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Report Indicates Only 8 Percent of Americans Planning to Purchase Blu-Ray Players Despite $199 Price

Nerd Grind — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 11:15:14 +0000

Experts and analysts have always agreed that when Blu-ray players legitimately reached the $199 pricepoint the format would go mainstream. It’s not exactly working out that way.

$200 Blu-ray players are a dime a dozen this holiday season, but according to ABI Research only 8 percent of holiday buyers were considering upgrading to the format. This comes as quite a surprise considering half of American homes have gone HD and its old rival, HD DVD, is all but dead. We’ll have to see in January, when the smoke clears, if this is due to the recession or the public’s general hesitance to pick up another movie viewing format.

Netflix Ends Support for HD DVD – Starting December

Nerd Grind — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:18:11 +0000

Netflix has finally ended support for HD DVD. Starting on December 15th, all HD DVDs listed in queues will be replaced by regular DVDs. The company supported the format long after most institutions, so their subscriber base can at least thank them for that. RIP HD DVD.

Pioneer introduces two new DVD burners with Qflix technology

Nerd Grind — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:09:51 +0000

Qflix, the hottest of the hot in DVD burning technology, has wormed it’s way into two new Pioneer burners. The DVR-2920Q and DVR-X162Q will allow you to burn CinemaNow movies onto specially-keyed blank DVDs. Each drive is also bundled with Roxio Venue software to help with that testy download-to-DVD process. Each drive comes with Roxio CinePlayer as well, if you hate televisions and would prefer to watch stuff alone on your laptop. Curled up with an empty bag of Cheetos balled in one hand. Get a grip man.

Pricing and availability have yet to drop, but it should be soon enough. Click the link for a well worded press release.

Star Trek Player / Phaser

Nerd Grind — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 16:56:35 +0000

Toshiba in a joint promotion with CBS Home Entertainment’s launch of "Star Trek: The Original Series," Season 1 has unveiled this "Star Trek" Combo which features HD DVD on one side of the disc and standard DVD on the other.

Purchasers of the boxed set and any Toshiba HD DVD player will be offered the limited edition "Star Trek" Phaser – a remote for Toshiba’s HD DVD players.

Super Thin DVD Burner

Nerd Grind — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 17:25:20 +0000

Toshiba has given us a peek at their ultrathin PC HD DVD burners: HD DVD-Writer and HD DVD Super-Multi for about $400.

The HD DVD-Writer supports CD, DVD+/-RW, HD DVD-ROM, and single and double-layer HD DVD-R formats. The HD DVD Super-Multi supports all of the above except HD DVD-R. Both units supposedly measure in at just 5.04- x 4.96- x 0.51-inches and weigh 5.82 ounces.

Toshiba Heats Up HD Optical Wars with HD-A3x

Nerd Grind — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 18:24:24 +0000

Looks like Blu-Ray may not have things so wrapped up, as Toshiba releases its third generation HD-DVD. The HD-A3x adds 24p support, which has been sorely missed by many, as well as CE-Link. Models range from $299.99 to $499.99, which is more than reasonable, and should be released in the October-September timeframe.

Sweet Duo

Nerd Grind — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 17:31:38 +0000

Samsung is showing off more on its third-generation Blu-ray player lineup, including a home theater-in-a-box system, and the sweet Duo HD dual-format HD DVD / Blu-ray players.

The BD-P2400 adds 7.1-channel output, while the BD-P1400 has 5.1 channel output. The dual-format BD-UP5000 plays both high-def formats at 1080p and includes the HQV upconversion processor chip found in the BD-P2400. It includes the same feature set as the BD-P2400, with Blu-ray playback at 24 or 60fps, 7.1-channel out, and Dolby Digital Plus and DTS HD support. It also has HD DVD-specific features like local storage and picture-in-picture support, while staying fully compatible with both the HDi and BD-J interactive specs.

The HT-BD2 home theater system includes an 1,100-watt receiver and the same media playback features as the BD-P1400. It also includes five tower speakers, two rear satellites, and a powered sub.

The BD-UP5000 will retail for $1,049, and the HT-BD2 will ship for $1,499, both in the fourth quarter of this year.

Toshiba Offers HD DVD-R in Qosmio G45-AV680

Nerd Grind — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 17:55:38 +0000

Okay, some things are just extravagant, you know? Almost embarassingly so. Consider the specs on the new Toshiba Qosmio G45-AV680: HD DVD-R3 drive, USB HD tuner, Santa Rosa Intel PM965 chipset, Core 2 Duo T7300, 2GB RAM, Â nVidia GForce 8600 GT 512MB, dual 160GB HDD, all current and future wireless standards, webcam, Harmon Kardon 4-speaker system with subwoofer,Â and obligatory fingerprint reader. Whew! It’ll cost you: $3,199, but if you’re in the market for the notebook that has everything (except SSD, I do notice), the Qosmio might be your cup of tea.

More on PS3 Price Drop

Nerd Grind — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 19:05:09 +0000

Sony is finally lowering down the prices for the PS3, but not for the reasons most think. Rumors had it that the long withstanding feud between the PS3 and the Wii inspired Sony’s decision, but Sony insists it is for two reasons: to "bridge the gap with Xbox 360 and to drive the nail deeper into the coffin of the HD DVD high definition format."

Hopefully, by the time the Christmas holiday season approaches, we will finally see if buying the expensive console is worth the trouble. Sony expects new games to arrive by next March, so if successful, we could see a better future for the PS3.

Life’s Good with Super Multi Blue

Nerd Grind — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 01:11:06 +0000

At the Las Vegas trade show, LG introduced its GGW-H10N combo drive, which supports Blu-Ray and HD DVD formats.

It can playback Blu-ray, DVD and HD DVD media, along with 4x recording and even rewriting of Blu-ray Discs. Sounds great, but with a $1200 price tag, I’ll be waiting until it’s a bit older before I upgrade.

See specs and pix and CDRinfo.

NerdGrind - How-to Computer Help - Tutorials - Tech and Gadget News » HD DVD

Report Indicates Only 8 Percent of Americans Planning to Purchase Blu-Ray Players Despite $199 Price

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