Still don't have Blueray?

Blue-ray movies are amazing IF they are played on a system that is set up correctly. In order to truly enjoy a blue-ray movie the movie must be shown on a HDTV attached via HDMI to a Blue-ray player and hopefully surround sound.

Until recently Blue-ray players were prohibitvely expensive. This is much like DVD players used to be. I still remember my first DVD player. I bought it during Christmas 1997. I was driving back to Nacogdoches from Houston. Compusa had DVD players on sale for 1/2 price..."just $220". I stopped by a Compusa in North Houston as soon as they opened. Sold out quick. Bummer. I then hit the road for Nacogdoches. On the way I stopped by a Compusa in Lufkin, Texas. Apparently East Texas had no interest in DVD players as there was a stack of them sitting there. I snagged one. Nice.

With Blue-ray I wated until the prices came down and we had a TV worthy of Blue-ray. I did my research and bought a Samsung BD-P2500. Why this player? Well it's a profile 2.0 player meaning in addition to being able to play blue-ray movies, it can go online for more content AND it can stream Netflix movies over the net straight to the TV. I bought it last Christmas. The best price was $380. I paid $270 by using a coupon from Amazon.com.

Now there are Blue-ray players for UNDER $100. I predicted the major drop and price last year (read it here). The player is from Magnavox and available at Wal-Mart (only in-store not online). As long as you have a HDTV and an HDMI cable (with a compatible TV) you are good to go.

Speaking of HDMI cables, don't overpay. I bought mine from monoprice.com for under $9 a piece. Monster Cables sells HDMI cables for $80+. Not worth it. HDMI is digital. Digital is 1's and 0's. Digital transmissions are not affected by radio magnetic interference. I bought some HDMI cables for my in law's TV a few weeks ago. I used it to connect up their cable box. My father in law couldn't tell a picture difference, but he saw right away how much faster the channels changed. The reason? HDMI cables can carry more data faster.

With Blue-ray players finally under $100, hopefully Blue-ray movie prices will fall. I still buy a HD-DVD movie from Fry's every now and then for $5-$10. My most recent purchase as A Clockwork Orange. Very interesting movie.