So I was in Walmart the other day picking up a few things, and I happen to pass by the electronics department. I glance over and see a Blu-Ray DVD player priced at $900. I didn't think anything of it until I got home. I'm wondering why Blu-Ray players are still so expensive even now that Blu-Ray defeated HD DVD in the high definition DVD war. What makes this even more curious is the price of Sony's PlayStation 3. You can go out to the store now and get a 40GB PlayStation 3 for $399.99. The PS3 is Sony's next generation game system but it also acts as a Blu-Ray DVD player, and a good one at that. It plays Blu-Ray and does a pretty good job upscaling regular DVDs as well. I'm just curious what makes standalone Blu-Ray players cost more than the PS3. The PS3 is an advanced game console with more hardware, and more expensive hardware than a simple Blu-Ray player would need. And unlike some players, the PS3 can use firmware updates to allow the everchanging Blu-Ray spec to be fully compatible and playable on the PS3, something that is definitely something to think about with the semi-regular updates to Blu-Ray.

So far I can really only think of one reason for this significant price difference:  Sony's need to keep the price of their game console more in line with that of the XBOX 360 and the Wii. And $900 would probably alienate a chunk of their PlayStation base. So they bring the price of the PS3 down but keep the other Blu-Ray players up in price to help their bottom line.

So in other words, if you want to get a Blu-Ray player, even if you're not a gamer, the PS3 might be the better option unless of course you have the money to spend or you can wait for the prices to inevitably go down (whenever that may be).

Tags: hd, sony, bluray

One week ago, Warner studios, previously releasing movies on both HD DVD and Blu-ray dropped HD DVD and became Blu-ray exclusive. This move triggered what many believe to be the beginning of the end of HD DVD because currently only Universal and Paramount are studios releasing movies to HD DVD. Paramount is said to have a contract that will now allow them to opt-out of their exclusivity contract, and the exclusivity contract with HD DVD and Universal possibly appears to be expired, so that has left a lot of questions on the future of HD DVD. Paramount and Universal have since stated that they are still committed to HD DVD which may only prolong the HD format war. To add fire to the flames, Microsoft is standing behind HD DVD as well, and even produce an HD DVD drive for the XBOX 360.

But whichever side you look at it, this HD format war is horrible for the consumer. Right now, while this is being prolonged, the consumer loses. Many people, and rightfully so, are hesitant to buy a high def DVD player be it Blu-ray or HD DVD or fear of the other format winning and then being stuck with today's equivalent of the Betamax. The players aren't cheap either so if someone were to buy for the losing format, they'd be out a sizeable amount of money. Until one format becomes the true standard, we, the consumers are pretty much stuck. Do we go with Blu-ray or HD DVD? I mean right now, Blu-ray seems like it will be the winner, but who's to say HD DVD is somehow magically going to make a comeback and either prolong the war much longer or overtake Blu-ray entirely. Yes, right now that does not look possible, or even plausible, but at the same time, it's not outside the realm of possibilities.

In the end, we need one format, and personally even though I have an HD DVD player and not a Blu-ray, I can honestly say I don't really care who wins. Both formats look amazing, and if Blu-ray wins out, I'll pick up a Blu-ray player. I just want to be able to buy one format and be done with it.

Tags: bluray, hddvd, hdwar, welose, thoughts