Blu Ray over/under $


Sony announced the release of a blu ray DVD player for this summer along with some disc releases. What's your guess of how much it will cost upon intial release? How much would you pay to get one or would you get one at all?
maineiac
I dont mind a litle friendly banter over the whole Bluray/HD-DVD thingee- so I'll play devils advocate.

1. People will want to buy DVDs of the movies they want to see. If the Blockbuster hits ( if there are any) in 2006 come from HD-DVD aligned studios, people will buy the player that will display it, assuming they are even interested in hi def DVDs at all or even care or understand.

2. The Blu Ray players start at 2x the price of HD-DVD players , and most that I saw were at 1800 bucks. ( yes I saw one player at 1000._) There are MANY more blu ray manufacturers of players, and many more mouths to feed as well. The Blu Ray disks cost per disc, despite a few off the mark quotes, are definetly more expensive to produce and will sell at a higher price point than HD-DVDs, at least intially. Or someone is gonna take a loss. Average American Will not go with the more expensive option. It doesnt work that way on the whole, and online forum members who may be more tech savvy and interested in blu-ray capabilities and features are a pimple on the larger scale of reality.

3. HD-DVD can be stamped on the B side with a standard def DVD. HUGE advantage. That means I can buy an HD-DVD today and be ready for tomorrow. While still be cool with my current equipment. this is a BIG deal.

I think there are definite bucks in XBOX and PS3 ( I am still freaked by that PS# demo-you had to see the thing)- but I do believe that fundamentally its about movie titles and what consumers want to rent and buy. It is NOT a 90/10 split with regards to title availability.

4. Microsoft has been clear that they won't support blu-ray. And When the most ubiqutous operating system in the world ( like it or not) decides something like this, it obviates a whole lot of other players in the game as far as their affected markets.
Rysa...the pictures showing the taped up back are posted at AVS....end of story.
B/R has by far the most studio...as well as hardware support....game over for Hd dvd imo.
Here is CES coverage of both formats.
Http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/ces2006/gallery01.html

Apparently, Hd dvd never even had a player showing actual HD movies....and as you will see B/R was the dominant force there.
Net Flix chooses B/R.
http://usgizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/netflix-jumps-gun-on-next-gen-dvd-138229.php
Hi Ears. Certainly not end of story! I was at CES and saw all of the demos. What you are saying is NOT the true picture of reality. Only a small piece.

Also,the larger consortium of players might easily create problems and already has! HP forced blu-ray to change their standards by threatening to leave-so Sony had to relent on an issue they said they would never change to keep HP in the game. That is but one example. Besides, all of the hardware manufacturers are now COMPETITORS with each other. The losers could VERY EASILY start making hd-dvd players for instance. The BR camp has too many mouths to feed and not everyone is gonna win. I still think pricepoints and title availability will win the day. The only X factor out there is the whole PS3 and XBOX factor. I saw the PS3 demos- they are freaky good, especially in those 5.1 surround moving chair thingees. Wow.