jim777
Just another McGeek
Probably SD slot or something like that. No network.
Who's Blu & Who's Not
- Thread starter masterlu
- Start date
JFR0317
Well-Known Member
Actually, I seem to always find a reason to be upgrading again soon.
Actually, I seem to always find a reason to be upgrading again soon.
You & me pal! :thmbsp:
I agree, but not having an ethernet port on a Blu-ray is a sure fire way to ensure a future upgrade, especially since those with the port are here or are coming soon.
In addition to ease of upgrading and interactive disk features, mangaged copy will require the Internet connection.
JFR0317
Well-Known Member
I understand your point and completely agree with it. In fact, that's the reason I have a Sony PS3 now (that is a Profile 2.0 after a recent firmware upgrade) and am waiting on a standalone Profile 2.0 player before I get another player.
By the way, just having an ethernet port does not assure being able to access firmware updates via the Internet or being able to take advantage of interactive features. My Pioneer Elite BDP-HD1, which my daughter now has, has an ethernet port, but it is only used to access Home Media Gallery content from suitable sources on my home network. Firmware updates still must be done by burning an ISO image on a DVD-R.
jimmyc1996
Active Member
Of course
What's all about ?
Blu ray players are such a moving target, Mcintosh should avoid it.. every year something better comes out, and sometimes you need hardware to take advantage of it, so an software update will not always work.
I personally dont want to drop $5k for a player and then 6 months later Sony has the newest for $500 bucks. It could hurt the brand loyalty in the long run.
Rolex is pretty good example of a company who does not whore out (lack of a better adjective) their name. Although knock offs do that for them.
I love Blu Ray. Concerts without the parking issue, and without the public spilling beer on you. Plus you can actualy hear it!
I personally dont want to drop $5k for a player and then 6 months later Sony has the newest for $500 bucks. It could hurt the brand loyalty in the long run.
Rolex is pretty good example of a company who does not whore out (lack of a better adjective) their name. Although knock offs do that for them.
I love Blu Ray. Concerts without the parking issue, and without the public spilling beer on you. Plus you can actualy hear it!
Vesuv1us
Well-Known Member
KingRT, while I may agree with part of your statement, BD is no longer a "moving target." It is time for it to settle down, albeit a bit slower than DVD did for us over a decade ago. DVD's days are certainly numbered, assuming the BD camp pulls its head out of its respective a$$ and does what VHS and subsequently DVD did - appease the consumer - not the bottom line (Note to BD camp: appeasing consumer = increased bottom line)
Remember, we can spend $5k on a DVD player now for what a $500 also does, on paper, at least. I also don't see people *not* buying Mac/Denon DVD players because brand loyalty was hurt.
Oh, and I'm eagerly awaiting IronMan release... that was a flick - along with Dark Knight.
Remember, we can spend $5k on a DVD player now for what a $500 also does, on paper, at least. I also don't see people *not* buying Mac/Denon DVD players because brand loyalty was hurt.
Oh, and I'm eagerly awaiting IronMan release... that was a flick - along with Dark Knight.
I agree... and I don't. The churn in specs and profiles that we've seen to date is pretty much over. Profiles 1, 1.1, and 2.0 were for the most part pre-announced at the launch of the BluRay platform, and the staggered rollout was due in part to accelerate the launch to compete with HD-DVD. To my knowledge there is no "2.1" profile in the wings... It wouldn't be the end of the world if there were, given that the differences between the last few profiles have been slight and do not impede playback of movies or most commonly-used features. I for one have no interest in chatting with a bunch of tweens via my TV (of all things) while watching Sleeping Beauty, or whatever other silliness studios choose to bloat their Profile 2.0 discs.
The main advance I would ask McIntosh, Denon, and frankly Sony and Pioneer to work on is speed... load times for the current crop of BD players lag far behind even the cheapest DVD players, and I would expect any BD player priced above a few grand to far outpace the responsiveness of low-end units sold at Walmart, BestBuy, etc. Until then, I'm not going to bother upgrading.
vinylviola
Well-Known Member
I broke down and went the PS3 route, only to find out that the upconversion of my existing DVDs is largely indistinguishable from the Blu-Ray discs when sitting across the room where I do my watching from.
