Blu-ray Player or Upscaling DVD Player? Netflix helps you decide.
April 23rd, 2008 by Scot Drew
I love Netflix. I’ve been an extremely happy member since March, 2003. (And I even “used” Netflix before then by sometimes borrowing movies from a friend and then mailing them back for him after I watched them. Hey, I never said I was proud of it.) I normally keep 490+ movies in my queue (max limit: 500). And I’ve rated 9,600+ titles. I don’t just use Netflix…I USE Netflix.
One impressive thing about Netflix was their decision during the HD Format War to carry hi-def movies on both Blu-ray and HD DVD. At. No. Extra. Cost. Wow. Almost made me pick up a hi-def player. Instead, I stuck with my upscaling DVD player and sunk that money into my house. (Yay! Painting! I love painting. And lying. Mostly about how much I love painting.)
Personally, I’m glad I did that. First off, I would probably have an HD DVD player gathering dust beneath my TV right now. (Yeah, I called that one wrong.) Also, as just reported today by Gizmodo and others, Netflix is raising prices slightly for Blu-ray rentals.
You know, in the early stages of the war, if Netflix had charged a bit of extra scratch for some HD movie goodness, I would have said, “Right on. It’s worth it. Early adopters will pay gladly.” But to offer hi-def movies at no extra cost and then later raise the price on those early adopters stings just a bit. Netflix, how about grandfathering those who adopted early? Let them keep their HD goodness at no extra cost. That’d be a nice Thank You Kindly for being loyal customers and drivers of new technologies.
And, you know what? I’m no in any rush to go out and spend a few hundred on a Blu-ray player only to then spend a few extra bucks a month (or whatever the charge ends up being) on top of that. My upscaling DVD player is quite nice, presenting a noticeable image quality difference over my older player.
So, I’m happy. For now. Blu-ray will just have to wait. Until Netflix lowers that extra charge for HD movies, that is. Or until I pick up the inevitable Netflix set-top box. Because I’m soooo gonna.
[Gizmodo via Alley Insider via Marketwatch via CNET]
April 24th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
You sir, have rated a tremendous amount of movies. I commend you.
May 27th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
[...] this product created a lot of buzz around our end of the office. Being an early adopter and Netflix fanatic Scot ordered one immediately. Last I heard it hadn’t arrived yet but expect a full review [...]
June 13th, 2010 at 4:40 am
Thanks for the info on the blog post. It was a really great read..