just picked up my first BD player...

[Sounds Good]

i just got my first bluray player and ive started looking into buying some blurays... i guess i got a little bit of sticker shock... $30+ bucks for a movie... reminds me of dvds years ago...

anyhow, i was just curious how you BD fans do it, do you buy all BDs now or do you still buy dvds too? where are good deals/places to get BDs? similar to blockbuster's 3 for $20 (best deal out their for dvds imo)

 

[Seth=L]

I don't know how things go in other cities, but I would try looking at used media resale shops and pawn shops for DVDs and Blu-rays. Blu-rays that sell for $30 at retail a pawn shop may sell for $10-$15, same at used media stores. Many Pawn Shops in my area sell DVDs for $3-6 a piece, most are selling them for $3 and one even sells them for $2 a piece. These aren't copied DVDs, or DVDs without cases, and they even have decent selections.

Shop used, don't go to the places everyone else thinks to go (because that's where the higher prices are). I think 3 for $20 is way overpriced, considering how much money they've already made on the DVDs they could (*and often do) throw them away and still make money.

*Blockbuster actually throws away DVDs they don't sell in a short enough amount of time, and it's not just a few, it's thousands of DVDs each store throws away in just a few months. They aren't allow to sell them for less than the advertised price, and they aren't allowed to give them away, they are supposed to destroy them with the cases and all.

 

[lsiberian]

i just got my first bluray player and ive started looking into buying some blurays... i guess i got a little bit of sticker shock... $30+ bucks for a movie... reminds me of dvds years ago...

anyhow, i was just curious how you BD fans do it, do you buy all BDs now or do you still buy dvds too? where are good deals/places to get BDs? similar to blockbuster's 3 for $20 (best deal out their for dvds imo)

I suggest amazon.com and a netflix subscription.

 

[jostenmeat]

Buy a DVD? Hah! I haven't even watched one in years.

Sign up for Netflix. I get two a month for only $6.

You can bookmark this helpful, if very long, list.

http://www.blu-raystats.com/Stats/Stats.php

It shows pricing for Amazon, Buy-com, Deep Discount, and DVD Empire all right next to each other.

I buy almost everything from Amazon for BDs. You will see that it's actually hard to spend $30 even if you tried.

I suggest you stay away from WHV with their horrid CS.

 

[Adam]

I got my first blu-ray player this summer, and most of my blu-rays have been rented from Netflix. I own seven blu-rays so as to have something around to show off to friends/family, but I learned from my DVD-buying days that I tend not to rewatch a lot of movies. Netflix has been great for me, and I second (well, third) the suggestion.

 

[basspig]

My wife and I also rent Blu-ray discs from Netflix, and sometimes we rent from the local Blockbuster (they used to be $1.99 for one night rentals, now $2.99.)

The ones I buy for my permanent collection I find on eBay and Amazon. Sometimes I buy previously owned discs if the condition is noted excellent.

The reason Blu-ray is expensive is that you are paying for the licensing fees (passed to you by the producers) for the AACS copy protection encryption, which is $125,000 per title. Yes, you are paying for a feature that diminishes the usefulness of the disc to YOU. (And that same feature, built into players, is what prevents players from playing home burned BD-R discs.)

 

[EJ1]

www.amazon.com
www.tower.com

Also, check eBay and your local craigslist. Personally, I just rent via Netflix.

 

[dapack69]

www.inetvideo.com is also a great place to buy movies from.

 

[Jeepers]

http://www.blu-raystats.com/Stats/Stats.php

Thanks for the site. I buy DVD's from Amazon anyway.
Now for Blu-ray discs; check e.g. 'Lonesome Dove' on that list.

1. the column Region B is marked with Y.
2. going to the details, it mentions "disc BD50 Region A, B, C"
3. going to Amazon, it mentions "Region 1" (thus A)

Very confusing. Can anyone shed some light please ?

 

[Adam]

Can anyone shed some light please ?

I believe that the "Region B" column indicates if a Region B version is available - not if it is the only version that is available. So, while Lonesome Dove is available in Region B, it is also available in Region A (and Region C).

You can check on the region availability of any title by clicking on the name of the title in the list.

 

[just-some-guy]

NETFLIX !!! i learned from my LASERDISC buyin days, that i pretty much never rewatch. for CHRISTMAS, i am going to have people get me a few reference BD's, and thats it.

 

[Jeepers]

I believe that the "Region B" column indicates if a Region B version is available - not if it is the only version that is available. So, while Lonesome Dove is available in Region B, it is also available in Region A (and Region C).

You can check on the region availability of any title by clicking on the name of the title in the list.

Thanks Adam, that's also what I suspected but I wasn't sure. Meanwhile I also found this site :http://bluray.liesinc.net/

 

[Sounds Good]

, i am going to have people get me a few reference BD's, and thats it.

Trinity and Beyond... ?

 

[j_garcia]

Check out blu-ray.com They have a price tracker that will tell you when titles you are interested in drop in price and you can even set a "desired price". I have bought some at full price for titles I really want, but for the most part I have paid $15 or less for the majority of my titles (currently 175). I also rent from Netflix since that is the best way to try before you buy.

 

[jostenmeat]

Thanks Adam, that's also what I suspected but I wasn't sure. Meanwhile I also found this site :http://bluray.liesinc.net/

Adam is correct. If you buy from Amazon, it will work in your US player. What is more difficult is finding certain foreign films with region A, or perhaps specifically region free. I don't buy any because it's always so expensive to order from, say, Amazon France, etc.

Once in a while Amazon US will sell a desired foreign film, as region free, but it can still be so expensive. This is why I have yet to see Red Cliff (still waiting for Netflix to stock them). Prices are very high still.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=red+cliff+bluray&x=0&y=0

For the outside chance you like French movies, I used to follow this list.

Region free French language blu-rays

I rented Ne Le Dis A Personne, and it was a pretty messed up story.

It's possible that the largest collection of foreign titles that work in our players could be from the Criterion Collection. Netflix carries a bunch, if not all of those.

 

[Jeepers]

Adam is correct. If you buy from Amazon, it will work in your US player. What is more difficult is finding certain foreign films with region A, or perhaps specifically region free. I don't buy any because it's always so expensive to order from, say, Amazon France, etc.

Thanks but I live in Europe so for me it's region B. Anyhow in most cases, for DVD's (multi region player), I order from Amazon US because even with shipment costs, it's still cheaper than ordering from Amazon UK. For French movies, I order directly from Amazon France or from the Criterion Collection.
I don't have a Blu-ray player yet but it won't take very long anymore hence my question on the region codes.

 

[j_garcia]

If you get an Oppo BDP-83, you can get region free firmware...(it is a hack, not from Oppo).

Also see this thread:http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showpost.php?p=642259&postcount=149 A few BDs for $8.50. THAT is what you have to shop around for