And now it starts (Blu-Ray)

[juneau]

Pricewatch - Blu-ray Disc players from Samsung, Sony and Sharp are now the most expensive they have been all year, presumably because HD DVD's exit from the high-def disc arena has removed some of Blu-ray's pricing pressure.

Although HD DVD was always seen as a distant second in the HD format war, it constantly received attention because of the lower cost of its players. Because of this, standalone Blu-ray players were not moving off store shelves very steadily.

The majority of Blu-ray Disc movie purchases have to date been for consumers who own a Playstation 3, which has BD playback capabilities.

In a move to expedite HD DVD's downfall, Blu-ray manufacturers and retailers aggressively cut prices earlier this year, to the point where it was possible to buy a standalone BD player for less than $300.

[Zantheus]

1 answer...buy a PS3 just for the player...you cant go wrong

[juneau]

?300? No thanks. I'd also prefer a standalone over a console every single time. The DVD drive in my PS2 died after about 20 uses for viewing movies.

[Rand{CLR}]

They'll come down in price. If not, the format fails and everyone waits for that pipe-dream of ultra high-speed downloads in the 60 MBPS+ range.

If nothing else, the non-Sony firms are going to cut prices to compete on the Blu-Ray hardware front with the PS3.

-Rand

[Zantheus]

Well then u had a pretty bad PS2 from the batch :P Mine still goes strong and I got it shortly after release...and I have had no issues with the PS3 yet either...another option that I see allot of ppl doing is if you have a Media PC then buy BR drive for ur PC... I think its $900 for a burner so read only has to only be something like 5-$600 I would assume

[juneau]

They'll come down in price. If not, the format fails and everyone waits for that pipe-dream of ultra high-speed downloads in the 60 MBPS+ range.

If nothing else, the non-Sony firms are going to cut prices to compete on the Blu-Ray hardware front with the PS3.

-Rand

That's the truth. Just sick and tired of having reasons to not buy into HD. And they're becoming more and not less.

[Dead...Again]

Yeah, I'm still waiting for the prices to become reasonable...

[dirtyoldgoat]

It's to be expected, a company pumps millions into 'bribing' the major movie companies into accepting their format exclusively and now it's time to cash in.

On a side point, it's basic supply and demand as well, as demand increases (due to the fact that they are the winner) supply decreases and prices go up. The only part missing from this equation is that I have yet to see throngs of people lining up to buy the damn things. >.>

[-IRC-MIKE]

Wait and see. BluRay won't be the only high resolution players on the market. I wouldn't be surprised if there werent something already in beta....and likely from the same makers of Hi Def.

[juneau]

Wait and see. BluRay won't be the only high resolution players on the market. I wouldn't be surprised if there werent something already in beta....and likely from the same makers of Hi Def.

There is... i just can't remember the name of it now. More competition will just mean that this whole fiasco gets dragged out even longer. Would have been so much simpler if only one format had been released in the first place.

[Dead...Again]

There is... i just can't remember the name of it now. More competition will just mean that this whole fiasco gets dragged out even longer. Would have been so much simpler if only one format had been released in the first place.

Yeah, this reminds me of the whole DVD +R -R thing, only on a larger scale. At least one side won...