Best Buy to Recommend Blu-ray

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Is the format war officially over? This Best Buy press release sure makes it seem like it is and other large retailers are sure to BB's follow. The good news is that deals on HD DVD movies and players should be pretty good starting next month. Thanks to Matt S. for being the first to send us this link.

Best Buy Co., Inc. is taking a step forward in addressing consumer confusion about high-definition formats. Beginning in early March, the leading consumer electronics retailer will prominently showcase Blu-ray hardware and software products in its Best Buy retail and online channels in the United States.
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I was there yesterday and they were definitely pushing the BluRay on us.
 
At this point, they need to stop ordering hddvd products altogether, have a fire sale on what's left, and call it a day. I was a supporter for hddvd for its lack of bd+ and region coding for a long time, but now that Warner has switched, it's time for the war to be over, the sooner the better.
 
brentsg said:
Pretty funny. Best Buy's been pimping Blu forever.
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True, but that is more of a BB thing than a Blu-ray thing.

First, the guy gives me the annoying Blu-ray is the greatest, bestest, 20 minute speech. I tell him thanks, and continue browsing movies.

I bought one of the Pirates Of The Carribean movies on Blu-ray and Transformers on HD DVD at BB.

Then the sales associate looks at both formats in my hand and says "sir, regular DVDs are over there, these are high definition movies...." I thank him and keep browsing the movie.

He comes back up to me and says "those movies aren't compatible." AGAIN...I thank him and keep browsing.

OH MY GOD...here he comes again. I stop him and say "what exactly about my purchase is bothering you"...he goes into a "nothing, it's just that Blu-ray is blah bah blah, you have two movies that won't play together blah blah blah. . . ."

Never once did it occur to him that I own both formats.
 
Steve said:
True, but that is more of a BB thing than a Blu-ray thing.

First, the guy gives me the annoying Blu-ray is the greatest, bestest, 20 minute speech. I tell him thanks, and continue browsing movies.

I bought one of the Pirates Of The Carribean movies on Blu-ray and Transformers on HD DVD at BB.

Then the sales associate looks at both formats in my hand and says "sir, regular DVDs are over there, these are high definition movies...." I thank him and keep browsing the movie.

He comes back up to me and says "those movies aren't compatible." AGAIN...I thank him and keep browsing.

OH MY GOD...here he comes again. I stop him and say "what exactly about my purchase is bothering you"...he goes into a "nothing, it's just that Blu-ray is blah bah blah, you have two movies that won't play together blah blah blah. . . ."

Never once did it occur to him that I own both formats.
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Awe c'mon steve... You know BB guys just loves you and want to take care of ya. Anyway, they can be irritating.
 
Well Steve, to be fair, the percentage of people who actually own players for both formats is extremely small, and the average joe shmoe shopper at bestbuy usually doesn't even know they need a different player for each. When you're used to dealing with uninformed non-techie people, it's hard to get out of that slump when you run into someone who knows more than what they read on their AOL Welcome page.
 
man, gotta feel for Toshiba though.
I mean they put a huge hunch of cash-o-la into this betting on it.
 
CopyCat said:
man, gotta feel for Toshiba though.
I mean they put a huge hunch of cash-o-la into this betting on it.
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On the other hand if it were Sony losing you would be LOL'ing the whole way right?

At this point in the game though, any further losses Toshiba sustains is on them. Time to toss in the towel.
 
Steve said:
True, but that is more of a BB thing than a Blu-ray thing.

First, the guy gives me the annoying Blu-ray is the greatest, bestest, 20 minute speech. I tell him thanks, and continue browsing movies.

I bought one of the Pirates Of The Carribean movies on Blu-ray and Transformers on HD DVD at BB.

Then the sales associate looks at both formats in my hand and says "sir, regular DVDs are over there, these are high definition movies...." I thank him and keep browsing the movie.

He comes back up to me and says "those movies aren't compatible." AGAIN...I thank him and keep browsing.

OH MY GOD...here he comes again. I stop him and say "what exactly about my purchase is bothering you"...he goes into a "nothing, it's just that Blu-ray is blah bah blah, you have two movies that won't play together blah blah blah. . . ."

Never once did it occur to him that I own both formats.
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You *Speak* to the BB drones? I stare until they're uncomfortable and they walk away...
 
Steve said:
True, but that is more of a BB thing than a Blu-ray thing.

First, the guy gives me the annoying Blu-ray is the greatest, bestest, 20 minute speech. I tell him thanks, and continue browsing movies.

