Kmart Dumps Blu-ray Due to Price

HOCP4ME said:
I think any retail chain is going to have a hard time convincing "soccer moms" or any non-enthusiast group to upgrade to HD-DVD. With the move from VHS to DVD, the new format offered a more convenient medium, extra features, scene selection, ability to skip previews...etc. What does HD-DVD have? A better picture?
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A significantly better picture.

But yeah, if picture means nothing to the buyer, then there's no reason to upgrade.
 
InorganicMatter said:
Yep. Just ask all the people who bought a PS3 and hooked it up via composite video, and then marvel at how "great" the picture is. :p
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Lol, reminds me of a time when I enlarged and printed out a 640x480 web graphic. The picture came out terribly pixelated. I then enabled my printer's antialiasing feature and reprinted. After studying the second picture for a few minutes, I was dissappointed but decided that it did look slightly better. A few minutes later, I discovered that I had not clicked the "apply" button in printer properties; the two pictures were exactly the same. :p

It's just like how over half of people with HDTVs don't receive a single HD station.
 
TcPoO said:
And to think I used to trust the [H]'s editorial integrity... (yes, it says member since 03, but my origional account from 01 was lost during one of the past DB crashes).

Kmart is not dropping blu-ray. It is unfortunate that no fact checking goes behind front page posts. For shame.
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http://prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-02-2007/0004696858&EDATE=
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http://prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-02-2007/0004696858&EDATE=
http://prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-02-2007/0004696858&EDATE=
http://prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-02-2007/0004696858&EDATE=
http://prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-02-2007/0004696858&EDATE=
 
My PS3 has a great picture actually on Blu-ray. (I have a very good 1080 TV tho)
I went to Sear's-mart 2 days ago and it wasn't really crowded to be honest. Sear's sometimes has good deals, but unless you pay cash for stuff, they'll murder you with finance charges.
And they did have both formats so it's still up in the air imho...
 
I would not doubt the only Blu-ray the will have in stock will be the PS3, no matter what they are saying now.
With Walmart and Bestbuy both selling the same HD-DVD for only $99 (till gone-already done) it means that HD is costing less to manufacture and is now able to be sold at "sweet spot" prices.
True it is not the top of the line but it is now in the walmart shoppers mind that "DARN, I missed out on the $99 HD player", and will be looking for it again near that price for xmas and unless Blu-ray makers can shove out a player that cheap by then HD has a good chance of digging into many more homes
 
ssratt said:
I would not doubt the only Blu-ray the will have in stock will be the PS3, no matter what they are saying now.
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Sure....

With Walmart and Bestbuy both selling the same HD-DVD for only $99 (till gone-already done) it means that HD is costing less to manufacture and is now able to be sold at "sweet spot" prices.
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Toshiba is taking a huge loss by allowing the players to be sold at $99. They're trying to grab market share any way they can. It also doesn't bode well for the format as a whole, considering no other manufacturer is going to want to compete with Toshiba's bargin basement prices. They won't make any money. Only exception might be the cheap Chinese junk.
 
Talz said:
Exactly.
However that said, being that HD-DVD is cheaper AND Backward compatible- I tend to lean my favor heavily in HD-DVDs direction!
The fact of the matter is people won't be forced to buy new players (as in the case of BlueRay) if HD-DVD becomes mainstream. Nay, they won't enjoy HD nor any of the additional features... but they can still watch the movie on their old players.


one swell foop said:
Enthusiasts will not decide the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray war, a bunch of rednecks shopping at K-mart, Walmart, and Bestbuy WILL.
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And that right there is what (I think) Sony forgets.
It's the common folk that decide these things.
What are they going to buy? Something that doesn't even require them to buy a new player unless they need HD??? Or something that requires shelling out money to even get the basic functionality! And on top of that, it is much cheaper!
I think it is similar to the PS3... Sony already learned a lesson there, hence the price drops. My point in bringing up the PS3... Sony has a history of this stuff (Once again... Betamax?)
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They sell their movies for too much anyways. Typicall their new DVD's are $23 or even $25. When right across the street at walmart, they are $20. Usually $15 for the first week. Even their Bluray movies are $5 more than walmart, or most other outlets. I dont understand why a gas station can sell DVD's for less than walmart. I never, buy anything from them. Except a video game from time to time. Nobody had Heavenly Sword the first few days it came out. They had a few.. cause nobody goes there anymore.

nilepez said:
A significantly better picture.

But yeah, if picture means nothing to the buyer, then there's no reason to upgrade.
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As the user you quoted mentioned, VHS to DVD offered all those things, on the same TV. You need a HDTV to get the quality from a HD/Bluray DVD. Much different now, than it was then.

I do like how they have multi-format discs sometimes. Normal DVD, and HD-DVD versions on the same disc.
 
I play regular dvd's on my PS3 all the time. With the upscaling, most look better than on a regular player.
 
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