Best Buy to go Blu-ray

[stratman]

This was posted in the official Blu-ray news page:

"Best Buy to Officially Recommend Blu-ray to Customers


Beginning in early March, retailer Best Buy will begin officially recommending Blu-ray as best choice for high definition movies to their customer base. Since the beginning of the format war, Best Buy has silently stood on the sidelines providing both the Blu-ray and HD DVD format for consumers to choose. Current sales data now shows that Blu-ray is their choice, and the retailer will soon carry the official stance that Blu-ray is best high definition format.

Brian Dunn, Best Buy's president and chief operating officer commented, "Consumers have told us that they want us to help lead the way. We've listened to our customers, and we are responding. Best Buy will recommend Blu-ray as the preferred format. Our decision to shine a spotlight on Blu-ray Disc players and other Blu-ray products is a strong signal to our customers that we believe Blu-ray is the right format choice for them.

Best Buy will continue to stock a reduced amount of HD DVD players and movies, but the reduction in stock combined with the unified voice to support Blu-ray brings up questions as to how long those stocks will continued to be resupplied."

[dobyblue]

To recap.....



01/04/08: Warner announces Blu-ray exclusivity starting June 1st
01/05/08: New Line goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/09/08: Adam & Eve goes neutral (formerly HD DVD exclusive)
01/10/08: HBO goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/11/08: Constantin Film goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/16/08: Senator Entertainment goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/21/08: Eagle Rock goes neutral (formerly HD DVD exclusive)
01/21/08: RBFilms goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/22/08: Grant's Appliances goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/24/08: Topics goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/28/08: Woolworths goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/28/08: FS Films goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/30/08: Sonic Scenarist Goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/30/08: EMI Japan Goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/30/08: National Geographic Goes Blu-ray exclusive
01/31/08: Surround Records goes neutral (formerly HD DVD exclusive)
02/01/08: ADV Goes Blu-ray
02/04/08: Manga Films Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
02/04/08: German Distributor Highlight Video Blu-ray Exclusive
02/04/08: French Distributor BAC Films Joins the Blu-ray Trend
02/06/08: Kaleidescape announces Blu-ray Support (No current HD DVD plans)
02/07/08: Swedish film companies SF and Scanbox go Blu-ray Exclusive
02/07/08: Spanish distributor Filmax goes Blu-ray Exclusive
02/10/08: Netflix announces they will go Blu-ray exclusive
02/11/08: Best Buy announces they will recommend Blu-ray to consumers

[stratman]

They were "giving away" BD players when you bought plasmas not that long ago at BB. My friend bought a 58" Panny and they threw in a BD player, installation and free BR movies.

[The Chukker]

01/10/08: HBO goes Blu-ray exclusiveAny whisper of Band of Brothers blu-ray coming downwind...?:D

[Jack Hammer]

To recap.....

...

dobyblue, nice timeline. Do you know if in that timeline anyone has decided to go HD exclusive or from BD to neutral? I ask for the purposes of comparison and objectivness.

Thanks

Jack

[The Dukester]

That is perhaps one of the most obvious statements ever made by a company to me. I have NEVER been in a BB and heard any of thier sales (and I use that term lightly) people mention anything about HD DVD to customers, just BD. Also, anytime I mentioned it or asked about a Toshiba player, all I heard was how much better BD is in all areas:rolleyes::mad: Bull. They were practically shoving it down their throat just like the Monster cables.

I will buy and rent BD because I love movies, but I loathe Sony with their BD.:(

[stratman]

That is perhaps one of the most obvious statements ever made by a company to me. I have NEVER been in a BB and heard any of thier sales (and I use that term lightly) people mention anything about HD DVD to customers, just BD. Also, anytime I mentioned it or asked about a Toshiba player, all I heard was how much better BD is in all areas:rolleyes::mad: Bull. They were practically shoving it down their throat just like the Monster cables.

I will buy and rent BD because I love movies, but I loathe Sony with their BD.:(

Hey Duke,

That's so true, I never walked into a BB without someone mentioning BD, yet always quiet on HD DVD. When they were giving away BD players they never offered option of HD DVD to customers. A bit presumptuous of them, they should have said from the git go that they favored BD, but I guess it makes good retail sense, they were hedging their bet to see which format would be dominant, but after Netflix's p.r. salvo I guess they had to jump on the bandwagon, I guess from now on it'll be downhill for Toshiba as BB is the largest CE retailer, let's see what WalMart has to say, we can be witnessing the final days or weeks of HD DVD.