I bought one of the Pirates Of The Carribean movies on Blu-ray and Transformers on HD DVD at BB.

Then the sales associate looks at both formats in my hand and says "sir, regular DVDs are over there, these are high definition movies...." I thank him and keep browsing the movie.

He comes back up to me and says "those movies aren't compatible." AGAIN...I thank him and keep browsing.

OH MY GOD...here he comes again. I stop him and say "what exactly about my purchase is bothering you"...he goes into a "nothing, it's just that Blu-ray is blah bah blah, you have two movies that won't play together blah blah blah. . . ."

Never once did it occur to him that I own both formats.
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Show them your manbra and nobody'll ever bother you again ;-)
 
4saken said:
On the other hand if it were Sony losing you would be LOL'ing the whole way right?

At this point in the game though, any further losses Toshiba sustains is on them. Time to toss in the towel.
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Prior to the Sony "contribution" to Warner, it looked like we were gearing up for another chuckle at Sony expense.
 
ICOM said:
Prior to the Sony "contribution" to Warner, it looked like we were gearing up for another chuckle at Sony expense.
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No, not really. HD DVD was losing in sales to Blu-ray all last year. Even without the Warner switch. The writing was on the wall and is the exact reason Warner gave for switching.

Blu-ray was simply the better format.

Heck even after Toshiba (or Microsoft even) paid off Paramount they still could not get ahead in movie sales. Even when they started dumping their players for $99, they still could not win. That's some sad shit right there.
 
Question: Is it easy and legal to extract HDDVD to a hard drive? I'm not sure I'd want to invest in a player, but it might be worth buying some disks on the cheap if they can be moved to my hard drive.


ICOM said:
Prior to the Sony "contribution" to Warner, it looked like we were gearing up for another chuckle at Sony expense.
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Even if that's true, prior to Toshiba's contribution to Paramount, it looked like BD was a shoe in to win.

I fail to see how WB getting cash to change matters (assuming that happened). If they really broke a contract and, as a result, are liable for payments to the HDDVD group, then it seems like a smart business decision to get the BD group to foot the bill.

I'm personally happy to see that BD will win. I'd rather have 25GB recordable media than 15. Even if it turns out there's no difference in video quality, 25GB holds more files than 15GB.
 
PRIME1 said:
No, not really. HD DVD was losing in sales to Blu-ray all last year. Even without the Warner switch. The writing was on the wall and is the exact reason Warner gave for switching.

Blu-ray was simply the better format.

Heck even after Toshiba (or Microsoft even) paid off Paramount they still could not get ahead in movie sales. Even when they started dumping their players for $99, they still could not win. That's some sad shit right there.
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The better format was the cheaper option...

Warner's "commitment" to HD was going to be the nail in BR coffin.
 
This whole thing makes me happy MS didn't stick an HD-DVD drive into 360... on the other hand, it terrifies me how SONY stuck a BD drive into PS3... and what if HD-DVD won?

I guess SONY couldn't afford to lose this war. So they pulled out their checkbooks and paid off every single movie studio there is.
 
And the market share is still around 3:2 for BR/HDDVD.

Blu-ray still isn't finished with it's format yet. You can hardly call it better when the only advantage it has is disk size and a slightly higher bitrate (averaging ~10mbit more in reality), which nobody unless their superhuman and examining pixel by pixel at 200% zoom can tell the difference anyhow with the VC-1 and AVC codecs they are using. I own both formats and I know I can't tell a difference on my 1080p 105'' projector screen when it is 10 feet in front of my face.

The only thing that will happen here is everyone will continue to get raped. HD DVD folks who made their choice early in the game will be out of luck in a year or so when the majority of new movies are going to be appearing on Blu-ray only with all the studios switching. Since the BDA 'won', they can now maintain their prices and keep them where they want them.. only to close out their obsolete profile players.

It really is unfortunate, because I was liking the format war due to all the buy one get one free sales. Hopefully we'll continue to keep seeing more closeouts on HD DVD's though. I'm looking forward to picking a lot more titles up at bargain bin prices. But, I don't think I'll be buying Blu-ray titles unless they go on sale at a good discount, such as buy one get one free sales. I have a few titles so far, but I really wanted the format war to go on so I could also take advantage of the BR sales. I doubt we'll see much of that for quite a while. :(
 
Good. Anything to help end this.

I was actually rooting got HD-DVD all the way and don't like blu-ray, but in the end just get it over with and decide so we can move on. If this helps in any way go for it.


