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I'm seeing lots of blue ray DVD players on sale this time of year, so I'm thinking about getting one. Merry Christmas to me. I'm seeing Magnavox, Phillips, and Visio players for around $130.00 give or take. Is this one of those things where you get what you pay for, or is it okay to go cheap? Any thoughts?

The cheapo ones still function and look beautiful, the difference between dvd and blu-ray is insane. I've seen feed from a cheapo (99 dollar) target special and from my ps3 and there wasn't any noticeable difference. What kind of tv do you have?

IMO the brand doesn't really matter but personally I'd be partial to Sony for a blu-ray player... They invented the format. I wouldn't pay extra for them though.

If you have the dough, I've heard that the PS3 is the best blu-ray out there.

I have an older Sony 53" rear projection HDTV. It supports full 1080. Not quite as sweet as the new flat screen plasmas and LCD's, but it still looks pretty good when watching the HD channels on Directv. I paid two grand for it when I bought it, so it's probably going to have to implode before I replace it. I'm currently using a Mitsubishi progressive scan DVD player, which was a big improvement over the standard DVD player that I had when I first bought the big screen. Yes kids, I used to listen to music on vinyl records too.So, with blue rays getting so cheap, I'm thinking about upgrading.

Quote, originally posted by K-NINE »Yes kids, I used to listen to music on vinyl records too. Vinyl... what is that?

I don't know about the stand alone blu-ray players but my ps3 upconverts extremely well, you might as well get rid of your dvd player too if you plan on getting a blu-ray player. It should look fine on your tv, the only thing bad about older ones is that they tend to have poor contrast and brightness.

Quote, originally posted by VforVIBE »Vinyl... what is that? Somehow I knew you'd have a comment for that.

In my opinion, go with one that can be updated via a network. The Playstation 3 is wireless. This is important because some movies require the most recent software on the Blu Ray player and some of the cheaper players cannot be updated. Many of the $225+ players come with wireless networking, allow you to stream Netfiix, and even video podcasts.

Sooooo, my TV only has one HDMI port which is currently being used by my Ditectv HDTV receiver. Is the component video cable just as good as the HDMI? I'm trying to avoid spending a bunch of money on a HDMI switcher and three HDMI cables.

Quote, originally posted by K-NINE »Is the component video cable just as good as the HDMI? I'm trying to avoid spending a bunch of money on a HDMI switcher and three HDMI cables. I used to run component to my bluray but just bought a HDMI cable from monoprice.com for cheap There is a noticeable difference between the 2 formats plus it eliminates 4 cables.

Quote, originally posted by K-NINE »Sooooo, my TV only has one HDMI port which is currently being used by my Ditectv HDTV receiver. Is the component video cable just as good as the HDMI? I'm trying to avoid spending a bunch of money on a HDMI switcher and three HDMI cables. no, component isn't going to give you the same quality as hdmi. get the switcher.On a very large tv like yours you will notice the image quality.I would also recommend getting the ps3.

i kinda want to get a bluray player too. i was watching pearl harbor in bluray and what a difference man. totally awsome. but my friends says bluray won't be that good for me since my tv's only a 26" 720p. is that true?

Quote, originally posted by K-NINE »Sooooo, my TV only has one HDMI port which is currently being used by my Ditectv HDTV receiver. Is the component video cable just as good as the HDMI? I'm trying to avoid spending a bunch of money on a HDMI switcher and three HDMI cables. Read this before you run out shopping:http://hd.engadget.com/2007/09...onent/I checked several sources and they all say the same: try both and let you eyes be the judge. Don't assume that digital will always be better. It's very equipment dependent.

most tv's under 42" will be 720lpi. If you find one with 1080p or 1080i it won't be noticeable at all.If you really want to educate yourself on tv's check out this forum.http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/The info there will make your head spin. I have been researching tvs now for over three months deciding on what tv to buy and what size to buy.There is a TON of info to soak in.You have to take in to consideration what will be you will be viewing i.e. movies, cartoons, soaps ect, the type of room (dark or bright). You need to take in to consideration future expansion. You need to take in to consideration how far your sitting from the tv.

Quote, originally posted by bull77 »I used to run component to my bluray but just bought a HDMI cable from monoprice.com for cheap There is a noticeable difference between the 2 formats plus it eliminates 4 cables.Wow, monoprice has really good prices. Thanks for the link.

