just got a new blu ray player for free through credit ca

[walkonby]

with even the grown up characters?

[walkonby]

ooh, i'm getting all excited everytime i go down the aisles of target or walmart where the blu-rays are.  the price comparisons with overstock and deepdiscountdvd.com.  the titles to tempt me, such as christmas story (ultimate coll. ed.) / godfather collection / paprika / nin (beside you in time) / die zauberflote / last emporer / dark knight / shawshank with bonus book / i am legend (three disk) and many more.  my first blu-ray purchase was last night and was double disk iron man.  i was like a kid as i stared at it in my cart around the store.  now i know why these bastards can get away with changing technology every ten years or so; you forget that it's fun.

[chaz]

I really like my blu ray player.  To me the audio side is just as compelling a reason to upgrade to the format as the improved video.  But to be able to really take advantage of new audio formats you need to spend some bucks on a receiver/preamp than can process them, as well as have decent speakers that can do them justice.
 
 What kind of player did you get?

[walkonby]

player - sony s550
 tv - sony bravia bigsomething or otherincher
 
 i've heard about all these extra things for your blu-ray experiences, and would love to finally get into that whole speakers around the room thing.  what would chaz suggest if chaz does suggest what he suggests.

[chaz]

Well that would depend on how much you wanted to spend.  Do you already have a home theater receiver or are you starting from scratch?  If you pm me a budget I could give you some suggestions.

[hutch]

i'm sticking to dvds.. don't see the draw of this bluray thingie...

[chaz]

Originally posted by hutch:
  i'm sticking to dvds.. don't see the draw of this bluray thingie...

DVD's are great, but if you've got a system that can let blu ray shine it blows DVD away for picture and sound.  But I'm really nerdy like that...it's not for everyone.

[Got Haggis?]

I have a blu-ray player (well...ps3) but don't really buy blu-ray DVDs.  I just don't see the point yet.  If I had a larger TV (currently have 32 inch) maybe.  But it does make loaning DVDs to people pretty much impossible since not that many people i know have blu-ray players.  It's pretty much a dead format IMHO.  Downloadable / Digital Distribution is where its at.

[Herr Professor Doktor Doom]

Blu-Ray just seems like a huge money sink... you've gotta upgrade both the TV and the sound system to experience it properly, right?

[chaz]

Originally posted by They call me Doctor Doom.:
  Blu-Ray just seems like a huge money sink... you've gotta upgrade both the TV and the sound system to experience it properly, right?

Well, if you have a CRT tv then yeah, youâ??ll have to buy more get the benefits.  In my system I was able to drop in blu ray player and get all the benefits without buying anything else.  
 
 But if you have an HDTV (720p/1080i are more than adequate) youâ??re good to go as far as taking advantage of the improvements in picture quality.  Though if your set is under 37 or 42 inches I donâ??t think itâ??s really worth it.
 
 Audio is trickier.  Not all AV receivers are capable or playing back the new hi res audio codecs being used, and if you have some crappy home theater in a box speakers or some tinny junky overpriced bose package it wonâ??t really matter anyway.
 
 Being a music nut I have a good system and my HT setup is an extension of that.  Itâ??s not for everyone.  Some people could give a hoot about sound quality; all that matters to many is a good picture.  To me when Iâ??m watching a move what Iâ??m hearing is almost as important as what Iâ??m seeing.  Not an easy or cheap hobbyâ?¦just ask my wife!