Poll: Have you talked anyone into going Blu?

by Darren Murph posted Mar 28th 2009 at 12:00PM

Remember those goofy "Switcher" Mac commercials? Don't ask us why we had one in particular on our mind, but it got us wondering -- how many of you have been advocates for Blu-ray? Have you invited a pal over to see the wonders of BD? Have you lobbied the benefits of 1080p films in an effort to get your best bud off of DVD and onto the real deal? Or are all your so-called "friends" just using you for your home theater? Bottom line: we're interested in knowing just how much the Blu-ray Disc Association owes you in sales royalties.

Filed under: Misc, Polls, Blu-ray

Tags: BD, blu-ray, blu-ray adoption, Blu-rayAdoption, poll, polls

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Highest Ranked

corey smith @ Mar 28th 2009 12:21PM

i'm a salesman so i dont have a choice!!!

Neutral

Mike @ Mar 28th 2009 12:24PM

I had pushed what I believed to be the "clear winner" during the format war. I was wrong.

I went Blu... but if I told everyone else to go Blu now I'm sure VOD would somehow dominate within the next 6 months.

Neutral

Bob @ Mar 28th 2009 12:30PM

After taking my PC w/Blu drive to my mom's house for christmas and hooked it up to her brand new HDTV (42' vizio). When I popped in Pirate of the Caribbean, she said she wanted a blu player. She has more blu discs than I do.

Highest Ranked

John B @ Mar 28th 2009 12:57PM

I prefer to EDUCATE rather than PUSH. I'd rather let people see it in action then also be fair (horror!) and mention the drawbacks, namely the extra cost, instead of being some kind of BD Jehovah's Witness. I'd have to fit into a "I educated them about it but didn't try to convince them either way" category.

It's so easy to try to "push" others into a new format when it's not our money to spend.

Neutral

Andy Sullivan @ Mar 28th 2009 2:12PM

A few (owners of nice HD TV's and sound systems) have jumped on board, but I told them their criteria should be.
1. If they don't mind the cost (under $200) then the player will also offer the benefit of being nice up converting player (BD-35).
2. Only spring for Blu movies that you really really want in your library ie. spectacular eye or ear candy.

Highest Ranked

Alex @ Mar 28th 2009 2:07PM

Try to convince someone to buy in to a stillborn tech? No thanks!

Neutral

Matt @ Mar 28th 2009 2:14PM

I haven't managed to talk anyone into buying a blu-ray player. I'm finding it hard enough to convince naysayers that the format isn't 'stupid' and educating them about the benefits of high definition and lossless audio. Then they usually ask me if they can play blu-rays in their dvd players and become angry when I tell them that they need an entirely new player (probably because they only recently upgraded from vhs to DVD).

Neutral

JayDee @ Mar 28th 2009 2:57PM

Yeat another poll with a choice of answers that's more targeted to 'humour" tahan accuracy.

Neutral

WebDev511 @ Mar 28th 2009 2:58PM

I'm not talking them into it, but I do let them know the pros and cons of the format. I do point out that they should do a player AND an AVR that can handle lossless codecs. Just doing a player and using optical audio is like upgrading from a Taurus to a Corvette and then putting putting the Taurus wheels on the 'Vette.

Neutral

minimalist @ Mar 28th 2009 4:07PM

I've caused about 3 of my friends to get an HDTV and BD player after they've seen the quality in person.

I never try to push it though and I always try to make them understand that it won't do them much good unless their screen is over 40". Blu-ray is definitely not for everyone right now.

Neutral

Scott @ Mar 28th 2009 4:54PM

I'm still watching my HD-DVD's while I wait for an uncompromised Blu-ray player for under $100 because that's all I'd pay to buy into Sony's inferior format. So I voted DVD.

Neutral

cwnyc @ Mar 28th 2009 5:18PM

I have both HD DVD and Bluray and a 60" Pioneer Kuro (and other plasma and LCD TVs). I do not "push" for any technology. However, EVERY SINGLE PERSON who came to my place and have seen HD DVD and Bluray could not tell the picture and sound quality difference between the 2 formats (even if it is the same movie such as The Matrix), but is able to tell the difference between HD DVD/Bluray and compressed HD cable TV signals from Time Warner.. Of course, they could EASILY tell the difference between SD and HD...

Every single person who has seen the HD medium, those who could afford it, bought a Bluray player this past year as HD DVD players are no longer available... I know because they call me to help them set up or perform light calibration with AVIA...

