Blu-Ray Prices Remain Stubbornly High
Tue Feb 19, 2008 12:33PM EST
See Comments (32)
Want to make the jump to Blu-ray now that HD DVD is out of the picture? Well, expect to cough up at least $250 for a new player.
I just did a quick check of online retailers, and for now, prices for most new Blu-ray players remain stubbornly over the $300 mark (at major retailers, at least), and that includes some of the models that had seen steep price drops in recent months.
Take, for example, the Sony BDP-S300, a full-on 1080p Blu-ray player that was selling for $299 at Best Buy and Circuit City just a couple of months ago. Well, that same player is now retailing for $369 at Circuit City and $399 at Best Buy and Wal-Mart.
Meanwhile, consider the Samsung BD-P1400, one of the first Blu-ray players to fall below $300. Back in December, the deck was selling for $270 at Amazon; now it's back up to $356 at Amazon, and $399 at Circuit City.
That said, I did find the BD-P1400 on sale at CompUSA (yep, they're still around) for $250; if you're interested, though, you'd better snag it while it's still in stock.
Another option is to snag a Blu-ray player on Ebay, but the savings there aren't all that spectacular. Taking a look at soon-to-close auctions, prices were well above $200 (save for a handful of broken, as-is players), with the cheapest being Samsung's BD-P1400 for about $215.
Combo Blu-ray/HD DVD decks, on the other hand, are showing some decent price drops. LG's second-generation combo player, the BH200, is selling for less than $700 on Amazon (the original price tag was $1,000-plus), with used units going for $550.
Meanwhile, the Samsung BD-UP5000, originally prices at $1,050 and then discounted to $799, is now going for $629 on Amazon. I'm guessing these combo decks will see even steeper price drops in the coming months, and they might be good options for those with substantial HD DVD collections.
Through it all, the best Blu-ray bargain remains the 40GB PlayStation 3, which sells for $399 and delivers Blu-ray goodness as well as next-gen gaming. The PS3 is also the only future-proof Blu-ray player on the market (most older Blu-ray players can't be upgraded to the latest firmware versions, which allow for features like picture-in-picture commentaries).
Anyone out there have a lead on some cheaper Blu-ray players? We're all ears.
Top 5 Posts
More About Home Video
Comments on Blu-Ray Prices Remain Stubbornly High
Post a Comment
Join in the discussion. Here you'll see the comments in the order they were posted.
-
7 Posted by adrianclay81882003 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:46PM EDT Report Abuse
From what I read, because of Blu-Ray's success in winning the format war, retailers like Amazon and Best Buy are hiking up the prices on them because there isn't any competition because now it's just Blu-Ray and they know that people will be flocking to Blu-Ray like mad and they want to get as much as they can from them. When there was both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray competing, the prices were a little bit more competitive, but Blu-Ray was still more expensive. I already have a Blu-Ray player (60GB Playstation 3), so I don't have an issue with buying a Blu-Ray DVD player, but I also have to admit that Blu-Ray DVD's are still pretty high to me. I really can't bring myself to pay $30 per Blu-Ray DVD unless it's a Really Really good movie that I want. I really don't think that Blu-Ray DVD players are really that expensive, but Blu-Ray is still relatively new and the prices will come down. New technology always costs a lot more when it's first avaliable. In conclusion, the majority of the people that will be buying Blu-Ray DVD players or have bought Blu-Ray DVD players are people that own HDTV's, and if they can afford to buy HDTV's, they can definantly afford to pay for a Blu-Ray DVD player without thinking it's expensive.
-
8 Posted by mqflowers on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:27PM EDT Report Abuse
And what am I supposed to do with my HD DVD player by Toshiba? They act as if people's money is just growing on trees and we can just go to the tree and pick off money to purchase bhis Blu-Ray player.
-
9 Posted by iangus37 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:22PM EDT Report Abuse
Good point Adrian. $300 really isn't that much money, especially for people who already own a decent size HDTV. Mine was $1399 before tax. Here's a wild idea, skip the rip-off insurance policies from Best Buy and Circuit City and get a PS3 instead. If you own a big HDTV, you're really cheating yourself if you don't get a home theater system and Blu-Ray. Make sure you use digital audio cables and HDMI also.
