Are Blu Ray Players Ever Going to be Cheap?

[Ayepecks]

Seriously... like $100 or less cheap. You'd think they'd at least start to drop in price by now even slightly, but nope.

[Xerxes]

They will drop but not any time soon. Now that they are the only option for HD video, the companies will try to keep the prices high to maximize profits (as I'm assuming making a Blu-Ray player is still costly). Maybe in a year or two prices will start to come down I'd say. Of cause this is only what I think and should be taken with a grain of salt.

[kak]

Good DVD players still aren't under $100. I'm not making excuses for some of the ridiculously priced players out there, but $100 is not going to happen any time soon.

[Impact]

I'll stick to buying my movies online. Saves a lot of money so that you don't have to spend it on players.

[Mathachew Veteran]

Yes, eventually, especially when its predecessor comes around.

[Kenji]

DVD players were the same when they first came out. They were huge and cost much more than Blu-Ray players ever did. I think our Toshiba SD-3000 was around the ?600 mark://

[Ayepecks]

Good DVD players still aren't under $100. I'm not making excuses for some of the ridiculously priced players out there, but $100 is not going to happen any time soon.

Huh? There are hundreds of "good" DVD players under $100 in my book. They may not be these massive quality, $1,000 players or whatever, but they get the job done and deliver good pictures and sound.

[goji]

Nope as there is nothing cheap about any of the tech in it and surrounding it; its all to fresh.

Which leads me to wonder now without further researching, why is it that the PS3 will not recoup most of its developmental costs for a long long time? Is it because of the cell, Blu-Ray or a serious combo of both? Darn it pecks, you got me thinking :p

[Digitalx]

not for another year or two no.

[Tech Star]

DVD Players were the same when they came out, just give it some time. :)

[Groovedude]

i cant seem them being $100 :s...

[Joni_78]

It took a long time for DVD players prices to drop. Blu-ray player prices have dropped suprisingly fast.

[Boz]

Huh? There are hundreds of "good" DVD players under $100 in my book. They may not be these massive quality, $1,000 players or whatever, but they get the job done and deliver good pictures and sound.

Totally agree.. a solid upscaling DVD player even from a brand name is around 70 bucks and above. My DVD player was Pioneer and it was solid. Not top of the line of course but solid. I had Denon DVD player that was in $500 range but then again I'm not a regular consumer.

To address your question.. I think you won't see real drops for at least 2 years.. What I can see going on right now is that brand names like Funai and Magnovision or whatever Chinese garbage will *maybe* be sold at around $250 (I'm thinking closer to like $299) this holiday season and they will ALL be Profile 1.1. They just announced I think one more as 1.1 Profile. It seems that licensing of Profile 2.0 is unacceptable for many manufacturers, that's why they are not rushing to release a fully featured product but these half functional units.

Profile 2.0 players with full BD-Live capability (you know the one that actually IS fully featured) won't drop below $400 for a while.

I find it interesting that all the people that have been so vocal about Blu-Ray support are now silent because NOTHING they said came true. Prices are SOARING.. new Yamaha, Panasonic, Samsung Blu-Ray players are all from $500 to $1500. That's finally the round that's finalized with specs.. Samsung is trying to hit a bit lower, but their REAL new player that's worth it is $499 2500 model that's coming out. Sony has the new 350 model. the best you'll see from that player even though it's indeed MUCH better then the 300 model of the same player but is still close to $400.. the best that player will be within next like 2 years will be around $300 this holiday season (if that) and maybe (just maybe) around $250 next year and that's their lowest end player.

If you are asking about prices that would match HD DVD prices.. I think that won't happen for sure for another 2+ years if ever, since considering the latest numbers and sales BD is doomed to stay in niche market IMO.

And it's not even the problem with players as much as it is with movie prices. To pay something $25-$30 that is in bargain bin on DVD for like $6-$8 is completely insane for like 95% of people.

Add to that the new Resolution+ TVs from Toshiba and Sharp and XDE players..I think that consumers who are already plenty satisfied with DVD will have even less reason to upgrade to Blu-Ray.