So I did not push, but the product pushed themselves...

Neutral

Bill @ Mar 28th 2009 5:20PM

I try to give unbiased opinions to friends so they aren't disappointed. What I tell them is: If your TV is 46" or bigger, you will really notice the difference. Less than that, or sitting far away, and it won't be much of an improvement over a good upconverting DVD player. My brother in law has a 42" LCD 720p, and he was very happy with DVD quality out of a good upconverting player. However I have a 106" projection screen and 1080p projector in a theater room, so Blu Ray makes all the difference in the world.

Neutral

LonnieDvD @ Mar 28th 2009 6:32PM

Trying to convince people in my area to buy Blu-Ray is a good way to get shot. Even Wal-Mart is not pushing the issue here. We are all hurting from the economy, and layoffs are all over the place. I can only think of a few people who even have HDTV's, and they are all using DVD upconverters.

Neutral

Nick Catalano @ Mar 28th 2009 8:48PM

No. None of my friends have large enough TVs where the resolution would make it worth it (so they usually just use their XBox 360s) and my parent's really don't need it even though they do have a plasma TV.

Although I love my Bluray player :)

Neutral

Stan @ Mar 28th 2009 9:40PM

blu-ray is a obsolete platform.....thanks to downloading ....so save your money...stick to dvd's since they probably will outlast blu-ray anyways...not everyone can afford to upgrade everything just to watch them....and alot of people just won't anyways...those that are happy with dvd's.

Neutral

Lazarus Dark @ Mar 28th 2009 10:40PM

All my freinds are broke and no one in my family cares about hd, most still have small sd tvs.
Now, anyone who comes over, immediately notices that Bluray looks and sounds better than anything they have and would love to upgrade, but sadly none have the means to do so. But hey, that makes me popular!! I feel kinda bad actually, some of my freinds say they can barely stand to watch dvd's on their tv anymore cause it feels small and lame compared to my system. Sorry, but I can't buy a system for everyone else!

Neutral

YouFaceTheTick @ Mar 29th 2009 1:45AM

I've talked a few people out of Blu.

Neutral

Dave @ Mar 29th 2009 4:06AM

Me too. I educated all of my friends in the right decision :)

Neutral

Conrad @ Mar 29th 2009 10:09AM

I'm a salesman at a local custom home audio/video store. While i never Push bluray on anyone. Bluray sells itself. I mean once a customer looks at tv with bluray, then one with a upconverted dvd player. It's pretty much a no brainer. I mean you can get a bluray player for the same price as a quality upconverting dvd player. And once customers find out they can still play their dvd's and they will be upconverted through the bluray player as well. Their sold. While i'll admit, very rarely do customers actually care about the BD-live features. The picture quality and sound is enough in itself. i've probubly sold 50 bluray players in the last 6 months.

Neutral

richardh @ Mar 30th 2009 12:39PM

I'm probably an atypical bluray consumer as I'm turning 68 in a few weeks. I bought into bluray because I wanted the best video quality possible and also because I'm sure that in a season or two we'll see the phase out of SD DVD titles. But I've been very disappointed with the titles made available on bluray.

I've had the player since November of 2008 and my library consists of 300 SD DVD titles and 3 bluray titles. At this time it seems as if the studios are pushing only the latest special effects laden new releases as bluray offerings. When the bluray catalog grows to be as diversified as the catalog available on SD DVD then I'll start doing some arm twisting.

Meantime I'm inviting friends and family over as frequently as possible to see my 56in HDTV (running FIOS) and to see both (upconverted) SD DVD titles as well as my 3 real bluray titles.

Neutral

Simma @ Mar 29th 2009 10:47PM

I would have moved to BD but not with the cost of the discs, so for now no intentions, I am sure by the time I upgrade VOD will be my next move, I would prefer this method now for convenience more than anything else.

Neutral

ViperLeader @ Mar 30th 2009 5:02PM

I bought HD-DVD before the fall (still a great DVD player though), and instead of switching to Blu I decided to skip Blu, cancel Netflix go Vudu. Which seems pretty smart now that my previous Netflix account would cost me $20.99 a month every month wethere I watched a movie or not. Vudu only charges me when I rent a movie, and then I have 30days to actually take the time to watch it. And I can't tell the difference on my 80" between HD-DVD and Vudu HDX encoded movies.

Neutral

Snake Robot Podium @ Mar 31st 2009 12:38PM

Lol, I'm still talking myself into it. Maybe a stimulus package can do a better job of convincing me.

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