While this is a pleasant surprise for my existing collection, it does mean Blu-Ray movies are going to have to get down to being about 50 cents for a bundle of a dozen movies before I start replacing copies of movies I already have.
It's cost prohibitive just from the $30 per-movie alone, but also the selection of movies on Blu-Ray isn't great. Yet.
While this is a pleasant surprise for my existing collection, it does mean Blu-Ray movies are going to have to get down to being about 50 cents for a bundle of a dozen movies before I start replacing copies of movies I already have.
It's cost prohibitive just from the $30 per-movie alone, but also the selection of movies on Blu-Ray isn't great. Yet.
vinylviola
Well-Known Member
One more point:
The blu-ray discs don't always seem to have the same 'special features' on them as the original DVDs, which begs the question: are they planning on putting out 'special editions' of the discs in another year or so, just to catch you up to the deleted scenes, director's commentary (which I love) etc. If its calculated, its a pretty sleazy way of trying to trap people into buying these things again.
The blu-ray discs don't always seem to have the same 'special features' on them as the original DVDs, which begs the question: are they planning on putting out 'special editions' of the discs in another year or so, just to catch you up to the deleted scenes, director's commentary (which I love) etc. If its calculated, its a pretty sleazy way of trying to trap people into buying these things again.
What else is new?
There's already a second, "special" edition of Casino Royale coming out on BluRay...
Transformers on BR
The Audio: Rating the Sound
"Paramount's previous HD DVD release of 'Transformers,' contained a high-res Dolby Digital-Plus Surround option. With this Blu-ray they've provided a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround track (48kHz/24-bit). It's hard to imagine a home theater mix that could sound better.
To say 'Transformers' is incredibly aggressive is an understatement. Discrete effects are relentless, but it is precisely this lack of subtlety that any fan of the film would want. Directionality, imaging, accuracy of localized effects, and the sheer depth of the soundfield are superb -- the "wall of sound" illusion is utterly transparent. Even the front soundstage is a stunner -- stereo effects are quite pronounced, and the first time you get to hear a Transformer "transform," it's about as cool as the first time you heard a lightsaber unsheathe in 'Star Wars.'
As you would expect, this is also the kind of disc your subwoofer will devour. Even at moderate volume levels I was blown away by the sheer low frequencies that were drummed out. Whether you're talking about the opening attack, the sequence in the desert with that weird "sand Decepticon," or the film's entire last 30 minutes, there's such a sustained low bass presence that it's almost like it's another character in the movie. The realism and texture to every sound -- from the effects to the score to the dialogue -- is reference-quality. Volume issues are also, thankfully, not a problem -- I was truly shocked that I didn't have to reach for my remote once, as dialogue is leveled nicely throughout."
The Audio: Rating the Sound
"Paramount's previous HD DVD release of 'Transformers,' contained a high-res Dolby Digital-Plus Surround option. With this Blu-ray they've provided a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround track (48kHz/24-bit). It's hard to imagine a home theater mix that could sound better.
To say 'Transformers' is incredibly aggressive is an understatement. Discrete effects are relentless, but it is precisely this lack of subtlety that any fan of the film would want. Directionality, imaging, accuracy of localized effects, and the sheer depth of the soundfield are superb -- the "wall of sound" illusion is utterly transparent. Even the front soundstage is a stunner -- stereo effects are quite pronounced, and the first time you get to hear a Transformer "transform," it's about as cool as the first time you heard a lightsaber unsheathe in 'Star Wars.'
As you would expect, this is also the kind of disc your subwoofer will devour. Even at moderate volume levels I was blown away by the sheer low frequencies that were drummed out. Whether you're talking about the opening attack, the sequence in the desert with that weird "sand Decepticon," or the film's entire last 30 minutes, there's such a sustained low bass presence that it's almost like it's another character in the movie. The realism and texture to every sound -- from the effects to the score to the dialogue -- is reference-quality. Volume issues are also, thankfully, not a problem -- I was truly shocked that I didn't have to reach for my remote once, as dialogue is leveled nicely throughout."
