http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/ Engadget HD Comments for Cheaper Blu-ray players coming, says Sony exec http://www.engadgethd.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadgethd.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/
/Ronco infomercial]]>Nov 7th 2007 3:40PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/
For you travlers...sony is like an airline...yes sir the flight is still scheduled to be on time. Passenger, "but we are scheduled to leave in 10 min and the aircraft isn't here yet" Then at 5 till the airline delays the flight 10 min...then in 10 min..they delay another 10 min....etc

I will believe the low price when it is here.]]>Nov 7th 2007 6:50PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/Nov 7th 2007 3:44PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/Nov 7th 2007 3:57PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/Nov 7th 2007 4:17PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/Nov 7th 2007 4:20PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/Nov 7th 2007 4:39PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/Nov 7th 2007 3:55PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/
I certainly wouldn't buy any stand-alone BRD player right now just because the BR Alliance is dragging their ass about requiring players be in the best profile. All the CE makers that made stand alone BRD players are basically giving buyers a real big FU.]]>Nov 7th 2007 3:56PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/Nov 15th 2007 7:16PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/
My hat is off to HD-DVD for making the players affordable as well as making a big push to get these things out there for the holiday season. A $199 name brand HD-DVD player (or lower at $99, $169) vs. a $399 Blu-Ray is going to be tough on Blu-Ray. Movie selection is similar and so is the overall HD experience.

Cheap 720p HDTV's are going to be the hot items this season. Why not team it up with an inexpensive HD player? ]]>Nov 7th 2007 6:11PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/Nov 7th 2007 4:07PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/Nov 7th 2007 4:14PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/
Yah. Go Team Blu.

Sheesh.

]]>Nov 7th 2007 4:22PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/Nov 7th 2007 4:23PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/Nov 7th 2007 4:45PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/Nov 7th 2007 4:50PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/
Get with the program guys!!!]]>Nov 7th 2007 4:52PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/
At the risk of speaking for Strap3212, I'll take a stab at this since I felt the same way. I wouldn't buy an HD-DVD player and movies, whatever the price is. The reason (my "principle") is that I honestly feel that high definition media (both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray) will be relegated to a niche product unless one or the other takes over completely. The average consumer doesn't want to have to have two players or pay extra for a universal player. Most importantly, retailers aren't going to indefinitely continue to stock two different types of virtually identical media, and worse, the same movie in multiple HD formats. There is only so much shelf space to go around, after all.

I'm all for ending the format war, and the only way that can happen now is for one format to fade away. Since Sony has fully committed to Blu, building into a flagship product like the PlayStation, I feel more confident in them going the distance, so to speak. They are also letting the price of standalone players drop a little more slowly, enabling their partners to earn back important R&D money on those players.

That's why I refuse to buy into HD-DVD. I can wait for the movies I want to see that are exclusive to that format. In the meantime, I get to enjoy plenty of quality movies on Blu-Ray.]]>Nov 7th 2007 4:53PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/
Right. Sony will never switch over to a competing format--no matter how successful it is. That's why they're still selling movies on Betamax.]]>Nov 7th 2007 5:36PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/
This is only partly true. Look at how many formats of blank DVD+/-R/RW are already out there at retailers and how long all these formats have been around. There is room for both formats to coexist but that doesn't mean it is the most healthy method for them to do so.]]>Nov 7th 2007 5:41PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/
Toshiba sees thr writting on the wall. So they had to dump those players while they could.

I wonder what the return rate will be will they post those numbers????? ]]>Nov 7th 2007 5:51PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/Ummmmmmmm, it's a tough decision]]>Nov 7th 2007 6:13PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/
That's a terrible analogy. The PS3 is nothing like Betamax, no matter how much you'd like to simplify things to make it so. Sony could never change to an HD-DVD drive in the PS3, because of the established base of users and game manufacturers. It will never happen. Now, a future PS4 *could* theoretically have an HD-DVD drive in it. The problem for HD-DVD supporters hoping for that is that Sony is planning on selling the PS3 for at least nine more years. Toshiba has no ties to HD-DVD in the same way. That's what I mean about Sony being in it for the long haul.
]]>Nov 7th 2007 6:20PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/Nov 7th 2007 6:54PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/
The PS3 doesn't have to die for Sony to sell their movies in HD DVD format. I agree that it's not likely to happen anytime soon--but, if HD DVD won the format war, they would definitely switch. They've done it before and they'll do it again.]]>Nov 8th 2007 1:43AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/Nov 8th 2007 10:41AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/
Oh, and I have a PS3 and I use it mainly for BRD, my kids use it for games. I also have a HD-DVD player for the bedroom for upconverting regular DVDs ($99 was hard to beat :-) )]]>Nov 7th 2007 7:44PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/
sony said the ps3 will have a 10 year life..that doesn't mean a ps4 can't come out during the ps3 life cycle. And from the problems game studios are having programing on the ps3 it will probably be soon.]]>Nov 7th 2007 7:02PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/
Why oh why? Is it cost? No way. It is COMMITMENT and UNCERTAINTY with the HD-DVD medium. Microsoft can't even commit to their own choice - that being said, if BD was to win the war, Microsoft would easily convert and sell a BD add-on drive for the 360 (why wouldn't they? it would be suicide not to generate revenue from BD sales). In this scenario, MS would avoid losing billions of dollars if they had implemented an HD-DVD drive into the 360.

