Recommendation for my first BD experience ??

Tks all for your suggestions! I've been away for a couple of days and haven't caught up. I checked the FedEx tracking page and the estimated delivery date for the player is Wed. 10-15. It shipped from Carson, CA. So I still have a couple of days to "prepare".

I stopped at BB on Thurs. evening and picked-up 4 titles for $87.42 total inc. tax. Ouch (as compared with the "red" titles I was getting quite used to!) but as I mentioned in the OP, I was willing to do this once....or maybe more...!

I am Legend was on sale for $19.99 (was either $29.99 or $34.99, can't recall) and for some reason they knocked another $2.49 off at checkout so I got it for $17.50. There was a save $10 deal if you buy 2 of 4 titles so I got Ironman and Kill Bill 1 for $24.99 ea. that way. And Outbreak was on sale for $14.99 so I grabbed that one as well. The avg. was $21.86 ea. I noted that none of these was in 7.1, and all seemed to have the TrueHD audio as opposed to the DTS HD-MA...

So now I'm looking for a deal on KB2 to finish-out that set, and I think I want the POTC 3-vol. set as well ($70 at BB, too much!)

I already have 2001: SO and the Blade Runner collector's ed. on HD DVD so I probably won't repeat them in BD unless the BD versions have different content...

Tks for all the ideas. It was fun...!!
 
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So now I'm looking for a deal on KB2 to finish-out that set

If you haven't opened 1 yet, you might see if there was anything else on that list of "buy two, save $10" that you want, and then order the KB bundle from Amazon. I believe they still have it - $39.99 for both...
 
Tks! The 4 titles were IM, KB 1 & 2, and Nightmare Before Christmas, list at $35, $30 in this deal, (I'm a Tim Burton fan, but not at that price!) I was hoping the 4th was something I'd have been more inclined to buy in which case I would have bought all 4!

KB1 is still in the wrapper, tho', hmm...! (I wonder if I could return just that 1 for a $24.99 refund or exchange? I bet the titles on sale changed over the weekend...)
 
And the winner was...Indy !!

Hi all! Got the new BDP-S550 yesterday. (Tracking the FedEx shipment was a gas with the ~daily updates; it was delivered exactly as estimated from 2,500+ miles away!) Simple hook-up (I had pre-wired the HDMI cable), simple set-up, and I was starting the movie within 5 minutes of opening the box! First impressions are favorable. Perhaps I'll do a more thorough review of this player. Great deal for me at $274 delivered!

I stopped at BB on the way home and picked-up Indiana Jones "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" for my first experience at $26.99 + tx. It was only a dollar cheaper on Amazon, so I splurged locally....again! The flick was quite enjoyable, typical Indy plot and lotsa action, even if quite contrived at points. Ford as Indy hasn't lost much since "Last Crusade". He looks a good bit older and his voice is getting "gravely", but he hasn't lost his step...or his fear of snakes! Cate Blanchett was great in her role as well!

This flick is also rendered only in 5.1 SS, and I could not get my receiver to report "DD TrueHD", but I have been convinced in another thread that "Linear PCM" to the receiver is the same thing. And it certainly sounded great!

Great first BD experience all around. I was so excited I even forgot the popcorn...!

I'll order the POTC set from Amazon, then settle down a bit.

BRgds all, and tks for the discussion...!
 
Update re: DD TrueHD

I mentioned in my last post about not getting "DD TrueHD" to appear in my receiver's display. That means that the player is decoding the audio and sending the result as LPCM to the receiver, as indicated on the display. (I had a similar situation with my HD-A35 player until I changed a setting.) The result should be the same - others have convinced me of that - but for no good reason I want the receiver to receive the bitstream and do the decoding, I guess just because "I can"...!

I sent Sony an e-mail via their tech support site, to which they responded almost immediately. I needed to tweak one of my audio output settings, and "refer to page 66" in the manual. That page is a table showing the various audio options with a number of footnotes, and sure enough buried in one of those notes was a hint. I needed to change the "BD Audio Setting" to "Direct". The other option was "Mix" which was the default. (This setting determines whether or not the interactive audio like commentary is mixed into the primary track, something I can't imagine I'll ever want anyway.)

That took care of it! The receiver now shows TrueHD for the main program (most of the other content is not TrueHD). The sound is exactly the same as far as I can tell...!
 
Hi all! Got the new BDP-S550 yesterday. (Tracking the FedEx shipment was a gas with the ~daily updates; it was delivered exactly as estimated from 2,500+ miles away!) Simple hook-up (I had pre-wired the HDMI cable), simple set-up, and I was starting the movie within 5 minutes of opening the box! First impressions are favorable. Perhaps I'll do a more thorough review of this player. Great deal for me at $274 delivered!

I stopped at BB on the way home and picked-up Indiana Jones "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" for my first experience at $26.99 + tx. It was only a dollar cheaper on Amazon, so I splurged locally....again! The flick was quite enjoyable, typical Indy plot and lotsa action, even if quite contrived at points. Ford as Indy hasn't lost much since "Last Crusade". He looks a good bit older and his voice is getting "gravely", but he hasn't lost his step...or his fear of snakes! Cate Blanchett was great in her role as well!

