually happy we got it. I cannot overstate what a enormously positive testimonial that is for Blu-Ray.

5. Research a player before you get it. Some are better than others, but that's nothing new. Old DVD players were the same way. I purchased the Sony BRP-S350 for $200 and have been told it's a great player and equal to the "top of the line" Panasonic model, especially when you take the Panasonic's $500 price tag into account.

6. If you care, you can research the Blu-Ray discs themselves. Gordon posted a great link: http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/releasedates.html that reviews not only the movie, but the quality of the video, sound, and extras on the disc. Some will be better than others. Don't assume that just because it's on Blu-Ray that it's "the perfect picture" claimed in ads.

7. Blu-Ray DVDs will not play in your old DVD players. Standard DVDs WILL play in your Blu-Ray player and most will "upconvert" them (make their image and sound better).

In summary, I think everyone should plan on making the switch, but there's no rush yet. Just keep an eye out for deals on a good player.

[Malcolm]

I don't think regular people hang on this board.

[Leisher]

Some do, but it can also be pointed to by folks not wanting to explain something for the thousandth time.

[GORDON]

3. Be prepared to hook your Blu-Ray player up to the web. It doesn't have to, but if you want updates to your player's software (makes it work better and faster) and DVDs, then you should hook it up.

This is more than a suggestion; at some point you WILL need to update your player's firmware in order to get a new BD to play.

However, at least with my machine, if you don't have a CAT5 line to your BD player, you can download the updated firmware from the web, burn it to a disk, and just slide it into the player and relax for 30 minutes while it updates.

Still pretty difficult for the average user, in my opinion.

[WSGrundy]

Those of you that have them what brand and what are your opinions of them. I have a feeling that my woman is going to be getting me one and I want to drop hints tell her what she needs to stay away from if any of you have had bad experiences.

[Leisher]

I purchased the Sony BRP-S350 for $200 and have been told it's a great player and equal to the "top of the line" Panasonic model, especially when you take the Panasonic's $500 price tag into account.