Blu Ray Question

[donald&daisy]

I'm doing some initial research for a blu ray player b/c I think we are going to buy one for Christmas. So, is there any one brand that is capable of streaming both Netflix and Amazon VOD? From what I can tell Panasonic streams Amazon and Samsung and LG stream Netflix. I want to have my cake and eat it too, lol. TIA!

 

[FireDancer]

I don't know of any players that will stream both but if I were you I would just buy the cheapest Blue-Ray player and not worry about streaming and use the money you save to additionally purchase a Roku player.

The Roku player not only streams both of the services you asked about but also all MLB games. The player is still early in it's lifecycle and with services like Mediafly porting web content to the device soon you will be able to watch a lot more web content. I feel it is only a matter of time before podcast aggregators like Mevio are on there along with other web properties like Youtube.

If you want it all you can also build a home media server running Boxee, but that might be pushing it a bit if you aren't tech savy.

 

[donald&daisy]

Thanks! I did realize the Roku box would stream both, so think that I may do as you suggested and go with a lesser expensive blu ray and buy the Roku separately.

 

[Golf4food]

Depends on the price. Good BD players are under $200 now and will probably be in the $99-$149 range come Black Friday - including the ones that will stream videos. Our LG will stream Netflix, Pandora radio, etc. but we got it as part of an LG home theater system that included the surround sound speakers and such, but they do have a stand alone version as well. Love it so far. Blu-ray is definitely the way to go.

 

[pixiewings71]

I have an add on question, sorry to butt in OP.

When you purchase a Blu Ray player it does play old format DVD's right? We have a TON of DVD's and we won't be replacing them, but DBF has wanted a Blu Ray player for years so I was considering getting a cheap one for him for Christmas, we can still watch all our other movies on it too right?

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

I have an add on question, sorry to butt in OP.

When you purchase a Blu Ray player it does play old format DVD's right? We have a TON of DVD's and we won't be replacing them, but DBF has wanted a Blu Ray player for years so I was considering getting a cheap one for him for Christmas, we can still watch all our other movies on it too right?

yes, its called "upconvert" and check with the description of the player you are considering buying. it should mention that it wil play (and then list all kinds of cd/dvd formats) some will even play mpeg movies with a USB interface for a thumb drive.

 

[pixiewings71]

Thank You!

 

[Golf4food]

I have an add on question, sorry to butt in OP.

When you purchase a Blu Ray player it does play old format DVD's right? We have a TON of DVD's and we won't be replacing them, but DBF has wanted a Blu Ray player for years so I was considering getting a cheap one for him for Christmas, we can still watch all our other movies on it too right?

First, as already mentioned, BD players will play DVDs and "upconvert" them to full HD (fills in the missing lines of data the DVDs don't have by guessing based on what is around them - not exact but very close). DVDs will look a little better.

But, trust me, you WILL be replacing some of those DVDs with Bluray disks once you get one, especially if you have a surround sound system. Blu-ray is not only full HD video, it also has lossless audio, so the sound is superior to DVD as well. If you have a 5.1 or 7.1 surround setup the BDs sound a lot better than a compirable DVD. Not every movie is worth replacing if you already own the DVD version, but some are, and with BD disk prices dropping steadily (many now on sale for $9.99, new releases around $19.99 in many cases - same as most DVDs in recent years - woo hoo!) it is hard to resist the better quality picture and sound.

 

[pixiewings71]

Oh I know that we will definitely be upgrading some of our movies, that's not a question at all, just not all of them and not all at once. We do have surround sound, I don't know the specs, DBF took care of that when we rebuilt the house. The surround sound is all built in.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

rather than buy new blu-rays to replace our old dvd, we just started renting them.

but like a previous poster said, there is a marked difference.

its like when we switched to a HD flat panel t.v. and first saw an HD channel, such a marked difference that you get spoiled! makes the standard channels seem so much less!

 

[bicker]

We haven't re-bought any DVDs yet, but we had actually been putting off buying certain discs, realizing that we'd eventually buy a Blu-Ray and want those specific discs in Blu-Ray. (Planet Earth was our first purchase.)