This flick is also rendered only in 5.1 SS, and I could not get my receiver to report "DD TrueHD", but I have been convinced in another thread that "Linear PCM" to the receiver is the same thing. And it certainly sounded great!

Great first BD experience all around. I was so excited I even forgot the popcorn...!

I'll order the POTC set from Amazon, then settle down a bit.

BRgds all, and tks for the discussion...!

The best price online I could find is $301. Where did you get such a good deal?
 
Hello guys, I am going to be jumping in to the Blue ray experience in a few weeks when I purchase a playstation 3. For those of you that have it, I know this may sound like a silly question, will I be able to see a picture diference between upcoverted DVD, some say it takes a trained eye, just want to know because I am looking foward to it!
 
Hello guys, I am going to be jumping in to the Blue ray experience in a few weeks when I purchase a playstation 3. For those of you that have it, I know this may sound like a silly question, will I be able to see a picture diference between upcoverted DVD, some say it takes a trained eye, just want to know because I am looking foward to it!

Kind of depends. Is your TV at least 32"? Are you sitting close enough? Is it a HDTV? What resaolution? Are you using an HDMI cable to connect?

If you can answer positive to those questions, the answer is yes.

Now, the next question is whether you will care about the increased resolution, and that's kind of what this thread is about. I tend to find that HD media is good for action adventure flicks, and those that feature impressive scenery (waiting for Out of Africa and The Emerald Forest) For the typical comedy, I find I get absorbed in the story, and don't really notice the picture quality during the movie.
 
Hello guys, I am going to be jumping in to the Blue ray experience in a few weeks when I purchase a playstation 3. For those of you that have it, I know this may sound like a silly question, will I be able to see a picture diference between upcoverted DVD, some say it takes a trained eye, just want to know because I am looking foward to it!

Don't forget that you also will be able to enjoy better audio on Blu-Ray than the SD DVD counterpart.
 
Kind of depends. Is your TV at least 32"? Are you sitting close enough? Is it a HDTV? What resaolution? Are you using an HDMI cable to connect?

If you can answer positive to those questions, the answer is yes.

Now, the next question is whether you will care about the increased resolution, and that's kind of what this thread is about. I tend to find that HD media is good for action adventure flicks, and those that feature impressive scenery (waiting for Out of Africa and The Emerald Forest) For the typical comedy, I find I get absorbed in the story, and don't really notice the picture quality during the movie.

42' Plasma...1080i......looking foward to it
 
The best price online I could find is $301. Where did you get such a good deal?
Sorry for the delayed reply - traveling again. The final price I will pay includes a $150 credit if I use a newly-opened Sony (Chase) "Rewards" Visa card at SonyStyle.com, which I did. Shipping was also included in the base price. Here's a link to the the S550 and at the top is a link to sign-up for the card, which you can do in the site in just a couple of minutes...

BDP-S550 | Blu-ray Disc™ Player | Sony | SonyStyle USA

PS - Just checked my Chase accounts (I have 3) on line and the $150 credit has already appeared, so I owe just the $273.99 for the player as per the deal. Sweet! Will pay that in full (also on line) direct from my checking account as soon as the due date appears...
 
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Sorry for the delayed reply - traveling again. The final price I will pay includes a $150 credit if I use a newly-opened Sony (Chase) "Rewards" Visa card at SonyStyle.com, which I did. Shipping was also included in the base price. Here's a link to the the S550 and at the top is a link to sign-up for the card, which you can do in the site in just a couple of minutes...

BDP-S550 | Blu-ray Disc™ Player | Sony | SonyStyle USA

PS - Just checked my Chase accounts (I have 3) on line and the $150 credit has already appeared, so I owe just the $273.99 for the player as per the deal. Sweet! Will pay that in full (also on line) direct from my checking account as soon as the due date appears...

Thanks for the reply. I just followed the link and it seems the deal is no longer there. Current financing offer is free shipping and no finance charges for 24 months. There are better deals elsewhere. I did a search today and prices are higher than several days ago. I think I will wait for Black Friday. With the state of the economy, maybe this will be an exceptional year for low prices. I also want to buy the new Sony KDL-46XBR8 and will wait for the price to drop from it's initial high perch...
 
Correction, found the offer via this link Get $150 card credit. I applied but did not get "instant approval". I was a victim of identity theft 3 years ago and put a fraud alert on my credit to protect myself. The downside of it however, is situations like this where the issuer must perform further processing of my application. Eventually it is always approved. I will simply wait and buy the player for this pretty good price...
 
Good "deal". I thought it would still be available. You're right about probable steep, early discounts this fall as seasonal sales f'casts are looking flat. But you probably still won't find that price until later when the model is being discontinued. You also get a free BD from Discovery Channel in the price, but have to apply for that.

I am also interested in the XBR8 series, but I want a bigger screen. Maybe when they reach 60" I'll be ready to bite...and hopefully they'll also be deeply discounted. Hitachi announced they are having problems selling their sets with the economy. Sony can't be any better off...!

Have a good one...!

(PS - Paid-off the $274 Sony card balance this week. The BD experience is even better now knowing it's all mine...!)
 
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