Blu-Ray versus Upscaling DVD Player

[Darthphere]

So, I recently got a Sony 32 inch 720p HDTV. I have a pretty extensive DVD collection and frankly, my DVD player ain't cutting it, not even my 360. The quality is average at best (IMHO). So I was looking into Blu-Ray. Now, I know I can play regular old DVD's on it but I would probably be compelled to start buying Blu-Ray discs. But everything I've read so far has been fairly negative about the player and the actual software. Slow, too expensive, etc. And most tech articles really believe that Blu-Ray is our generations laser-disc and the format will not succeed. So I was looking into upscaling DVD players, and apparently, the quality on some of these is nearly as good as Blu-Ray. And honesly, I'm leaning towards an upscaling DVD player. I just wanted to know your thoughts and opinions on the matter,

 

[Double Down]

I have a stand-alone Sony blu-ray player and a PS3. The PS3 is the way to go -- even if you don't play games. But the fact that it will play all Playstation games, blu-ray discs and DVDs makes it the best choice, in my opinion.
The PS3 also is easier to keep up-to-date and it is easier to load.
As for blu-ray vs. upscaling DVDs, even if the blu-ray format somehow died (which is unlikely), the player would still play your DVDs. And DVDs look better played on a blu-ray player vs. any DVD player.
But, in all probability, if you get a blu-ray player, you will want blu-rays. That is what has happened to everyone else once they have seen how great they look.
By the way, I have had my PS3 for two and a half years without a problem.

 

[strikezone89]

i'd pick a blu-ray player..... they automatically upscale regular dvds to good hd quality plus they play blu-ray movies....

 

[Darthphere]

I have a stand-alone Sony blu-ray player and a PS3. The PS3 is the way to go -- even if you don't play games. But the fact that it will play all Playstation games, blu-ray discs and DVDs makes it the best choice, in my opinion.
The PS3 also is easier to keep up-to-date and it is easier to load.
As for blu-ray vs. upscaling DVDs, even if the blu-ray format somehow died (which is unlikely), the player would still play your DVDs. And DVDs look better played on a blu-ray player vs. any DVD player.
But, in all probability, if you get a blu-ray player, you will want blu-rays. That is what has happened to everyone else once they have seen how great they look.
By the way, I have had my PS3 for two and a half years without a problem.

I have 0 interest in playing an PS, PS2 or PS3 games.

 

[Darthphere]

i'd pick a blu-ray player..... they automatically upscale regular dvds to good hd quality plus they play blu-ray movies....

Eh I can't see myself paying $30-40 for a movie (retail price).

EDIT: Allow me to expand. I realize Blu-Ray will blow my balls off in quality, but I can't by any means justify paying that much per movie.

 

[imdaly]

I was a staunch supporter of HD DVD up until it sadly died last February.

But since then, I made the switch to Blu-ray. Upscaling DVD players are nice, but they will never match the picture quality that you'll get with Blu-ray, not to mention the better audio and some pretty sweet special feature capabilities they can do (they're finally catching up to most of the things HD DVD could do 3 years ago! ).

I, too, have absolutely no interest in PS, PS2, or PS3 games...BUT...I did get the PS3 as my Blu-ray player, as it really is the best Blu-ray player out there still.

Seeing as how HD DVD is now sadly dead, I would have to highly recommend Blu-ray as the (next) best thing.

And if you're paying $30-40 for a single Blu-ray movie that's NOT a Season-long TV show or a boxed set...you're paying WAY too much. Amazon.com, baby! Amazon.freaking.com! Average price on there per move, I'd say, would be around $15-25 each. Usually about the same price as the 2-Disc DVD counterpart in stores.

 

[Double Down]

The used CD/DVD stores are starting to get a nice collection of modestly-priced used blu-rays as well.

 

[Manic]

You probably only need an upscaling DVD player. The way I hear it, they'll upscale a regular DVD about as much as a Blu-Ray player will, and the upscaling DVD players average at less than $200. You obviously have no interest in buying Blu-Rays, so why the hell should you pay $400 on a PS3?

 

[Darthphere]

You probably only need an upscaling DVD player. The way I hear it, they'll upscale a regular DVD about as much as a Blu-Ray player will, and the upscaling DVD players average at less than $200. You obviously have no interest in buying Blu-Rays, so why the hell should you pay $400 on a PS3?

Pretty much my point. I'll probably eventually get a Blu-Ray (a year or two from now) once the technology has gotten better and prices start dropping (which everyone says they will) but they say that best Blu-Ray player out there is the PS3. And I'm not buying a PS3. I went ahead and bought an upscaling Sony DVD player for $60. Much more in my price range.

