dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
1566

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536 to WK2

Premium Member

to WK2

Re: Best Budget Blu-Ray Player

Gbcue is an above average intelligence guy.
he won't fall for a fad of which 3D is.
Happydude32
Premium Member
join:2005-07-16

1 recommendation

Happydude32 to Gbcue

Premium Member

to Gbcue
said by Gbcue:

It's the accumulation of public failures by Sony (rootkit included, laptop batteries, PSN hacking, stupid standards (MiniDisc, Betamax, Memory Stick)) and personal experiences with their stuff breaking. Their stuff would be breaking back in the 90's, when supposedly products were made to last.

Is it safe to say consumers are generally idiots? Both formats, Beta and Mini Disk failed in the consumer market, but held their niche in the professional world and they’re still being used today. And the formats have been around forever. The last Betamax hardware didn’t roll off the assembly line until I believe 2002 or 03, and I’m pretty sure MD stuff is still being produced in limited quantities for the professional market. For those that used portable CD players, you can thank Sony’s Mini Disk format for the buffer and anti skip technology. And while I have never seen content on beta, I have seen U-matic and Laserdisk though, everything I’ve ever read gives the picture quality nod to Betamax.

I was so glad that the studios had the ultimate say in the Blu Ray/HD DVD war, not the consumer. At CES when WB announced that they were going to go with BD exclusively, I knew it would take a miracle for HD DVD to survive. Shortly after that a bunch of HD DVD related events at CES were scrapped. When I read that, I started chanting to myself out loud ‘Red is dead, red is dead, RED IS DEAD!!!’. Watching the various studios and retailers like Walmart jump from the sinking ship called HD DVD was like the week leading up to Christmas and February 19 2008 was my Christmas morning. The death of HD DVD.

Not sure why no one likes the Memory Stick. The original Memory Stick was a hell of a lot better size-wise then Compact Flash and Smart Media. Some people say it was expensive, but I think I paid like $18 bucks for my 8GB Memory Stick Pro Duo last year for my camera. The problem with Sony, is outside of their Sony Computer Entertainment division which handles Playstation, they have zero marketing. The innovation that comes from Sony is astounding, a lot of technology we have today can be traced back to Sony.

Sony is top notch quality all around. Back in the day the Trinitron as big of a beast as it was, as the benchmark of video quality. Now the Bravia XBR takes care of that. My Sony DB500 2.1 PC speaker set up produces better sound quality then my Klipsch THX Certified system did. My latest toy, my Walkman Z is just phenomenal. I did not think mobile audio could sound that good. If you have the money to spend, they’re Elevated Series home theater gear is top notch and feature rich.

Sony is not afraid to experiment. There have been some successes, there have been some failures and there have been some things that just faded away. But all in all we are all better off because of the innovations from Sony. What was the iPods grandfather? The Sony Walkman.
Happydude32

Happydude32 to dvd536

Premium Member

to dvd536
said by dvd536:

Gbcue is an above average intelligence guy.
he won't fall for a fad of which 3D is.

His loss. I'm getting quite the amount of enjoyment out of my 3D set up. 3D adds a whole new dimension to content, pun intended, and allows you to truly immerse yourself into the content. When I watch a movie or event in 3D the world is dead to me.

Absolutely no regrets here about going 100% 3D.

Gbcue
Premium Member
join:2001-09-30
Santa Rosa, CA

Gbcue to dvd536

Premium Member

to dvd536
said by dvd536:

Gbcue is an above average intelligence guy.
he won't fall for a fad of which 3D is.

Yeah, 3D sucks. For those who wear glasses, who wants to wear two pairs of glasses? Not me.
Happydude32
Premium Member
join:2005-07-16

Happydude32

Premium Member

I wear prescription glasses, and have no problem with wearing 3D glasses. Not sure what the big deal is.

Hayward0
K A R - 1 2 0 C
Premium Member
join:2000-07-13
Key West, FL

Hayward0 to jabarnut

Premium Member

to jabarnut
said by jabarnut:

Since nobody else has, may I be so bold as to ask why no Sony products?

Let me count the ways

1 The abandoned the superior quality Betamax long before the end of the VCR era. When they said they wouldn't.
2 They are proprietary everything from batteries to the rediculous chewing gum stick memory.
3 Obscene restrictive licensing costs which is why no one ever adopts their crap like the gum stick. Or for that matter the Betamax.
4 Little respect for the consumer only their own interests.
5 No longer innovators... just overpriced as if they were.
6 Trinitron TVs almost always turned green after a few years.
7 VIAO the only laptop ever owned that had a not user accessible hard drive. It also didn't last long, and poor connectivity options.