[Jack Hammer]

...

...we can be witnessing the final days or weeks of HD DVD.

I doubt it'll happen that quickly. 2 days ago I saw a hd dvd player at costco for ~$100. Last week I saw hd dvd players at BB & CC for around the same price, and IIRC they include 5 or 10 free HD dvd's. For the general and uninformed public thats a strong sales point when they see BD players costing 4-5 times that. When I went to buy a high def player in early Jan, I considered the HD player, til I read up, something the majority of people don't really bother doing. These firesale like prices will stimulate a lot of sales and keep hd alive and kicking...

...for now.

Jack

[obscbyclouds]

Any whisper of Band of Brothers blu-ray coming downwind...?:D

I will pay any, I repeat, any, amount of money for this! :D Looks like another nail in the coffin... hey who is that guy at the door with the sickle?

I have to say I agree with Dukester, all the times I've been in Best Buy and I have never ever heard them recommend an HD-DVD Player.

[Seth=L]

I give Kudos to companies like Best Buy eliminating the confusion. While The Dukester obviously knows that HD DVD and Blu-ray aren't really superior than one another at this point, most costumers don't. With so much support for Blu-ray I think it's clear that Blu-ray will be the victor, and it will become more clear to the average consumer as the format war dissipates.

The sooner the confusion stops, the sooner we can just pick up a $100 or less player and start enjoying movies without that worried feeling in the back of your mind you chose the wrong format.

[Johnd]

I give Kudos to companies like Best Buy eliminating the confusion. While The Dukester obviously knows that HD DVD and Blu-ray aren't really superior than one another at this point, most costumers don't. With so much support for Blu-ray I think it's clear that Blu-ray will be the victor, and it will become more clear to the average consumer as the format war dissipates.

The sooner the confusion stops, the sooner we can just pick up a $100 or less player and start enjoying movies without that worried feeling in the back of your mind you chose the wrong format.

I'm going to be watching closely for that seth...a sub $100 BD...all because BB is no longer pushing HD. Don't hold your breath. ;)

Just to set the record straight, BB is not dropping HD, they are just pushing BD...as they always have, only moreso now.

[aberkowitz]

I will pay any, I repeat, any, amount of money for this! :D Looks like another nail in the coffin... hey who is that guy at the door with the sickle?



Totally agree. Band of Brothers on BD would cause me not to leave the house for a couple weeks so I could watch repeatedly. Lossless audio on D-Day and in Bastogne?? I'm starting to drool already... :D

[j_garcia]

This weekend I was at Frys and they had not one but TWO Blu-ray displays. One in the front of the store with a big screen TV and surround system with some discs and a full movie playing, and the second near the HD media with a LCD with a promo disc playing and select, popular discs.

The sooner the confusion stops, the sooner we can just pick up a $100 or less player and start enjoying movies without that worried feeling in the back of your mind you chose the wrong format.

I didn't have that feeling when I bought my PS3 :D

[Seth=L]

I didn't have that feeling when I bought my PS3 :D
I don't have that feeling either, but the average consumer does.;)

[mudrummer99]

Band of Brothers on BD would push me even faster to get a BD player and upgrade all of my speakers and especially drop some coin on a serious sub. Let's hope it doesn't happen before I get my tax return :D

[darien87]

I sold my old Mitsubishi RPTV last weekend and the guy asked me about HD-DVD. I told him that my PS 3 kicks the crap out of my HD-A3, in just about every way possible. I asked him if he had heard about Warner going Blu-ray and he hadn't. We talked for a while and I told him about HD-DVD dying a slow death. He was like, "That's why the players are so cheap now."

So, I pretty much talked him into buying a PS 3.