 

[imdaly]

The way I hear it, they'll upscale a regular DVD about as much as a Blu-Ray player will...

No way. While upscaling does look better than non-upscaling, they pale in comparison to the way a good Blu-ray looks.

 

[Darthphere]

No way. While upscaling does look better than non-upscaling, they pale in comparison to the way a good Blu-ray looks.

Yeah I think he was comparing the upscaling feature. Even I know that Blu-Ray movies look a lot better than DVD upscaled or not.

 

[Manic]

No way. While upscaling does look better than non-upscaling, they pale in comparison to the way a good Blu-ray looks.

When I said "The way I hear it, they'll upscale a regular DVD about as much as a Blu-Ray player will," I meant "The way I hear it, they'll upscale a regular DVD about as much as a Blu-Ray player will [upscale a regular DVD]."

Their upscaling abilities are about even. There's no point in buying a Blu-Ray player if all you want is to upscale your DVDs. And that's clearly all Darth wants to do, because blu-rays cost more than DVDs. While I'm sure it's nice that Amazon.com charges $15-$25 for blu-rays, the average retail store (where people are more likely to buy movies) charge $25-$29 for new movies, with only the old and classic movies (without special features) costing $15.

 

[imdaly]

When I said "The way I hear it, they'll upscale a regular DVD about as much as a Blu-Ray player will," I meant "The way I hear it, they'll upscale a regular DVD about as much as a Blu-Ray player will [upscale a regular DVD]."

Ahhh. Yeah, I misread that. Gotcha!

Their upscaling abilities are about even. There's no point in buying a Blu-Ray player if all you want is to upscale your DVDs. And that's clearly all Darth wants to do, because blu-rays cost more than DVDs.

That's true, but I tend to look at it this way: If I'm into the HD now, then I can buy today's movies in HD right away. If I wait until a year or two down the line to get a player, I'll either have to wait to buy the movie or buy the DVD now and then be stuck with an SD copy later on or rebuy the movie all over again once I have the player.

It's completely a personal decision, but I went HD over 2 years ago and haven't looked back!

While I'm sure it's nice that Amazon.com charges $15-$25 for blu-rays, the average retail store (where people are more likely to buy movies) charge $25-$29 for new movies, with only the old and classic movies (without special features) costing $15.

I've forgotten what a retail store is ever since discovering Amazon.com.

Seriously, there's NO reason to buy any movies in a store anymore, IMO. With Amazon I can get my movies on release day for cheaper and without having to make any trips to the store. It's a no-brainer for me.

 

[Manic]

I'd rather not pay for shipping with everything I buy, personally. The addition of shipping tends to either bring the price right back up to retail levels, or make it slightly higher-- especially when the price difference is $5 or less.

 

[imdaly]

I've never paid shipping on my Amazon orders.

 

[Manic]

Did you get one of those free shipping accounts where you have to pay a regular fee?

 

[imdaly]

I do have Amazon Prime, which is $79/year. Considering how many movies/books/etc I buy on there a year, it probably amounts to about $1 per disc for me.

Amazon Prime gets you free 2-Day shipping on everything. Cool thing with my location at least, is that my 2-Day shipping almost always arrives in 1 day, and they always ship new releases the day before the release date...so I get free overnight shipping basically. Heck, even before I got Prime a lot of the time the standard shipping (which is free) would still arrive in 1 day...2 at the most.

 

[Darthphere]

So to update everybody, I got my Sony upscaling DVD player last night and it looks great. This will totally work out until I feel good about buying a Blu-Ray player in the future.

 

[Erzengel]

I just got a new blu-ray player. However, the plasma tv I have doesn't have a hdmi imput so I tried using the existing monster cables that were connected to the dvd player and it worked, but I have no sound.

So now I tried doing a separate cable for sound out put to the dvd av imput. Still didn't work. Yet when I put the cable into the aux 1 imput it works.

 

[strikezone89]

a xbox 360 upscales regular dvds to hd quality

 

[Darthphere]

a xbox 360 upscales regular dvds to hd quality

No, it really doesn't.

 

[Manic]

The Xbox 360 barely plays DVDs as it is.

 

[chaseter]

Bluray is better. And you got a crappy 720...loser.

 

[bgates87]

Kind of sounds like you'd already made up your mind to go with the upscaling DVD player and just started this thread because you wanted everybody to tell you you were making the right choice. Honestly though, Blu-Ray is better.

 

[Manic]

The blu-ray is unnecessary if your TV only goes as high as 720p.