CNN Fortune Magazine chooses Blu-Ray (1 Viewer)

[Austan]

CNN MONEY Fortune Magazine

But does the Average Joe own a Projector or subscribes to ProjectorCentral?

 

[Walter Kittel]

- deleted -

 

[Larry Sutliff]

What are they using to test these things? Philco console televisions from the seventies?

 

[Robert Crawford]

The real test in publications comes when the HT magazines start reviewing Blu-ray players and by that time you'll have magazines like Entertainment and Premiere espousing their viewpoint. It should be interesting in the next six months or so.

 

[Peter Overduin]

No, but tens of thousands are reading HTF, AVS et al....and seeeing the displays. CNN Fortune is a biz magazine and the biz applications will be in Blu Ray's advantage. What will sink it with the average Joe is the - at best comparable video quality to HD-DVD; and at twice the price.

I am average Joe who has now also had the opportunity to see both side by side on HD displays. There's no doubt that I'll be choosing HD-DVD. I suspect that most average Joe's, once seeing what I've seen, will shake their head and wonder why anyone at all would pay twice as much for the same thing.

 

[Harminder]

DELETED POST

 

[Ron-P]

I willing to bet that the average Joe is not reading CNN MONEY Fortune Magazine. The average Joe will go more by what they see in the BBs and CCs of this world.

Blu-ray has the storage for business, at least they tell us, we have yet to actually see it.

 

[Austan]

The CNN MONEY Fortune Magazine "The DVD war: Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD" link is on the main page of CNN. You dont have to dig around to see it. Once again, I am not flaming HD-DVD. I am trying to point out that public perception plays an important role in format adoption. I am also a strong believer that media sales will decide the winner of this Format War.

Let's work on some definitions. IMHO an Average Joe is a person who shops at BB and CC. An Average Joe will read HomeTheaterMag or SoundandVision but not be a member of HTF or AVSF. (in automobile sense and Average Joe would buy Honda,GM,Porche,Audi but not Lambo or Bently and would read CarAndDriver and RoadandTrack but not be a member of Corvette OwnersClub or NASIOC). An Average Joe would get news from CNN, MSNBC, Yahoo or Hotmail. The Average Joe would also perform a Google or Yahoo searches when researching a topic.

On that note, do a google search on "Toshiba HD DVD A1 review". Start reading those reviews. You will notice a few trends appear.
1) Slow boot up and load times
2) Some reviews mention "Quirks"
3) Some reviews mention Disc wont play (some mention firmware update)
4) Format war debate and references to VHS/Beta
5) Wait and see approach
6) Last but not least AWESOME VIDEO QUALITY (ok, I should have listed this first, but I'm trying to make a point here)

At this present moment Average Joe has no option when chosing HD-DVD, it's Toshiba or rebadged RCA. Blu-Ray has Samsung and in a few months Sony, Panasonic and Pioneer.

My point is, the "published" reviews have been wishy/washy and with just Toshiba backing it, there might not be enough brand name recognition to sell mass quanities.

 

[Peter Overduin]

Austan; your point is taken. I am consider myself a reasonably well informed person and have a substantial HT system, yet I find myself baffled by this HD format and associated war...what with HDMI 1.3....firmware upgrades...HD DTS, etc., etc. and I read this forum everyday.

The average joe doesnt stand a chance, i f I am any indication of the state of confusion out there on this whole HD thing

 

[Ryan-G]

Do that many people come to HTF?

I know it's an influential forum, just have no idea what kind of traffic passes through.

 

[Lew Crippen]

By clicking on the ‘Main Forum Page’ you get these statistics:

Members: 63,217

Current Active Users (as of 0805 CDT): 1,376

Most users ever online: 5,607

I don’t know if this is a lot or a little.

 

[Robert James Clark]

Projector Central's views toward Blu-Ray have become even more brutal this week:

"Blu-ray: Can it Survive?"
http://www.projectorcentral.com/blu-ray_2.htm


"Conclusion

HD-DVD has proven itself to be an outstanding value for the money. Blu-ray has not. If Blu-ray is to survive it needs to drop the price of its entry level players to $500 and increase the quality of its discs. In essence, it needs to match the price/performance benchmark established by HD-DVD. Surely better Blu-ray discs will be forthcoming at some point. But from the looks of things it may already be too late. HD-DVD is solid, it delivers superb quality for a nominal price, and there are twice the number of HD-DVD titles on the market as BDs. The outlook for the holiday season is that there will be over 400 HD-DVD titles released, while Blu-ray will be lucky to have 200."

 

[Manus]

" At this present moment Average Joe has no option when chosing HD-DVD, it's Toshiba or rebadged RCA. Blu-Ray has Samsung and in a few months Sony, Panasonic and Pioneer "

So , in actual fact there wont be much choice for Bluray players for 'a few months' then ?

I think the main point is that these new formats are predicated on superb PQ , HD-Dvd has delivered that , Bluray has decidedly not ( yet). Both formats have made the mistake of not including Mch. Lossless as standard (wouldnt that have helped their sales pitch ? ) , so for the amount of new equipment investment required by any prospective HD enthusiast its going to be a hardsell IMO

Some of us with SD collections would love to be at the vanguard of the new age but I feel strangely agnostic at the moment unlike the launch of Sd wher 'I got it ' straight away.

~M~

 

[KeithMoechnig]

But does average Joe read the CNN fortune website?

 

[EricCr]

The average person won't be buying a Pioneer or Panasonic BD player with prices of $1500 and $1300 each. The sony might sell more but it is still at $1000.

 

[CRyan]

I would argue that there are different kinds of average joes - The grouping of non-techies with the common Wal-Mart only shopper is grossly incorrect. I would venture to say that the majority of people who have the disposable income to throw $500 -$1000 at a new format are not the same people as what some are saying here. I would almost say it is these people that will begin to push the war in one direction or another - nontechnical people with cash to spend. These are people that don't care to pour over specs, but want the best and just want it to work. They read CNN Money for sure and Fortune. Not only will it help them decide what player to buy but where to invest their money.