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AvgOrdinaryGuy
Joined: 03 Dec 2006
Posts: 123
Location: Northeast Arkansas USA
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 Link Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 7:06 pm Post subject: Cheap Blu-ray Drive Announced |
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Gearlog reports that Philips and Lite-On Digital Solutions have announced a new Blu-ray drive priced at $199. That's may be great news for some HTPC enthusiasts, but I'm not ready to jump on it. I'll be waiting till the combo drives drop to about half the current price, then I'll consider it. BTW, The PLDS DH_4O1S will be an internal PC drive, and not a set top box for your living room. The new drive will ship with Cyberlink's PowerDVD software.
http://www.gearlog.com/2007/11/cheap_199_bluray_player_announ.php
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WanMan
Joined: 19 Mar 2006
Posts: 10273
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| Link Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 8:34 pm Post subject: |
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I can't find any reseller in the USA that has the combo drive in stock and not asking a king's ransom.
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garyfritz
Joined: 08 Apr 2006
Posts: 12026
Location: Fort Collins, CO
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| Link Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 9:22 pm Post subject: |
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So supposedly now you can buy a bare Blu-Ray drive for 2x more than I paid for my Toshiba HD-A2.  WHY hasn't HD-DVD taken over because of the low-cost attraction?
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WanMan
Joined: 19 Mar 2006
Posts: 10273
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| Link Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 9:47 pm Post subject: |
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Gary, can you go buy another last year model Toshiba A2 for $99? Not in my town.
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garyfritz
Joined: 08 Apr 2006
Posts: 12026
Location: Fort Collins, CO
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| Link Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 10:04 pm Post subject: |
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Unfortunately no. But there are several on ebay, NIB, for $150 shipped...
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Moose
Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 788
Location: Minnesota
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| Link Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 10:20 pm Post subject: |
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Were I to go this route, I'd go for the LG HD-DVD/Blu-Ray combo for $299, or the coming LG HD-DVD/Blu-Ray combo that will write Blu-Ray for $399. But I'm doing neither right now.
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Last edited by Moose on Fri Nov 23, 2007 4:13 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Zebu Fellenz
Joined: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 2567
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| Link Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 12:35 am Post subject: |
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I'll be getting my Blu-ray, HD-DVD drive as soon as I can find the drive for $20 and the HTPC to put it in at the dump...
Or as soon as I have the money to get one now, whichever comes first
Erik
But if I were buying now I would get the Combo drive for $100 more and be able to use both
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WanMan
Joined: 19 Mar 2006
Posts: 10273
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| Link Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 12:14 pm Post subject: |
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| garyfritz wrote: | | Unfortunately no. But there are several on ebay, NIB, for $150 shipped... |
Unless the A3 is worse than the A2 it seems silly to buy what will be an otherwise used A2 someone scored originally for $99 and trying to make $50 bucks when someone can buy direct from reseller this year's model delivered for $160 with no shipping or tax.
So, suggesting that one can get an HD DVD player new from an authorized reseller for $100 was hollow.
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garyfritz
Joined: 08 Apr 2006
Posts: 12026
Location: Fort Collins, CO
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| Link Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 4:03 pm Post subject: |
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True, I'd get an A3 for $180 or so long before I'd get an A2 for $150.
But I never suggested anything. I said it was 2x what *I paid*.
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JustGreg
Joined: 07 Mar 2006
Posts: 3098
Location: Kenosha, WI
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| Link Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 10:47 pm Post subject: |
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| garyfritz wrote: | | <snipped> ...WHY hasn't HD-DVD taken over because of the low-cost attraction? |
I've wondered the same thing gary and all I can think of is availability of media. I know alot of you have subscribed to Netflix or Blockbuster Online and get your HD fix that way but just stand in line long enough at a Blockbuster or Hollywood Video and you'll hear people asking the clerks the same question over and over.."Do you carry HDDVD's?" No. Sorry.
And with all the contracts people deal with nowadays having to go to the underground and sign up for anything else just to get a movie supported by your new "toy" isn't an option, for me anyway. I refuse to "join" anything.
Sony and Friends have done a much better job, IMO, of making movies for their format more easily attainable. In my neck of the woods if you own HDDVD you either enroll in a "club" and wait for the postman, or you flat out have to buy before you try, with a zero return policy (exchange for same only). So if the movie sucks raw turkey balls....too bad. You own it. And as for the memberships, if there isn't something you care to rent that month...too bad. You pay anyway.
It shouldn't be the miserable hassle it is to reach out and grab a movie to kill a couple weekend hours. The only options now are ambidextrous players or two separate player purchases. Beh! I'm personally fed up with the Be Assimilated or Be Destroyed attitude. There's gonna be A LOT of pissed of Dads this Christmas who get HDDVD players from their well meaning brides; only to find out how it all works.
Greg
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Greg
"Is it ignorance or apathy? Hey, I don't know and I don't care!" --Jimmy Buffett
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Moose
Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 788
Location: Minnesota
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| Link Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 7:23 am Post subject: |
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Well - HD-DVD is a failure around in my smaller town (not that small! 16,000!) because of a.) the lack of machines b.) reasonably priced titles c.) no promotion whatsoever. My local Walmart only recently stocked the Toshiba HD-A2 (after their $98 deal, natch) but it's stuck in the back with all the other cheap dvd players; unless you sought it out, you would not know it was there. Why not place it prominently near the main isles? There have finally added a Hi-Def software section, but most titles are priced $10 more than their SD counterpart. Even if they owned an HD-DVD player, most people will balk at that extra $10.
Target recently increased the size of their Hi-Def software section but there's no HD-DVD player excepting the XBox 360 add-on. Now they have one of those Sony Blu-Ray aisle demos with a $399 player, but if you want to buy the player, it's nowhere to be found. Even if it was, why would I want it over the 40GB PS3 at the same price?
Hi-Def, both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray is expanding very slowly. You recall that DVD didn't exactly set the world on fire when it debuted. Hi-Def, in time, will become dominant. But it's going to take awhile, a lot longer than DVD.
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In the real world, I am alan halvorson, King of the Wild Frontier and Swell Guy.
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WanMan
Joined: 19 Mar 2006
Posts: 10273
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| Link Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 11:41 am Post subject: |
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Greg, only little people stand in line. 
Big people wait for the media to come top them--it keeps big people off their feet. And I would tend to think retailers are the cause behind a lot of things. Its silly that I can go to Amazon and get a player of either format and get it cheaper than everyone else in town. Ok, mail order has always been cheaper some would say, but its not really the case when you have retailers want LIST price.
Now add the poor, dumb SOB that subconsciously subscribers to the 'ignorance is bliss' philosophy and they think the only way to get something to satisfy their fast-food craving is to a) buy in retail at any cost, and b) go to Dumbusters or MPAA Video and presume those Joe Six Pack Just Out of VHSland will have their fixens for the HD player.
Why would I go to Target to get a Blu-ray player when I can buy one for $340 from a fairly reputable online agent and get no-taxation and free shipping to boot? Oh, because I am a poor, dumb SOB that subconsciously subscribers to the 'ignorance is bliss' philosophy and h3ll be the day I learn to type with more than one finger and see what is for sale on the Internet.
If you find the only means is to go rub elbows with the unwashed masses of ignorance, then so be it.
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