Oh and Steve - %98 of customers would have brought one of the movies back the next day and whined about it and thrown a fit about being sold the wrong movie. How many people do I know with both formats? 0 How many do I know that own even one? 0 You are just not normal, so you blew that kids mind! :D He was trying, misguided maybe, but he thought he was helping you.
 
Netflix has also announced that they are siding with BR. They will still carry HD-DVD, but no more new movies on HD-DVD
 
4saken said:
On the other hand if it were Sony losing you would be LOL'ing the whole way right?

At this point in the game though, any further losses Toshiba sustains is on them. Time to toss in the towel.
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If you hadn't noticed in all my other postings 4saken, while not a fanboy I am a backer of Sony. One of the few. Credit that to my connections with the company or simply because of the joy I get out of their products.

As you can see from other postings, there are far more than hate Sony or seem to still stick behind HD DVD against all odds. I am and have always tried to be level headed with all these things, if not leaning towards sony a little.
 
With the end in site its time to be thinking of what this will mean to us. Will there start to be more choices whan it comes to the makers of the Blu-ray players? will the prices of the players keep coming down? Will the movie companies that was supporting HD-DVD exclusivly start putting movies out on Blu-Ray?
It definatly looks like Blu-ray won this battle, but I don't think the war is over.
 
w1retap said:
And the market share is still around 3:2 for BR/HDDVD.

Blu-ray still isn't finished with it's format yet. You can hardly call it better when the only advantage it has is disk size and a slightly higher bitrate (averaging ~10mbit more in reality), which nobody unless their superhuman and examining pixel by pixel at 200% zoom can tell the difference anyhow with the VC-1 and AVC codecs they are using. I own both formats and I know I can't tell a difference on my 1080p 105'' projector screen when it is 10 feet in front of my face.

The only thing that will happen here is everyone will continue to get raped. HD DVD folks who made their choice early in the game will be out of luck in a year or so when the majority of new movies are going to be appearing on Blu-ray only with all the studios switching. Since the BDA 'won', they can now maintain their prices and keep them where they want them.. only to close out their obsolete profile players.

It really is unfortunate, because I was liking the format war due to all the buy one get one free sales. Hopefully we'll continue to keep seeing more closeouts on HD DVD's though. I'm looking forward to picking a lot more titles up at bargain bin prices. But, I don't think I'll be buying Blu-ray titles unless they go on sale at a good discount, such as buy one get one free sales. I have a few titles so far, but I really wanted the format war to go on so I could also take advantage of the BR sales. I doubt we'll see much of that for quite a while. :(
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I will take the $29.99 that Blu Ray titles goes for and forget about the sales as long as this stupid "war" ends and I can enjoy the Bourne movies, Transformers, and American Gangster on Blu Ray, among other movies that I greatly enjoy that are sadly Universal / Paramount.

I never realized how many movies I enjoy are actually Universal / Paramount until it becomes a big deal in what I can watch on Blu Ray.

I still think Amazon will keep lopping off a good $5 - $8 titles off their Blu Ray movies (most of them are $25 or under, no tax, I get free shipping cause of Prime) regardless of who wins.

But really, I'm serious, I'm dying to have some of those Universal / Paramount movies on Blu Ray so much that I'd rather lose the sales for a year or so but gain a shitload of awesome titles.
 
dblagent said:
Good. Anything to help end this.

I was actually rooting got HD-DVD all the way and don't like blu-ray, but in the end just get it over with and decide so we can move on. If this helps in any way go for it.
.
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I was rooting for HD DVD too.....especially because both SD and HD formats are on one disk!!!!! Thats the main reason.

But maybe as HD-DVD phases out, the movies will be a whole lot cheeper so i can buy them all up!
 
I personally dont care as i am sure alot of people dont the standard DVDs do me just fine and my whole 39.00 dvd player does exactly what i want it to do...play the dang movie... I just dont ge this whole" this is better" deal. Its not like when DVD came out to replace VHS... what exactly is the advantage of BR or HD for us "normal" folk?
 
Yeah, it kind of sucks to see HD DVD at it's current state. I'm so Anti Sony it's not even funny lol. They had to work 5 times as hard to shove Blu Ray down our throats & I guess they finally got what they wanted. To bad they'll still see sales lack when more people are relying on digital distribution (legal or illegal) to get there media these days.

-DarkLegacy
 
nilepez said:
Question: Is it easy and legal to extract HDDVD to a hard drive? I'm not sure I'd want to invest in a player, but it might be worth buying some disks on the cheap if they can be moved to my hard drive.
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You need to be able to read the HD DVD disc first, so you need a player regardless.
 