On the other hand Sony is fully committed to BD with the PS3 as solid proof. I would rather support a format that has a definite future (BD, 10 years minimum, even though if it becomes a niche market) than one that has a completely uncertain future (HD-DVD) with no committed manufactures (Universal, Toshiba can jump ship anytime).
]]>Nov 7th 2007 7:40PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/
I actually had to read your post 3 times because I actually thought your had something to say that was worth noting. But alas (and I'm sad to say this), you are still trolling. Just so we can have a little fun here at your expense, I just purchased a Toshiba HD-A2 (yeah, the "cheapy" $99 one) and outside of studio support and PRICE and regardless of tech specs, I see no difference in video and audio quality between HD-DVD and BluRay. If I was filthy rich, I would have both formats. Since I'm just "doing alright", I made a financial choice. If I'm wrong 1-5 years down the road, big deal, it was only $99. At $399 and up, BluRay is just too steep of a price to pay right now for 99% of the consumers. Now I would say that Sony's PS3 would be a good choice because of its combo gaming platform and BluRay player, but:

1) Not enough exclusive games to play, even a year after launch.
2) Third-party developers complaining to Sony that they aren't being given proper support to design games for the PS3 and meet street date while competing gaming systems aren't having the same problem.
3) No backwards compatibility. What?, do they expect us to buy a PS2 as well?
4) As a single male w/o kids, I COULD GIVE 2 SH*TS ABOUT DISNEY'S BACK CATALOGUE AND AM MORE THAN SATISFIED WITH MY 480P DVD'S OF PULP FICTION, SIN CITY, AND KILL BILL!
5) Speaking of Disney, why the hell would any parent buy BluRay versions of kids films for their children (parents with disposable income excluded)!? They're kids, dammit!
6) Why continue? You'll never respond anyway!]]>Nov 7th 2007 9:35PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/]]>Nov 7th 2007 7:52PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/|
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@alex, FUD

"hmm I thought they didn't put the HD DVD in because the blu laser drives don't work very well for games"

LOLOLOL]]>Nov 7th 2007 8:05PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/Nov 7th 2007 9:02PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/
Sure now it wouldn't be that much...but then there is bad publicity of the 6-7mill early adopters being upset...then it was a money cost issue... now it is a pr cost issue.]]>Nov 7th 2007 9:31PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/
They could always sell an HD DVD Add-on. :p]]>Nov 7th 2007 10:58PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/
Toshiba apparently has stockpiled players for the Christmas selling season, with the intention of flooding the market with inexpensive players, $199 and below. You can only flood the market if you have something to flood it with.

Sony (and the rest) have no earthly way to get a million players to market, so selling what they do have at $99 would just mean they run out of players in mid-November instead of having enough to sell at $399 through XMas. There's really no magic wand to wave to get more players in a hurry.

And, yes, they COULD sell a lot of PS3s. But as we've seen, they need to sell 4-5 PS3s to have as much BD sales potential as one HD DVD player is for HD.

Even bundling BD discs with PS3s won't help -- gamers will just dump the BD discs on ebay.

In short, I just don't see the point of a blu-ray player sale. Unless they've got a spare million players in the warehouse, it won't help.]]>Nov 7th 2007 11:45PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/Nov 8th 2007 1:46AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/Nov 8th 2007 3:12AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/Nov 8th 2007 3:14AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/Nov 8th 2007 11:55AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/Nov 9th 2007 1:16PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/11/07/cheaper-blu-ray-players-coming-says-sony-exec/Nov 15th 2007 7:52PM