[Addy]

personally i hate the consumer aspect of blu-ray..players are expensive and movies are stupid expensive just because they can..i wish that hd-dvd will fight at least for another year coming close to winning but losing over all, just so we can have them compete for prices driving them down, with the death of hd-dvd we cant see to many more drops in prices, or have it go down to par with hd-dvd.... for 149.99 i can get a hd-dvd player with 7 movies?!! whats the cheapest blu-ray? 299.99 with no movies? thats stupid, their playing the consumer...i have a ps3

[stratman]

personally i hate the consumer aspect of blu-ray..players are expensive and movies are stupid expensive just because they can..i wish that hd-dvd will fight at least for another year coming close to winning but losing over all, just so we can have them compete for prices driving them down, with the death of hd-dvd we cant see to many more drops in prices, or have it go down to par with hd-dvd.... for 149.99 i can get a hd-dvd player with 7 movies?!! whats the cheapest blu-ray? 299.99 with no movies? thats stupid, their playing the consumer...i have a ps3

Actually prices will drop as economy of scale kicks in, other manufacturers will no doubt start producing inexpensive blu-ray players. Also, don't forget Walmart, once they jump in and start slashing prices on software everybody else will scramble to keep up. Ironically Toshiba will find itself building Blu-ray players, perhaps rebadged to save face, it's the Japanese way!:D

[Johnd]

Ironically Toshiba will find itself building Blu-ray players, perhaps rebadged to save face, it's the Japanese way!:D

Heresy! It will never happen! :eek::p

[MUDSHARK]

Will Blu-Ray work on a Toshiba TV? Amazon has a buy two get one free on both formats right now. I think I'll buy the HD-DVD since there are more appealing movies on the Hd-DVD included list. However I tend to like older movies which Hd-dvd seems to have a better selection of.

[j_garcia]

Plus there are a lot of HD DVDs on sale right now...but I still can't justify buying too many titles on a dying format. There will be a few new releases that are coming out that I will be picking up, but for the most part, I have to really want it to buy it on HD DVD right now.

[stratman]

Heresy! It will never happen! :eek::p

You better than anyone know the old adage: "never say......":D

[gus6464]

Will Blu-Ray work on a Toshiba TV?

Huh? What do you mean by that?

[MUDSHARK]

LOL:D I thought Toshiba might put a secret anti-BR chip in the den tv.

[Seth=L]

Toshiba TVs will work with Blu-ray players fine.

Blu-ray and Sony have no tactic of "screwing" the consumer. Once the format war is over the mass production of players can start, even the Sony players will become drastically cheaper. These manufacturers aren't going to pore every dime they've got into something that isn't logical. While Blu-ray has the upper hand at the moment it's not completely certain and not everyone is ready to start mass producing these players. Once the format war is decided all the generic players and lower price models from Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Samsung, Sanyo, etc... will start coming out.;)

[Wayde Robson]

BB is not dropping HD, they are just pushing BD...as they always have, only moreso now.

Right on!

Endorsement is a funny word. Isn't it the obligation of a retail outlet to endorse all of its products?

[Totoro]

The sooner the confusion stops, the sooner we can just pick up a $100 or less player and start enjoying movies without that worried feeling in the back of your mind you chose the wrong format.

Even if Blu-Ray wins, I won't regret my HD-DVD purchase. The Toshiba HD-A2 is a great player with fantastic upscaling abilities. I also have Blu-Ray, but I plan on using my HD-DVD player for many years.

[j_garcia]

Yes it has good upscaling capabilities but the A2 has one glaring issue with upscaling - 4:3 aspect ratio and video based material. Anamorphic film based material looks very good, but I've found that video based material isn't handled well and 4:3 material doesn't scale properly when display is set to 16:9.

[stratman]

And to add more fuel to the ever going war between HD DVD and Blu-ray fan boys, I picked this off today, it's a bit stale but I haven't seen it anywhere else, of course it's not as big as Wal Mart's nuke, but it's something.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/06/is-target-going-blu-ray-exclusive/

There, more grist for the mill.:D

[Jack Hammer]

And to add more fuel to the ever going war between HD DVD and Blu-ray fan boys, I picked this off today, it's a bit stale but I haven't seen it anywhere else, of course it's not as big as Wal Mart's nuke, but it's something.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/06/is-target-going-blu-ray-exclusive/

There, more grist for the mill.:D


That's funny. I was in target last week and the picture they show in that link is the entire selection of BD they carry, about 15-20 titles (same quantity as their HD). In fact the "high def" section was just an end cap too. And all the titles are at full retail, ~$30-$40 ea.


Jack