-
10 Posted by alexrider828 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:50PM EDT Report Abuse
In my opinion, in the near future companies will be no longer making DVDs they will only be making Blue Ray Discs so it's best to buy one because it's going to be the only thing your going to be able to watch movies on, unless you have On Demand or something like that.
-
11 Posted by iangus37 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:22PM EDT Report Abuse
Good point Adrian. $300 really isn't that much money, especially for people who already own a decent size HDTV. Mine was $1399 before tax. Here's a wild idea, skip the rip-off insurance policies from Best Buy and Circuit City and get a PS3 instead. If you own a big HDTV, you're really cheating yourself if you don't get a home theater system and Blu-Ray. Make sure you use digital audio cables and HDMI also.
-
12 Posted by seanhagan on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:10PM EDT Report Abuse
Langus 37 and Adrian if you think that $300 is not a lot of money, you are out of touch with reality. TBH for me to buy a $300 piece of equipment, I have to save up my money. I have kids to take care of. Look at the economy, look at the cost of living increases, the cost of housing increases, the cost of food and gas increases. The Dollar is not going nearly as far as it used to, and salaries are not increasing enough to keep up with this trend.
-
13 Posted by memphiseagle5 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:16PM EDT Report Abuse
To those that ask why anyone cares about having a High Definition movie player, my only response is a question. Do you enjoy movies? If you love them, than Blu-Ray (or HDDVD) was a great idea. What's the difference? Obviously you haven't seen it or you wouldn't be asking. I have both HDDVD(XBOX360) and Blu-Ray(PS3), they both play into my 57" 1080i TV (no that's not the best available) and they look incredible. There is a huge difference. I am concerned about the prices (I have only purchased two movies, both HDDVD, which have regular DVD on the other side), but I have Netflix and there is no additional charge for having these high-def movies sent out. I am glad there is a winner, and I am only a little sorry that I bought the HDDVD player, but it brought me months of HD entertainment before I got the PS3.
-
14 Posted by labiffster on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:55PM EDT Report Abuse
Ok here's a newsflash. with blueray having superior technological advantages, is it any wonder that it won the war. Not that there ever was a war, rather just another example of what happens when you blindly rush out to purchase the latest technology. Hd dvd owners should not dispair, you'll get to enjoy purchasing soon to be obsolete technogear for many more years, because change is the only constant in electronics.
-
15 Posted by vance_taylor21 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:31PM EDT Report Abuse
I have been patiently waiting for the HD war to choose a winner and to be honest, I am stunned the Blu-Ray won. Since when does Sony technology appeal to the masses? I am so used to their expensive, proprietary crap that I almost bought an HD DVD player anyway a year ago. I am glad I waited because I did not see this coming. At the same time I want to say shame on you to all the retailers who so callously mark prices up now that the competition is dead. Way to shouw your true colors Circuit City, Amazon, and Best Buy. Fortunately I have a CompUSA going out of business down the street so I'll go try to grab the Samsung they have there for $250. Finally... my 46in LCD will be put to good use!
-
16 Posted by tdeer3 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:59PM EDT Report Abuse
bence2g Tivo already has hd dvr and in the future, the flash drives will have more capacity and cheaper. Remember how much it cost for a 128mb flah drive 4 years ago and how much it cost for 16 GB ones now? It is getting there so don't insult me if you don't have a better view. How about broadband cables like comcast and surewest... Duh.
-
17 Posted by dancatherine2000 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:34PM EDT Report Abuse
I just got the Samsung BD-P1400 for $369 CDN at best buy. I only have one blu-ray movie, Planet Earth. It looked absolutely stunning. I have a 52" Samsung LCD. I could tell the quality difference easily between DVD and Blu-ray but my wife likely could not. I think it was worth the money as long as the movie rental stores have enough Blu-Ray inventory for me.
-
18 Posted by dubyac99 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:49PM EDT Report Abuse
I'm always curious how many folks have HD playes, but still buy DVD's for their system. Standard DVD's? They work right? Why complain about high price of HD DVD's (Blu Ray, HD) when you can still buy and play the cheaper DVD's in your system.
