Let's be honest for a moment. Technology, especially software, moves faster than Charlie Sheen's neurotransmitters today and it is difficult to determine what the "best" of anything is. What's the best Ipod, cell phone, eReader, gourmet Whopper--the choices can get overwhelming. While many people are going to the streaming video route--which is fine--if you're looking to upgrade your home movie viewing experience you can't go wrong with a Blu-ray player.
Blu-ray players and DVDs are just better plain and simple. Better picture, better sound, better color, better everything. They even make your old DVDs (which you can also play on the Blu-ray player) look better. Obviously you have to have a HD televison for Blu-ray to be effective (I recommend 1080i television rather than a 720, trust me it's worth it) but I'm assuming that if you read my blog, enjoy movies, and have a reasonable income you probably already have an HD television. In any event it is definitely worth an upgrade.
Now some of you may be thinking that Blu-ray players and DVDs are way too expensive. Three years ago you might have been correct (and if you still go to an FYE store you still are--avoid that place like the plague) but the great thing about advancing technology is that when new ones come along, like iPads, the slightly older stuff tends to go down in price. Five years ago your typical Blu-ray player would have run you upwards of $300. Now you can get a good one (I'm talking Sony not APEX) for around $150 and sometimes even less than that.
The Blu-ray DVDs aren't that expensive anymore either. Case in point: my wife and I just received our tax returns and decided that each of us could spend $100 on whatever we wanted. Being a movie enthusiast I of course spent mine on movies. I bought six Blu-rays for just over $100. Six! Some of them were cheap as $10. And before you ask I bought quality ones too like The Natural and Gremlins not Troll 5: The Return of Billy Goat Gruff. There are bargains to be had my friends. I highly recommend Best Buy if you want the best deals on players and movies.
Like anything else though the software tends to outstrip the hardware. If you do buy a Blu-ray player you may have to update the software occasionally. There is a website you can go to to upload onto a disc which you can then transfer to your Blu-ray player. The whole process takes about ten minutes. If you have wireless Internet even better because (depending on the player you have) it will download automatically onto your player within a couple of minutes. The best bang for your buck is still a Playstation 3. It retails for about $299 now. Not only do you get a fantastic Blu-ray player that loads movies and games quickly, lets you know when you need to update the software, and is sleek and stylish, it also doubles as a video game system. I believe you can also now get Netflix movies on it as well. Slam dunk.
There is one thing I want to advise you on when it comes to Blu-ray DVDs, and please understand this my own personal opinion. You may not agree. With certain rare exceptions it is probably not worth your money to buy Blu-ray DVDs of movies made before 1980. (Star Wars not withstanding of course.) I say this because I personally cannot tell much of a difference in picture from movies that old. I'm sure a lot of that has to do with the way movies are made today and what film they use. In point of fact many Blu-ray DVDs of recent films look better than in the actual movie theater. Again this last is just personal preference. Judge for yourself.
In any case if you've got a little extra spending money and you're seriously considering upgrading your home entertainment system, trust me and take the high definition plunge. It's certainly the best looking and Blu-est part of the pool.
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