Something I thought was going to be simple is getting more confusing all the time.

Quote, originally posted by K-NINE »Something I thought was going to be simple is getting more confusing all the time. I ran into the same thing when I bought a 42" 1080p lcd last Christmas. I tried both component and HDMI in the unit with cable box and DVD and I couldn't tell the difference, so I put the component on the DVD and the HDMI on the cable box.

Quote, originally posted by K-NINE »Something I thought was going to be simple is getting more confusing all the time. sorry man.I'm sure your like me and want to be the most educated consumer out there so when some 16year old at best buy walks up and says you need this sony over this samsung and you say why... and he starts blowing smoke up your you know what, you can say well I want yada, yada, yada and I want to pay yada, yada, yada. If you can't do it I will go someplace else who can.Just so you know I did decide on a TV and in January when they are selling them for the "superbowl" I will buy it.This will be the tvhttp://www.amazon.com/Samsung-...KY7XEWhy?just some of the reasons: I sit more than 10' from the tvI needed a matte screen because my living room is bright.I wanted a 120hz tv for the fast motion of gaming and for action movies and sports. Not saying a 60hz couldn't do the job, but it usually will have some blur where a 120 or even a 240hz won't have the blur issueI went with an LCD because I didn't want to worry about burn in with a plasma. If your wondering what burn in is. do a search on the forum i posted above and you will see.I wanted one with a pc input because I plan on ripping all my DVD's to a computer and playing them from the computer(in the future) for now I will use a PS3. I wanted a tv that I could upgrade the firmware when nessary. I wanted a tv with a min of 3 hdmi ports

Though I agree with you that the Samsung is one of the best LCD HDTV's on the market, everything that I've read and seen on HDTV's says to disregard the 240Hz, 500000:1 contrast mumbo jumbo and just trust your eyes. The 240Hz does make a difference if you are buying a TV that is 50 inches or larger AND if you plan on watching alot of high action BluRay movies. But if you are spending most of your time watching cable/satellite HD then you are spending more money for features that you will never get to notice simply because HD data is compressed over Cable and Satellite. In my opinion, don't buy based on brand or on the sales person's recomendation, chances are if a Box Store sales person is pushing one brand or model over another, he/she is probably being "$piffed" on that sale. The best way that every HDTV expert will tell you is, if one brand's picture looks better to you over another, then go with that. Again, trust your eyes because you are the one that will be watching it a home, not the sales person. Also remember, when you go to a box store they will turn the Blue and White Levels all the way to the highest levels so that the pictures will POP on the wall since the store is full of halogen lights. So what seems really bright in the store may have too much glare in your living room when affected by windows. In regards to BluRay, though, I think that Sony makes a better BluRay Player. I am currently at my inlaws and set up their new Samsung Blu Ray player ( BD-P1600). Its a nice player but in order to get all the features they paid for, they need to either wire a network cable to it or buy a $80 proprietary Samsung WiFi adapter. At that point, the PS3 which CNET and every other Tech guide says was, is, a for the immediate future will be the best Blu Ray player on the market. It is faster to load up a movie, can stream Netflix, and has built in WiFi.

Quote, originally posted by K-NINE »Something I thought was going to be simple is getting more confusing all the time. I spent about a week reading reviews and specs last month before I bought my BluRay player. I was leaning toward a PS3 but just don't have the time for gaming like I used to. I bought a Sony BDP S360 at Walmart on Black Friday for $118.00. The picture quality is amazing in 1080P. I have a rear projection tv like yours (57" Toshiba DLP) and the picture is perfect. It doesn't have wireless built in but it does have a LAN port if you need to connect to the internet for updates. So far, I haven't had to use it. All the movies I've tried have played without needing an update. I think a connection is needed more for the bonus content on the disc than the actual movie. Newegg has a pretty good deal on it right now http://www.newegg.com/Product/...05315You should think about getting an HDMI switch too,http://www.newegg.com/Product/...54017 there is a noticeable difference between HDMI and component at 1080P on a big screen. After all the reading I did, I narrowed it down to Sony or Samsung and the Sony for the price was the best overall deal.

Quote, originally posted by VforVIBE »Vinyl... what is that? For that matter what the heck is bloo rey? I still have movies on those LaserDisc thingies!