-
19 Posted by gehnma on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:07PM EDT Report Abuse
First of all, to all those who think digital DL will be the future... Who in the he** wants a movie thats not a hard copy... rental is one thing, if they start doing it right and make it 1080. I for one and MANY MANY others, I would even venture to say most people would rather have a hard copy of a film. When you go on vacation or to a friends or anywhere else you just wanna grab the film and go, I see Digital DL being a problem in that aspect. I also see them as not being a real value to people as a whole, except for as rental. Its just one more way to strip the actual film away from being in your hands. I have NO problem with paying $25-30 for a blu-ray disc as long as its a hard copy. People need to think about the ins and outs of a pure digital format with no hard copy disc before they claim its going to be the wave of the future.
-
20 Posted by edreaespinoza2 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:52PM EDT Report Abuse
Netflix is a good alternative to paying top dollar for Blu-Ray. For the price of one Blu-Ray disc you can get several BR rentals every month.
-
21 Posted by hurreprint on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:21PM EDT Report Abuse
I was smart enough to guess that Blu-Ray would win out and grabbed a Sony BDP-S300 for $299.99 over the Holidays. Also, I knew if BD was to win the format war that TEMPORARILY the BD Players would SPIKE UP since now there is no competition. Over time, the players will drop in price. BUY A PS3 since it can downloaded firmware updates with its ethernet/WiFi connection. The Regular BDPs are SLOW LOADING as were the HD-DVD Players. PS3 - FAST LOADING!
-
22 Posted by hollism16 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:20PM EDT Report Abuse
I say skip the whole upgrade for now and stick with upconverters like Oppo's. Most people have 42" plasmas with a native resolution of 720p and have no need for 1080p yet, and upconverters will handle all their old movies just fine. I haven't heard a death toll on DVD's yet... that's still a loooong way off.
-
23 Posted by z006475 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:58PM EDT Report Abuse
Anyone want to take a guess at how soon it will be before we see consumer level Blu-Ray recorders? You know like the standard DVD-R or DVD-RW . . . It's coming just wait for it! I wonder how much $$ these units will be and their blank Blu-Ray disc?
-
24 Posted by hollism16 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:20PM EDT Report Abuse
Primera makes a somewhat affordable one (more for small businesses than anything). Check it out here: http://www.primera.com/bravose_disc_publisher.html They make good products, we use the CD/DVD version of this and it's pretty amazing.
-
25 Posted by mannik5 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:05PM EDT Report Abuse
To Bence2g: "Forget lasers and optical tech altogether: Here's where the juice really is. The latest reports point to terabyte thumbdrives in your pocket in the near future, more than enough for even the highest resolution movies. Flash has numerous advantages over optical media: No moving parts, better durability, smaller form factor. Alas, pricing is a concern for now. But I don't think it's farfetched to think that in 2012 studios could be selling movies on flash cards instead of disc. Just imagine the vending machines!" This is an artical directly for this web site. Get your facts before you start casting stones; teedr3 has it right.
Sponsored Links
My Tech
Please enable your browser's cookies to activate the My Tech column.
Also on Yahoo! Tech
| Computers | Home Office | Wi-Fi & Networking | Phones & PDAs | Cameras & Camcorders | TV & Home Theater | Portable Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6 Posted by fcaraco on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:59PM EDT Report Abuse
Blu-ray is Beyond Fantastic! I thought that HD DVD would lose out and this is a win for the consumer (unless you already have an HD DVD player) I got the PS3 for its Blu-ray capabilities and to a certain extent the gaming. The PS3 offers firmware upgrades that allow you to keep it up to date with the technology. Even if you don't use the gaming part of the machine I feel the $399 price is worthy for the 40Gb model when choosing a player. The 1080P picture and HD sound together on a Blu-ray disc is something to behold... It is more of an experience than to just sit down and watch a movie. The price of a Blu-ray movie is a bit too high but hopefully they will come down to a more reasonable plateau in time. One thing to mention here is that if you enjoy 5.1 surround sound now then stepping up to 7.1 will allow you to take full advantage of the uncompressed audio that is found on a Blu-ray disc. The leap in sound quality is comparable to that of the video quality. So to take full advantage you will need to have A/V receiver that is capable of 7.1 and decoding HD sound... Commonly listed as TrueHD and DTS Master Audio. If you want the ultimate Home Theater experience this is no doubt the way to go...GO Blu!!