Decisions, decisions: which Blu-Ray player to buy?
- Thread starter Lord Darth Vader
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I finally made the decision after reading a good review that explained what I would have and what I would be missing by not waiting.
I just ordered a Samsung BD-P1400 Blu-Ray Player for $309. My concern was not having the latest announced spec as the 1400 is profile 1.0 which lacks many extra features I thought Blu Ray was considered superior for. Turns out 1.1 was only released Oct 31 and 2.0 spec that permits internet access for features has not been announced. In addition, there is no current software that has any 1.1 features and the first is set to release in 2008. This boiled down to a decision based on what we can do today and price. The Samsung's recent discounted pricing made me make the call. At least I won;t be spending $1000 for BR as did a couple of locals did last year just to be first.
So with this, I am now in both camps, HD DVD and BluRay. Besides the PIP feature that will come with spec 1.1 I have on HD DVD now and while interesting, I haven't had the time to play with it much.
The main advantage to BluRay for me are titles. It will greatly expand my movie choices 3x at Blockbuster.
Welcome me to the BluRay camp.
Man I just went to AVS and saw the Owners thread there. Seems loads of people are complaining about the Samsung having problems. Hope I don't have to return it in a week or so. Ugh!
I just ordered a Samsung BD-P1400 Blu-Ray Player for $309. My concern was not having the latest announced spec as the 1400 is profile 1.0 which lacks many extra features I thought Blu Ray was considered superior for. Turns out 1.1 was only released Oct 31 and 2.0 spec that permits internet access for features has not been announced. In addition, there is no current software that has any 1.1 features and the first is set to release in 2008. This boiled down to a decision based on what we can do today and price. The Samsung's recent discounted pricing made me make the call. At least I won;t be spending $1000 for BR as did a couple of locals did last year just to be first.
So with this, I am now in both camps, HD DVD and BluRay. Besides the PIP feature that will come with spec 1.1 I have on HD DVD now and while interesting, I haven't had the time to play with it much.
The main advantage to BluRay for me are titles. It will greatly expand my movie choices 3x at Blockbuster.
Welcome me to the BluRay camp.
Man I just went to AVS and saw the Owners thread there. Seems loads of people are complaining about the Samsung having problems. Hope I don't have to return it in a week or so. Ugh!
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2.0 is an optional specification. Announced? Oh, a year or so ago. PS3 seems to meet 2.0 already, but it's not advertised that way. Maybe they need to turn on a software switch to enable online access during movie watching. But it has the persistent memory and the ethernet connection.
My guess is, a year from now you won't see any profile 1.0s left, and probably very few that don't meet 2.0.
My guess is, a year from now you won't see any profile 1.0s left, and probably very few that don't meet 2.0.
From what I understand, there is no media yet for 1.1, (PIP etc.) much less 2.0. The game is to buy what you can today so if you want that feature set when it comes out in a year on media, you won't need a new player. I think if you want these features, its HD DVD right now.
I read a review on it a week ago and it mentioned a movie title to be the first one with PIP feature in spring release, no set day. I wish I could recall the source but I can't since I read so many. What I found surprising is the fact that bluray, was so far behind the technology curve compared with HD DVD features. As I didn't follow this for 2 years, It changes my opinion of BluRay technology being superior. Maybe it has greater potential due to larger capacity, but today, HD DVD seems more feature rich.
My new Blu Ray Samsung 1400 should arrive on Tuesday and then I will have much more content to view from Blockbuster which is most important anyway, content, not technical features.
Just saw the flip-flop on the AVS threads. Samsung released a 1.3 version of the software, so I downloaded it since the reports are that it fixed the stuttering in that player's playback. Should be ready to go on Wednesday.
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