Don't get me wrong, after everything, I'd LOVE for Blu-Ray to be cheap and everyone to get it. It's certainly good to have that quality replace DVD but the greed, the cartel like behavior from both studios and CE manufacturers almost guarantees BD failure. Add a HUGE increase in Digital Downloads expension from internet TV to a bunch of other stuff and HUGE Microsoft's push for XBL..then PSN, Vudu etc etc.. they even offer full 1080p quality that looks absolutely spectacular. If you haven't tried Vudu, I recommend you do, it will blow your socks off.

You have to give it to the BDA cartel though..they keep pumping new models and pushing Blu-Ray as much as they can despite the fact that they are all losing HUGE amounts of money. They think that if you see 20 models you'll be so impressed with selection that you'll forget about the $400 sticker :)

I think if they reached < $200 players and $19.99 for new HD releases and maybe $14.99 for old movies in HD.. you would see a surge in sales, if they keep it up like this.. it's LaserDisc 2.

It took a long time for DVD players prices to drop. Blu-ray player prices have dropped suprisingly fast.

How's that? First Blu-Ray player from Samsung was $999.. The new model is $499.. the drop that happened simply because they would've lost to HD DVD, simple as that. Competition. Once that was over.. players haven't dropped a cent. Actually they increased in price. Go look at the prices of all new models.. they cost $100-$200 more..not less.

[Matrix XII]

Naww, a solid DVD player still costs around $150

[BinaryFragger]

Huh? There are hundreds of "good" DVD players under $100 in my book. They may not be these massive quality, $1,000 players or whatever, but they get the job done and deliver good pictures and sound.

Yeah, I paid about $50 for a Philips region-free player, compatible with DivX/xvid. It doesn't upscale, but it plays pretty much everything, and it's much better than my old RCA DVD player, which cost hundreds of dollars at the time.

[rajputwarrior]

blu ray drives for computers are getting cheaper and cheaper...

[giantpotato]

To address your question.. I think you won't see real drops for at least 2 years.. What I can see going on right now is that brand names like Funai and Magnovision or whatever Chinese garbage will *maybe* be sold at around $250 (I'm thinking closer to like $299) this holiday season and they will ALL be Profile 1.1. They just announced I think one more as 1.1 Profile. It seems that licensing of Profile 2.0 is unacceptable for many manufacturers, that's why they are not rushing to release a fully featured product but these half functional units.

Yes, of course, the holiday sales where stores raise their prices to $299 :wacko: They're currently available for $278.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=9864613

And it's not even the problem with players as much as it is with movie prices. To pay something $25-$30 that is in bargain bin on DVD for like $6-$8 is completely insane for like 95% of people.

Why are you comparing a new release to bargain bin DVD's? Hey look, bargain-bin Stargate on Blu-Ray for only $11.86 http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5555734

And I just gave Stargate as an example because I happen to like that movie. You can find bargain-bin Blu-Rays for $9.86 just have a look at walmart.com

Add to that the new Resolution+ TVs from Toshiba and Sharp and XDE players..I think that consumers who are already plenty satisfied with DVD will have even less reason to upgrade to Blu-Ray.

Yeah, the great XDE players :laugh:

Unfortunately, the player demonstrated offered just "subtle but noticeable sharpening of the image"

http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/18/toshiba...500-dvd-player/

Don't get me wrong, after everything, I'd LOVE for Blu-Ray to be cheap and everyone to get it. It's certainly good to have that quality replace DVD but the greed, the cartel like behavior from both studios and CE manufacturers almost guarantees BD failure. Add a HUGE increase in Digital Downloads expension from internet TV to a bunch of other stuff and HUGE Microsoft's push for XBL..then PSN, Vudu etc etc.. they even offer full 1080p quality that looks absolutely spectacular. If you haven't tried Vudu, I recommend you do, it will blow your socks off.

Maybe you might have the bandwidth to download full HD movies, but most of the world doesn't, especially with major US companies starting to cap usage.

You have to give it to the BDA cartel though..they keep pumping new models and pushing Blu-Ray as much as they can despite the fact that they are all losing HUGE amounts of money. They think that if you see 20 models you'll be so impressed with selection that you'll forget about the $400 sticker :)

Wait, what? are they losing money?, or are they over-charging the consumer like you mentioned earlier with $1500 players? your arguments seem to be on two conflicting extremes.

I think if they reached < $200 players and $19.99 for new HD releases and maybe $14.99 for old movies in HD.. you would see a surge in sales, if they keep it up like this.. it's LaserDisc 2.

