??'s about the current slate of Blue ray players?

Question

Ever since the end of the BR/HDDVD format war last winter (Feb 2008), i have been waiting for stand-alone BR Players to drop significantly in price. Thus far they have dropped only minisculy. The reason I keep putting buying one off is $399 for a typical, no frills, basic BR player is still pretty steep! I have seen, in few places, where they are less than the $399 norm, but I am still unsure about what to do!

I am aware of the slow load times of BR players, and some other glitches but what concerns me the most are that I keep hearing about firmware updates, lack of internet connections etc. From what I understand, the current generations of BRP are not "future proof" to the BR discs being released. What the heck are firmware updates anyway? Why are the necessary to play BR Discs or whatever? Why does the player have to be connected to BR live...whatever that is? What is with all the problems?

Answer 1

I will try to answer all your questions to the best of my ability.

The reason prices haven't really dropped significantly is there  is no longer any competition for your dollar, it's Blu-Ray or nothing right now.

Another reason is that the market isn't over saturated with Blu-Ray players right now, but give it a couple more years, technology eventually filters down.

Whether you buy now is up to you, prices won't drop too much more for a couple of years unless something better comes along. If you have a HDTV, I would consider purchasing  a Blu-Ray player so you can appreciate the picture quality, but if you don't then you could put off buying one until you do.

Blu-Ray players are like computers , they need updates to keep up with technology changes, after all it would be better to download an update for free, than to buy a brand new BR player with the latest and greatest features , wouldn't it?

And BR live is just one of the newer features that is coming out with the newer technology, from what I understand about BR live, it will give give the user more activity with the discs, such as add on features, games and such. One benefit is picture in picture or PIP.

What you have to understand is this , that with new technology comes new problems and new answers or solutions to the problem.

Answer 2

Great answer, Coco. Also, I wanted to point out that if you have a computer at home with a good video card and an HDTV, you could buy a brand new Blu-ray drive for your computer for $150 or so on ebay and hook your computer up to your tv. Having a computer hooked up to a big screen is awesome and should be done for those who have both, anyway. Playing games, music, slideshows, and videos are just a few of the reasons. Add a blu ray player and you will have it all.