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Lamenting the demise of the DVD/Blu-Ray combo pack (1 Viewer)

Thomas T

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I like the option of buying either a DVD or a blu ray and not have them both. For some titles where the visuals are not an important component I'd probably opt for the cheaper DVD as opposed to the blu. For example, I purchased the DVD of the new Kino Separate Tables but bought the blu of the Olive South Of St. Louis. It would have bugged me to have either set come in a combo pack.
 

Robert Crawford

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Thomas T said:
I like the option of buying either a DVD or a blu ray and not have them both. For some titles where the visuals are not an important component I'd probably opt for the cheaper DVD as opposed to the blu. For example, I purchased the DVD of the new Kino Separate Tables but bought the blu of the Olive South Of St. Louis. It would have bugged me to have either set come in a combo pack.
To me, in every film, the visuals are an important component. People will disagree with me, but I want the best picture possible whether it's a B&W drama that takes place indoors or a Technicolor western with great outdoor vistas.

As to the combo issue, I agree that digital downloads are making the inclusion of a DVD not a requirement for many people.
 

Matt Hough

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Since I have a friend who has not gone to Blu-ray and likely never will, the DVDs have been a godsend for him; he gets every one of them from those packages unless they contain bonus features not contained on the Blu-ray disc.
 

cineMANIAC

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I'm all for going green and recycling and all that, which is why I hate combo packs (and eco cases, for that matter). Nobody I offer the DVDs that come in combo packs wants them, and I hate to just throw them out (and no, I'm nowhere near a library so I can't give them away) so I've got a pile of these things lying around collecting dust. In short, combo packs don't really serve a purpose IMO and I'm glad they're being discontinued.
 

Alan Tully

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You can't give DVD's to libraries in England, any more than you can give them books, they just don't work like that. And even charity shops won't take DVD's sans case & cover.
 

Mike2001

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I can't remember a single time I've ever watched the DVD in a combo package, but I do find the digital codes handy. Watching movies on a tablet really helps the time go by on business trips.
 

MattHR

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Matt Hough said:
Since I have a friend who has not gone to Blu-ray and likely never will, the DVDs have been a godsend for him; he gets every one of them from those packages unless they contain bonus features not contained on the Blu-ray disc.
Another reason for the change: the studios look at DVDs from combo-paks given away as "lost" sales to other potential customers. In the waning days of the video rental industry, I remember combo-paks being a sore spot for studios, as rental stores would essentially get a free DVD copy of a movie when ordering the combo-pak for their rental inventory, as it was cheaper than buying them separately.
 

ROclockCK

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Not just rentals Matt...some buyers who just wanted the Blu-ray gave away or sold off the included DVD. I'm not aware of any figures on this, but you still see listings on EBay for 'DVD only, no case or artwork'. It's not hard to guess where those came from.
 

EdHoch

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Interesting discussion. I'll throw a few more comments out there in response to some of the posts. I wasn't saying that the intention of the studios, when offering the DVD/BluRay combos, was so I could have a spare DVD for the kids. Frankly, I really didn't care why they were doing it (although I understand the future proof/transition argument.) All I was saying was that was a very convenient option for me as a consumer, and it's too bad it's being phased out.

So far, we've decided to purchase the DVD instead of the BluRay/3D/ Digital copy packs, this means that the studios are getting less money from me than they used to when I was willing to pay a bit more for both the BluRay and the DVD.

I'm not going to pretend I understand the relative costs and profit modeling for each version that is released. Looking from the outside though, I would expect that offering consumers more choices would end up maximizing Revenue and probably, profit. If I were Disney, I would offer the following choices:

DVD - $
Blu-Ray - $$
DVD/Blu-Ray combo - $$$
BluRay/3D/Digital Copy - $$$$

Each would have a different price point.

Bottom line where before, Disney would get ~$25 from me for a DVD/BluRay combo pack, now they are only getting ~$15 from me for the DVD.
 

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