Blu-Ray discs are priced relative to DVD's. If a new DVD is $19.99, a BD will be more expensive simply because it has the added value of being in HD. It wouldn't make much sense for the studios to charge the same amount for a single disc DVD and a special-edition DVD version would it? It's the same case with DVD's and BD's.

How's that? First Blu-Ray player from Samsung was $999.. The new model is $499.. the drop that happened simply because they would've lost to HD DVD, simple as that. Competition. Once that was over.. players haven't dropped a cent. Actually they increased in price. Go look at the prices of all new models.. they cost $100-$200 more..not less.

A the beginning of the year, Samsung's $499 player was profile 1.1, and could output 5.1 and had a standard video processor. Their latest player, at the same price, is profile 2.0, outputs 7.1 and supports all audio formats, and has a HQV video processor. It's the same price, but has better features, where's the problem?

[Richard Hammond]

Boz for all the banging on you have done about how HD DVD is so great, if the outcome were different and Toshiba didnt have to drop prices down to $100 for a player do you really think that HD DVD players would be so damn cheap?

I dont think so.

As for XDE Players, why would i settle for near HD quality which is totally dependant on the source video not being a crap transfer, when i can have FullHD.

Edited August 30, 2008 by Richard Hammond

[DELTETHISACCOUNT]

blu ray drives for computers are getting cheaper and cheaper...

QFT. $150 baby!

And whoever says you need $150 for a good, solid DVD player really needs to turn off the computer and go outisde. Into an electronics retail store, preferably.

[HawkMan]

The thing is hey did drop prices. and had they won they could hadly have done a 400% price increase after.

Wait, what? are they losing money?, or are they over-charging the consumer like you mentioned earlier with $1500 players? your arguments seem to be on two conflicting extremes.

read his post again and don't make up arguments that aren't there. BD is losing money because they aren't able to sell units. So they saturate the market with units to make it appear they are popular so people will buy them at the inflated price.

As for HD content being more expensive. doesn't really matter when 99% of consumers don't care and don't notice the difference between HD and regular anyway. There's also the fact that we pay for the movie not the quality. It's the filming and all that that costs money. And by your logic, lower quality movies such as the failed UMD and such should be lower than DVD, and they weren't really.

And actually most of the world is fine about downloading HD movies. unlike what Sony would like to make people think, even a full quality VC1 movie is not 50gig's, not even 25. And again even so people would rather download SD res movies than spend money buying actual BD's. It's a convenience thing, and in europe a timing thing. Since DVD and BD's are released so late.

[MightyJordan]

Seriously... like $100 or less cheap. You'd think they'd at least start to drop in price by now even slightly, but nope.

?50??? You must be joking! Like others have said, you can't even get a decent DVD player for ?50! The decent DVD players nowadays a consoles!:D:D

If you want to get a decent Blu-Ray player for a low price, wait for the PS3 to drop in price, which will probably happen next year.

[HawkMan]

But the PS3 isn't a blu ray player first is it.

I don't need another "next gen" console. so why should I pay the overhead for the console functions when I just want a BD player. Which begs the question, why are mere BD players costing more than a gaming console if they aren't inflated.

Nah, if you absolutely want BD, wait untill the players are at least half the price of a console+BD players. And the disks are still expensive.

[Richard Hammond]

I don't need another "next gen" console. so why should I pay the overhead for the console functions when I just want a BD player. Which begs the question, why are mere BD players costing more than a gaming console if they aren't inflated.

Because Games consoles are sold at a loss to get the install base high then Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo make money on licensing on the games, they charge developers per disc just for the privilege of putting their game on their console., i dont think some random Chinese manufacturer will make diddly squat on all Blu-Ray discs sold.

[Andrew Lyle Global Moderator]

i think he meant, drop by $100, not to $100. They are still working on making them smaller, and until they can produce them smaller, faster, and cheaper, the end user will always get screwed.

[HawkMan]

That's still entirely besides the point. and I'm not entirely sure the PS3 individually is sold below cost anymore. Yeah viewed as a whole. considering the whole development cost of the console, it's still sold below cost. But that has **** to do with comparing prices to pure BD players which in the end use cheaper parts anyway.