Now and then, you stumble upon a really product, reasonably priced and excellent value

[passatdoc]

Two weeks ago the DVD player connected to my living room HDTV gave up the ghost. I gave the player to a neighbor who likes to do Halloween displays, because the audio output still worked (i.e. could still play audio files on CDs or DVDs).

Went to Costco to buy either a replacement DVD player or a Blu Ray player, figuring I'd spend like $150 and get some sort of simple stand-alone unit.

Boy was I surprised. They had only one standard DVD player model left in their product line, which to me was a signal that soon they will only make BluRay movies, more or less forcing everyone to buy a BluRay unit. That was no problem, since most of the units weren't super expensive (most in the $125-150 price point range). However, I was unaware that NONE of these units are stand-alone anymore, welcome to the world of internet apps on DVD players.

The dept manager was about my age which was good, easier to get tech advice from a middle aged employee than a college kid!! After interviewing me and learning that I did not have ethernet cable at my tv location (living room), but that I did have a wireless network at home, he recommended either a WiFi-equipped unit, or one that could be upgraded to WiFi with an adapter (which adds $75-80 to the cost). I figured, hell just get a unit with WiFi and start using it, so I went with a Vizio unit with built-in WiFi. Also learned that some tv's now come with WiFi as well, though my two year old HDTV works fine (so far).

Hooked up the HDMI cable and had the wireless up and running in like ten minutes. I was not a Netflix subscriber beforehand, but I set up an account through the Vizio website, which gives Vizio customers a discount (I think $8 for full unlimited service, including mail disks, vs $10 normally). Movies started streaming instantly and flawlessly. Plus, you can use it on up to six devices, so I added my home computer, laptop, and office computer (I am the boss, and sometimes I am stuck at my office on weekends or nights on call or doing paperwork, so it's a nice form of entertainment).

I am amazed at the value this product (streaming Netflix, plus a reasonably priced Vizio BluRay player) delivers for $8 a month. I wonder if NetFlix subsidizes the manufacturers to include WiFi at a low price? Anyway, I downgraded my cable service to just the basic 72 channels plus 30 "basic" HD channels, keeping the box, but this drops the bill from $85/month to $60/month. If I ditch the box and the full HD channels and just hook the cable in to the tv, I can drop the rate to $42/month.

I'd much rather have a lower cable rate and pay the Netflix subscription, it's amazing. I never had time to scan the program guides to see what was on the 400+ channels I had. Now I can watch what I want when I want, not have to worry about setting things up to record, and if I don't finish a title, I have the option to resume where I left off at a later time.

 

[bajaespuma]

Thanks for the information. I'm looking at upgrading my system and this helps a lot.

 

[lordkenmore]

"which to me was a signal that soon they will only make BluRay movies, more or less forcing everyone to buy a BluRay unit."

This has been something I've wondered--and worried--about.

I don't think the DVD will be gone quite yet. Other places have more than one new DVD player. As far as I know, the library I use is not buying Blu-Ray. But...as the years go by, I do see a possibility of Blu-Ray replacing DVD.

This honestly puts in me in a bad position. I don't want to upgrade--DVD is good enough for me. I see no advantage to moving to Blu-Ray just so I can play the newest releases. Plus, I'm assuming that Blu-Ray won't work with older TVs (doesn't Blu-Ray require HDMI connections?), so I'd have to upgrade my TV, too. I'm really not in the mood to spend hundreds of dollars just because the industry is forcing a new standard down my throat. I'm not sure my time-honored trick of simply waiting until there are good used buys will work, either. Build quality has gotten so bad on modern electronics that I'm guessing that used Blu-Ray players and flatscreen TVs will be almost "used up" before they depreciate enough to satisfy my cheapskate tendencies. Frankly, at this writing, I'd probably say, "Forget it! I just won't watch any new releases." Goodness knows there is enough on conventional DVD that is worth seeing that I have never seen. And with everyone dumping CRT TVs and worthless DVD players, I'll have plenty of cheap replacement hardware to select from as my current system wears out.

 

[whirlcool]

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas back in 1994 Bill Gates, a speaker at the show, said that soon computers and television will be integrated into one unit.
It appears that day has finally come.

 

[DADoES]

 
I have a Samsung Blu-Ray player with Netflicks streaming (and also BlockBuster, YouTube, and Pandora).  Network-connected also provides for updating of the machine's firmware ... which it's doing an update at this moment, the third update that has come in since I've had the player (a year or so).

I don't have a wireless router, but have connected it via an ethernet-over-powerline adapter ... in the few instances when the EoP bandwith is a little slow, I temporarily run a long ethernet cable direct to my router.  My cable Internet service isn't high enough bandwith to stream HD, but the quality I do get is quite watchable.  I do wish streaming carried subtitles.  I could upgrade to faster cable service but I don't think the quality improvement would be worth the continuing cost.

Blu-Ray does not require HDMI and standard discs run in Blu-Ray players.  My eight-years-old plasma panel doesn't have HDMI and the Samung player has component video outputs. Per the instruction manual it also has composite video.

 

[passatdoc]

HDMI

My BluRay player has HDMI, component (red-green-glue), and composite (yellow VHS-type single plug) outputs. The tv I use happens to be HDTV and I use an HDMI cable, but it appears that one could use component or composite cables. It does not have an S-VHS output.

