Is it safe to get a Blu-Ray player by now?

Question

I recently got an HDTV and an upconvert DVD player. A couple days after, WB announced that it was siding with the Blu-Ray Discs. While this hasn't officially settled the format war, it gives Blu a significant advantage. At this point, would it be safe and/or smart of me to save up money to buy a Blu-Ray player, or should I settle with the DVD for a while? And if so, for how long? At the very least, I think I'm going to stop buying DVDs and wait until I have the ability to buy their HD counterparts. Any insight? And please don't suggest buying a PS3; I'm not a big gamer.

Answer 1

yes

Answer 2

Hi Mike,

HD DVD (Toshiba) vs Blu Ray (Sony).

The battle rages and it looks like consumers will have to face a dual format much like the dash R and plus R DVDs.

Both use interactive menus but differences are - Blu-Ray capacity is 50Gb and HD-DVD is 30Gb. HD-DVD is region free while Blu-Ray is divided into three regions. (Figures Sony will try to stick it to the consumer) A disadvantage to HD-DVD is they are not all hard coated as are the Blu-Ray. HD-DVDs scratch as easily as regular DVDs while the Blu-Ray are more scratch resistant.

Samsung & LG already offer dual format machines and others will follow. This probably means both formats will survive. Your safest bet is to buy a dual format machine and you can't lose.

Norm

Answer 3

Yes, but the only future-proof Blu-Ray player on the market right now is the PS3. All other players are profile 1.0, with some 1.1 on the way and 2.0 coming after. Current 1.0 players don't have enough built-in memory to upgrade their profile to 1.1 or 2.0. Which means that new features like Picture-in-Picture and online games will not be accessible on any new releases after October 2008.

If you just care about watching the movie then get any player that is now available. The PS3 has all the memory needed for compatibility with profile 2.0, all that will be needed is a quick firmware upgrade.

If you really don't want to get a PS3 just for a Blu-Ray player then wait until the end of the year to get a profile 2.0 compatible Blu-Ray player.

Answer 4

i think it would be safe to get a Blu-Ray player now. but their are HD-DVD/Blu-Ray players, just so you can play both Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs. those ones are a bit more pricey though, but that is what i would do