Am I the only one wondering why?

[TVJon]

Am I the only one wondering why?

Maybe I'm old school, but I actually like the flexibility of DVD players that allow you to load more than one disk at a time. (I have a SD Sony that does it in my living room) I haven't yet seen a Blu Ray player that does it. Why not?

Is it that the standard definition multi-changers haven't sold well enough?

Is there a technical reason?

Is it that everyone thinks hard drive-based storage will make this a moot point?


TVJon

[Adam]

My guess is that changers initially cost more to make, so companies start off with single-disc players until the technology takes off. I don't remember seeing CD or DVD changers for some time after the first single-disc players hit the market. I honestly don't know the answer, though.

[mtrycrafts]

..
Is it that the standard definition multi-changers haven't sold well enough?


TVJon

I think this may be it. Not sure when the multi disc DVD payers come on the market after the single players came. Also, I don't think there is such a clamor for them, yet.

[Nomo]

If you actually look around there are not a huge amount of DVD changers out there.
Some offerings by Yamaha, Onkyo, and Sony as mentioned but not that many.
I have a Yamaha 5 disc universal player and I really like it. It plays everything short of BD and HD-DVD. However the transport that pulls the drawer back in is beginning to go and needs a gentle shove at times to help it out. I won't be surprised if it fails completely within a year.
I suspect this is not unusual and some companies see this as a warranty liabilty and shy away from them.
It's not surprising to me a multi disc BD player hasn't been released yet.

[TVJon]

Yeah, it's probably because Blu Ray machines are still expensive for what they are and demand won't support it. Until we get to a 'mass consumption' price point, we may not see it. (By mass consumption I mean Blu Ray players that can be had for the cost of a couple of DVD movies... like what's happened with SD players. I wonder how long that's gonna take. Blu Ray player prices went down some for the holidays, but they're generally back up now and they don't seem to be bowing to the pressure of a rough economy.)

TVJon

[bandphan]

it will be interesting to see how hard drive based storage plays out with the legalities, cause thats where the market should be or at least moving towards. IMO the changers were nice, but become problematic over time.

[jamie2112]

I am planning on watching 1 at a time anyway. I don't like changers myself.

[jcilforever]

The two changers I have gave me issues after a couple of years and I would rather have quality over convenience, maybe because I am getting older:(

[DaveHo]

Unless you also use the player for music playback, I don't see a need for a DVD changer. I mean, it's not like you're going to load it up with 5 movies & hit shuffle so you get some variety.

-Dave

[JohnA]

Sony makes one, not cheap...Retail is $2,999

Blu-ray changer (http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644516277)