Article says Consumers aren't Buying Blu-Ray players

[USNRET04]

Originally Posted by f_m

Yes, most of the reason is price, but I just read that by next year they expect the cost to make a entry level unit is going to reach $50. So in the store it could be sold for under $100.

Here is the article about lower prices on Blu-ray players next year:

Tawainese manufacturers of optical disc drives say that the cost of production for a Blu-ray disc player is set to fall to $50 in the next year.
Digitimes reports, citing industry sources, that the current production cost for Blu-ray players is around $100, with pick-up heads and chipsets accounting for 50 percent and 25 percent respectively. However, the publication says that in response to Sears selling a refurbished Blu-ray player (the Magnavox RNB500MG9) for just $99.99, optical disc drive manufacturers expect the cost to be half that come 2010.

Just last week a Curtis Mathes-branded BD player hit Meijer online at $99.99 as a Father's Day special. Predictably, the player sold out pretty quickly. That said, it looks like we’re now seeing the beginning of low-cost players that could give the Blu-ray format the boost that it needs.

Judging from reader feedback on last week’s piece, it seems consumers would rather have cheaper Blu-ray discs than cheaper players. Is this the reason you haven’t made the switch yet? Let us know!

Cost of Blu-ray Players to Hit $50 in 2010 - Tom's Hardware

I'm sure you will see hardware prices at really good prices for Black Friday and up until Christmas.

[Ninjahedge]

I don't care if I had to pay $200 for a good player, the key is simple. How much for the disks?

I don't want to start paying $50 a movie like back in the hey-day of the VCR. The $15 specials online were pretty good prices for DVDs. If it does not cost them much more to burn blue, the price for disks should be very similar. You are paying for the story/rights, not for the pixels.

[StarshipPoopers1]

People just need to take cheaper alternatives. You don't need a 52" HDTV and a $400 blu-ray player to enjoy the quality. I'm running a $220 1080p 22" LCD monitor with a $180 LG 8x blu-ray drive in my custom PC and the quality is fantastic. And those are Canadian dollars, so it'd be even cheaper for the U.S.

I was concerned that I would sink money into blu-ray and not see a noticeable difference in quality between BD and DVD, but I can tell you that the quality improvement is huge. I bought a series on DVD recently and was horrified at the quality after becoming so accustomed to the hi definition quality of blu-ray.

Sure, movies and TV series are more expensive, but not outrageously so. I'll pay $10-15 more for a movie if it means better quality, and the prices will inevitably go down as DVD slowly loses preference to blu ray.

Everything about blu ray is better, and once you try it you won't bother touching another DVD.

[cheese9988]

We have a blue ray player as well on a 42" 1080i monitor. It looks excellent, and except for some older movies, the difference is very noticible. After watching blue ray for awhile we can tell the difference between that and a dvd almost instantly.

The only downside I have is the loading time and Samsung is slow to make updates.

[f_m]

Originally Posted by Ninjahedge

I don't care if I had to pay $200 for a good player, the key is simple. How much for the disks?

I don't want to start paying $50 a movie like back in the hey-day of the VCR. The $15 specials online were pretty good prices for DVDs. If it does not cost them much more to burn blue, the price for disks should be very similar. You are paying for the story/rights, not for the pixels.

There are a number of specials from time to time around $15 (generally $30 is max). But I just rent most of them for $1, same price as renting a DVD, so I'd rather choose Blu-Ray. Netflix and such do Blu-Ray also. Since the current movie costs are a little more, renting is a better deal and gets close to movie theater resolution.

[juggler]

Originally Posted by cheese9988

After watching blue ray for awhile we can tell the difference between that and a dvd almost instantly.

See, this is what turns me off of Blu-ray. If you have to watch it for awhile in order to tell the difference between it and DVD (and even then, only "almost instantly"), then I contend the difference is not worth the extra cost.
And I'm an extreme techie who is usually an early adopter of new technology.

[f_m]

Originally Posted by juggler

See, this is what turns me off of Blu-ray. If you have to watch it for awhile in order to tell the difference between it and DVD (and even then, only "almost instantly"), then I contend the difference is not worth the extra cost.
And I'm an extreme techie who is usually an early adopter of new technology.

Depends on each person. Regular HDTV is higher resolution than DVD, and Blu-Ray is a bit better than that. HDTV is to me definitely better than DVD.

Some people don't notice or don't look at the differences. Kind of like how most people don't mind iTunes music, but it's worse than CD.

[cheese9988]

Originally Posted by juggler

See, this is what turns me off of Blu-ray. If you have to watch it for awhile in order to tell the difference between it and DVD (and even then, only "almost instantly"), then I contend the difference is not worth the extra cost.
And I'm an extreme techie who is usually an early adopter of new technology.

Not really what I ment, but ok. What I mean is, if we get a movie in from Netflix and my wife puts it in, I can tell within a few seconds if it is blue ray or not, and it is because of the detail. I can read small writing, see the details of a shirt, see grass clippings that would otherwise be blurry. Some of the older movies put onto Blue ray look the same imo. We got Lampoons Xmas vacation on blue-ray, and would have been better off getting the dvd in that case.