CopyCat said:
man, gotta feel for Toshiba though.
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Not to a great extent. Both companies/consortiums had a chance to settle this before either format was released. In fact, both formats were already being readied for release when Toshiba and Sony went back to the bargaining table to try to iron out a way to unify the formats and avoid a war. That didn't happen, obviously. I don't have enough knowledge of the negotiations to say who should have capitulated or made changes to accomodate whom, but the ball was in either company's court to make this happen (though it wouldn't surprise me if Sony was dragging its feet the most). Now it has lingered far longer than necessary, longer than most people expected, while fracturing the image of HD media in consumers' minds and throwing it off track. Are they suddenly to read "Blu-ray Defeats HD DVD" splashed prominently on Yahoo News and flock to the stores and buy up all the players happily? Or are they not quite sure what to think, find all this HD talk "confusing", and may refrain from replacing their DVD players altogether? Then, the prospect of getting all content delivered online might prevent Blu-ray from ever really winning. This has been talked about already, and I hope it doesn't happen. But if it does, Sony can only cry on Toshiba's shoulders.

I'm glad there's finally a victor though, even if it means the end of heavy discounts. There's still bound to be some bargains, and prices will eventually come down as it mainstreams. Most importantly, this will allow HD to forge ahead full steam.
 
i hate the fact that it seems like every month I have to uninstall Power DVD, Reboot and then install the latest version just to "fix" some stupid problem with blue-ray......this is annoying to say the least......lol
 
Since I don't let BB or anyone else tell me what to buy..this doesn't affect me. Sony's huge gamble may have paid off in the form of winning a short term battle but the war is far from won....have you seen any sign that standard dvd is going away any time soon?;)

Meanwhile my investment in an HD DVD player (A30) and movie collection has been well worth it. The flicks I wanted were mostly on the HD DVD side. The blockbuster, teen, action, comic book and kiddie movies at the top of the Blu list weren't my cup of tea.

My player and movies will last many years, even if the format does go away. I'm still buying the movies I want in HD DVD and am seeing some bargains. Best of all, I can archive OTA and downloaded TV shows and movies in 1080i or 720p on DVD+R DL discs I author myself on a $30 DVD burner using off-the-shelf software. Try that with Blu-ray.

So, if you're willing to let Best Buy and Netflix change your viewing habits and invalidate your entertainment choices, sobeit. I'm planning to enjoy the equipment and movies I bought for a LONG time.

edit- Forgot to mention that I also have had a PS3 far longer than I have been in HD-DVD...the BD movies I own (5 freebies + Planet Earth, Bladerunner collection, 2001) are all great but not better than any HD-DVD I've watched.
 
PRIME1 said:
If you think cheaper = better, you are in for a hard life lesson.

Either way if cheap is your thing here you go....

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=vhs
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At Best Buy, HD DVD's can be had for $150 at while the cheapest BR is $400

Enthusiasts might want the extra disc space of BR but the general public doesn't give a shyt about that. Everything else being equal, the masses want the cheaper solution. It's more a lesson in economics. Take a class. The audience that needs to be won over now is the standard DVD gang. I don't think it's a stretch to think they're going to toss out their standard players for $400 BR players. Not going to happen at that price.

Most people could care less about which format came out on top. Although, the early adopters of the first gen BR might be crying soon.
 
It will be a blu day in hell before I'll buy another Sony product - OR a product with illegal restrictions such as area codes.

Well, cheap BR players with 100% removed DRM should start coming to market soon luckily. Not that I'm going to buy those either but for you who think to take the plunge, don't buy the ripoff versions with DRM.
 
ICOM said:
At Best Buy, HD DVD's can be had for $150 at while the cheapest BR is $400

Enthusiasts might want the extra disc space of BR but the general public doesn't give a shyt about that. Everything else being equal, the masses want the cheaper solution. It's more a lesson in economics. Take a class. The audience that needs to be won over now is the standard DVD gang. I don't think it's a stretch to think they're going to toss out their standard players for $400 BR players. Not going to happen at that price.

Most people could care less about which format came out on top. Although, the early adopters of the first gen BR might be crying soon.
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Prices will come down and the general public thinks "Blue Ray" sounds cooler than "HD".

I figure Blue Ray is going to eventually win out and I find it funny as shit when people whine about the price of BR players here when you clowns spend that much on a cpu. Talk about hypocrites.

I'm just going to wait a little longer till HD really bites it then I'll go BR.
 
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