My former 26" Mitsubishi (traded in for the HDTV two years ago) had composite and S-VHS inputs... when I bought my first DVD player in 1999, I used an S-VHS cable. Someone using my new BluRay player on that tv would only be able to connect using composite cable, which would represent a downgrade compared to using the S-VHS cable I used from 1999 to 2008.

Out in the garage, that 1999 Samsung DVD player still works and is connected to a 20" flat-screen CRT tv, which has component, S-VHS, and composite inputs. There is something wrong with the green component output, so I have to use S-VHS as a compromise for video output. I don't know if the component output broke along the way or was defective from Day One in 1999, because for years it was hooked up to a tv without component inputs, so I never had the chance to try the component outputs until I moved it to the garage two years ago.

I don't have ethernet cable anywhere near the living room tv, but the wireless network is Wireless N and my download speed exceeds 40 Mbs, so HD streaming format works fine. I did have a little trouble on Saturday night, I wonder if either the cable network or the Netflix servers get overworked on Saturday evenings?!

 

[mattl]

Just so you know, Bluray players do a fine job of playing DVDs. However, if you want to take full advantage of their capabilities you need to use an HDMI cable. Hollywood decreed that DVDs can only be upconverted via the HDMI output. The Bluray player outputs the image at 1080i from the 480p that originates on the DVD. The end result can look very good, not Blu Ray quality but very acceptable. If you do not use an HDMI cable the Blu ray player will output Dvds at the standard 480p, compatible with any TV.

I've been doing Netflix streaming for years, it's always been $8.95 for 1 disk at a time, with and upcharge for Blu ray disks. At the moment most of the streaming movies are available only in 2 ch. stereo, but Netflix is moving to DD 5.1, slowly. Odds are new hardware will be needed at home to handle this. I use the streaming for casual stuff, 2 ch sound just does not cut it for me, plus the HD streaming quality is only Ok at best, noting like a true Blu ray disk.

 

[lordkenmore]

Thanks for the info about Blu-Ray player connections

While top quality might depend on HDMI, that's irrelevant in my situation. My TV is a conventional CRT, and I think DVD is already maxes it out. Currently, my interest in Blu-ray would only be when conventional DVDs cease being made.

 

[launderess]

I Call It The "Microsoft Windows Effect"

Every consumer electronic company now thinks one is supposed to chuck out a new but older model in order to upgrade every year or so. However as even Microsoft found out people/businesses are getting tired of chucking stuff out that is barely broken in just because they say so.

Hollywood in it's paranoia regarding copyright issues killed off much in the way of innovation for DVD and especially DV recorders. When the later first came out there were many great models that allowed one to record tape to DVD, and or make excellent copies of non-copyrighted DVDs, and so forth, no more.

Then there was the whole "war" that Blueray finally won, which left those using the other format holding the bag. Oh, and let us not forget how many were caught with their trousers down with the mandated digital conversion.

Consumer Reports recommends if possible one simply rent DVD equipment from one's cable television company. The fees are usually low and that way one isn't bothered by the constant needs and costs to upgrade, just swap out what one has for whatever.

Moi? Still have a VCR, and quite happy actually, as there really isn't much released on films these days we wish to see.

 

[lordkenmore]

"Every consumer electronic company now thinks one is supposed to chuck out a new but older model in order to upgrade every year or so."

That's sort of my feeling. Years back, I heard a joke that the perfect audio recording format existed in a lab, but it could not be released, since the industry wanted to release incremental upgrades. That way, they could sell the players and people's recording collection over and over and over and over again.

I also still have and use a VCR. In many ways, I like DVD better, and I suppose if I had to choose one or the other, it would be DVD. But since I can have both (actually "both+1"--I also have LaserDisc!), I figure I might as well.

I'm even still buying VHS tapes. It can be a way of seeing stuff I might not see otherwise. Plus, the price cannot be beat--as low as 25 cents for the Library Friends (which will ultimately help support the library, which enables most of my DVD viewing) or 49 cents for Goodwill. If I totally hate the movie, well, the loss is minor compared those who paid $15.95 for a new DVD for the same movie!

Of course, it helps that I am not a video perfectionist.

 

[passatdoc]

I agree with Laundress, I don't throw out things that work. As noted above, my last CRT tv is still alive and well in my garage. It has a flat screen tube but only an analog tuner. I have an extra cable hook up for it, plus it's paired to a 1993 Magnavox VCR and a 1999 Samsung DVD player.

I purchased the Blu Ray because my living room DVD (hooked up to the HDTV) died. The audio still worked but no picture. I recycled that unit to a friend who loves to make scary Halloween displays; he will use the broken DVD as a CD audio player for his displays.

My former DVD had 1080 upload and was connected by HDMI. Conventional DVDs played on the new BluRay look better to my eye than they did on the old standard DVD player. Don't know why that is, but that's how it seems. So far have rented one BluRay DVD (Prince of Persia, zzzzzz but it was the only BluRay title in the Red Box machine I'd even heard of) and didn't see all that much difference. I wonder if animations look better than filmed motion pictures on Blu Ray.