I could go on many more... there is good reason they have posted major losses last couple of years, the world has wised up to them... and they are just not at all what they once were, just among the most expensive and restrictive of a large group of equals or better.
Hayward0

Hayward0 to Gbcue

Premium Member

to Gbcue
said by Gbcue:

It's the accumulation of public failures by Sony and stupid standards (MiniDisc, Betamax, Memory Stick)) and personal experiences with their stuff breaking.

I'll give you the gum stick, but silly to say Betamax as it was the original and only for a couple of years, and always had the better picture quality. MiniDisc for it time was not bad, especially as it was recordable and with good mics and environment could make surprisingly good recordings. There were no portable CD recorders.

Batamax's failure was SONY's as always restrictive licensing and poor marketing. The only partners they ever gained was Zenith and Sanyo.
Hayward0

Hayward0 to Gbcue

Premium Member

to Gbcue
To get back on topic though (while agreeing I'd never buy a SONY one) lately I have seen several in the $50+ range from the second string majors like Magnavox, some even with WiFi but not having one yet can't really speak to them qualitatively.

jabarnut
Light Years Away
Premium Member
join:2005-01-22
Galaxy M31

jabarnut

Premium Member

But, but...if it's a Magnavox, you can't say: "It's a Sony!"
Seriously? A $50 Magnavox? Sounds awesome!

Hayward0
K A R - 1 2 0 C
Premium Member
join:2000-07-13
Key West, FL

Hayward0

Premium Member

said by jabarnut:

But, but...if it's a Magnavox, you can't say: "It's a Sony!"
Seriously? A $50 Magnavox? Sounds awesome!

Yeah, and with WiFi

And I forget where I saw them...but it was searching through Pricegrabber, NexTag, or one of those, and actually a sub reference once I got somewhere I think. Could have been Amazon but I don't think so.

Likely were refurbished too, but if so as I recall full price was still under or around $100

porkpie
No Pork For 40 Days
join:2001-05-28
Cleveland, OH

porkpie to Gbcue

Member

to Gbcue
Put in "Blu Ray Players under $100" in google and you will get results right away, I just did it!
Hope that this helps

Harddrive
Proud American and Infidel since 1968.
Premium Member
join:2000-09-20
Fort Worth, TX

Harddrive to Gbcue

Premium Member

to Gbcue
Here.
»www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers
Just look through and find what you want. This site isn't that well known but it is a goldmine for finding what you want.

Weirdal
Premium Member
join:2003-06-28
Grand Island, NE

Weirdal to Gbcue

Premium Member

to Gbcue
There are seriously so many terrible Blu-Ray players on the market these days. It's even worse than when DVD players were starting to get big. Most have terrible, unresponsive interfaces and really long load times. I've seen some decent Sony brand ones, but they were all well above $100.

After going through two shitty ones that retailed for around $100 or so, I ended up just getting a PS3 and I've been pleased with it. It's a quality piece of hardware and even if you view it as solely a Blu-ray player, it's very comparable to standalone players in the same price range. Wifi and Netflix integration, and they just recently added Amazon VOD so if you have Prime you can take advantage of that.

I know this doesn't help Gbcue at all, but just in case someone else is looking for one and doesn't have some silly qualms about Sony products.

Anonymous_
Anonymous
Premium Member
join:2004-06-21
127.0.0.1

Anonymous_ to thegeek

Premium Member

to thegeek
said by thegeek:

Do you seriously need to update the firmware? As you said, you won't be using the Netflix, etc crap. You just need a basic player. Personally, I'd just spend a little extra and get a PS3. That way you can play games too.

no firmware update = no playing of new blu-ray disks with newer encryption keys.

useless brick in the end
Anonymous_

1 edit

Anonymous_ to BlitzenZeus

Premium Member

to BlitzenZeus
said by BlitzenZeus:

HD DVD wasn't inferior, the drm with blu-ray was the big reason the studios wanted it, and came with it the need for firmware updates to players to play the newest disks when they change the drm. They do have more capacity, but Sony has never been known for being consumer friendly with drm. Remember the cd audio rootkit scandal where they installed a rootkit without user permission, or intervention? All of those cds were recalled, and felt like they had the right to install software on computers without the users permission.

They also make the VHS to DVD Recoder that COPYS, COPY protected VHS tapes.

The transfers from the VHS to the DVD-R format has better picture quality and audio

DAC is removed from the equation resulting in better video output and audio
said by Hayward0:

said by jabarnut:

Since nobody else has, may I be so bold as to ask why no Sony products?

Let me count the ways

1 The abandoned the superior quality Betamax long before the end of the VCR era. When they said they wouldn't.
6 Trinitron TVs almost always turned green after a few years.


Betamax was not abandoned it was used commercially. up in tell a 2-3 years ago and is still used in places were they can not afford to upgrade.

Have a Trinitron that is 27 years old still works perfect and bright as the day it was bought. one from 2004 and a High definition Trinitron 2006 that still works good.
.