Poll: Are you still buying DVDs?
By Darren Murph 
posted March 21st 2009 12:00PM
posted March 21st 2009 12:00PM
posted March 21st 2009 12:00PM
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Ever since Nov of 2006 when I got my PS3 I have purchased Blu-Ray only, after doing a side by side test upscaling is not good enough for me! :)
Agreed. I even have a theory that some movies purposefully look more terrible than others when upscaled--notably ones that had a simultaneous Blu-Ray release (e.g. Superbad).
i buy epic movies on Blu-Ray, and everything else on DVD. so really good action movies, i buy on Blu-Ray (like 300) but everything else i still go DVD since i have way more DVD players than Blu-Ray players (like 11 to 1) and, at least for now, DVD's are easier to work with as far as ripping for easy sharing over a network. it was the same with VHS to DVD for me so eventually, i'll switch fully to BD only but for right now, i'll take the greater flexibility of DVD over BD's enhanced picture.
Not only that, but "older" movies sometimes don't look any better in HD than on DVD. We bought "The Terminator" (the first one) on Blu-Ray. No big improvement. So when we wanted "Superman: The Movie" (1978), we bought the DVD for $15 instead of plunking down twice as much for BR. (Reviews said the image quality wasn't any better; only that the graininess of the original picture was more noticeable in HD.)
I am so pleased with the responses. This lets me know that half of my fellow tech lovers are appreciating the benefits of blu-ray. To us, it is like asking 5 years ago "Do you still buy VHS tapes. Of course not. The jump in quality is obvious and for those who don't see that future is blu, they either really can't tell the difference between SD and HD or the price jump makes them not see the difference. I believe it is more the latter, as these are the same type of people that have their brightness turned up all the way up and the black bars actually look gray. I am not saying they are wrong, they just are. Dvds are doing good for a format that is 20 years old, but like Barrack Hussein Obama said, it is time for a change. Respect to all movie lovers out there, so whether you watch it on blu or not, just enjoy it.
Funny how the Blu-ray people think there's a giant leap forward. DVDs had an obvious selling point over VHS. There's no obvious format reason to go Blu. Sorry. Do they look good? Yep. Does it make a movie better? Nope. DVD it wasn't about the quality - it was about the convenience. The advantages of DVD to a normal consumer:
1. no more rewinding
2. No more tapes breaking
3. No more video stores
4. Easy storage
Advantages of Blu:
Better image
Better sound
Neither of those differences pushed DVD and they won't help Blu. Hell you still find people with 4:3 TVs and I still here people complain about "those black bars."
I'm still not convinced Blu will become a force.
No more Video Stores?
Sorry, but they are still around selling DVDs and some Blu-rays now as well as Video games.
So I guess you are down to 3 things.
I just wanted to clarify my "Nah, Blu-ray forced me to stop" vote. Although I do not yet own a Blu-ray player, I chose to stop buying DVDs after it was clear that Blu-ray was going to win the format war it had with HD-DVD.
I continue to rent DVDs from Blockbuster (delivery), but I will not be buying any new media until I can afford a decent Blu-ray player. I have chosen to wait until the whole Blu-ray profile thing was over with, because I wanted a relatively future-proof, feature-complete unit. Now I just need to wait until the price has come down a bit more.
Correction. I said it is more the latter, but it is more the first statement, some people just don't know what to look for in a good picture; contrast, color, depth, sharpness until it is told to them what to look for.
Haven't felt the need to buy a movie in any format since I invested in a Vudu Box. I can buy a film on DVD/Blu-ray or I get instant access to it anytime by renting it in HD (for a fraction of the purchase price). It's been nice not having hundreds of plastic cases filling up my lounge any more.
don't want to start a flame war but at this point my format of choice is actually ...hd dvd. i own a ps3 but the cost of blu ray disc hasn't become reasonable yet , 30$ per movie is still way too expensive.i can find a lot of my favorite older movies on hddvd for less than 5$.its the best of both worlds, blu ray quality for bargain dvd prices.
How about "The format war made me realize that it is stupid to buy any format and just rent them"
Blu-ray only for me. But even those I don't buy too often. I only have 4 at the moment (Transformers, Iron Man, Batman Begins and The Bank Job), but am waiting for prices to come down a bit. I don't mind used copies, but I've set a strict limit of $10 before shipping for used copies.
Netflix has really tapered my taste for buying movies to only get the ones I truly love. Anything else is just 2 days away from being rented.
I learned since Blu-Ray that buying all these DVD's is pointless, and will only buy a few Blu-Ray movies that are considered a must have and ones that I will watch over and over again.
I agree with Fred. Today I went to Target and bought "Twilight" in Blu-Ray. But I limit my Blu buying to movies with exceptional sound tracks and visual eye candy. Like Transformers, Iron Man, Hell Boy etc.
I only rent Blu-rays from Netflix.
I buy few Blu-Rays, No DVDs, and get the rest from Netflix.
Well the questions/answers are not that simple.
I do buy DVDs for those releases that are not available on Blu-ray and that I want (which is A LOT) but that number is shrinking overall because I also download and have a digital library of those things. So I have lots of DVD or 720p HD quality TV shows and movies from iTunes and other online services too. I watch HD movies also through Vudu and only buy Blu-ray's that are big movies that I really liked.
I believe that a lot of people are or will be in the same position that I am. DVD will fade slowly while people are switching not only exclusively to Blu-ray but a mix of sources like Netflix, iTunes, Vudu, PC etc.
I guess this is one of the reasons why a lot of analysts say that Blu-ray simple can't reach and replace DVD. There are too many alternate content sources that are good quality and offer much greater convenience.
Get Netflix on Wii and it's even more relevant.
I'm still with DVD. However, the last two movies I bought when they were first released on DVD were "Resident Evil Apocalypse" and "The Simpsons Movie." I do buy some older movies, but they're not worth it to me to buy on Blu-ray. I don't buy too many movies, so I probably could afford the price difference in movies. However, unless a Blu-ray recorder with built-in ATSC tuner/VCR combo, I won't be plunking down for a Blu-ray player unless the price comes to about $150 (not on sale). But it would have to have the ATSC tuner; it's a little quirk I have, but I could live without the VCR combo if I had to. Also, my DVD player would pretty much have to die for me to make the move.
Do you even have a Bluray player to make the comment about what you are currently buying other than DVD's?
No, I do not have a Blu-ray player, and I thought made it fairly clear what needs to happen before I get one. And what I'm buying other than DVDs is...nothing. Well almost nothing. Apparently a couple of videos I watched through Xbox Marketplace I actually bought, not just "rented." The price was on par with renting, so I didn't realize it until I went to remove the videos from the hard drive and saw they didn't have an expiration date like the videos I did rent. So, other than the seldom movie, I really have bought anything; I've been passing my time with video games and actually doing things out in the real world with other people.
I stopped buying DVDs the moment the first Blu-ray was released.If something was released only on DVD, I would get it from netflix.
It all depends on how much I want to see something and what I am willing to pay:
Buy Blu-ray- Only great must see stuff (Dark Knight)
Buy DVD- Must see but not visually demanding (Simpsons Movie)
HD Pay Per View/Rent Blu-ray- Kind of want to see it, visually intresting (Tropic Thunder)
HD pay TV- All the movies I don't want to buy, rent or bother to download(Spider-Man 3)
Download watch delete- Want to see it, but don't want any one to konw (Transformers)
Internet streaming- Old TV shows(Book em Dano)
iTunes- Please, that stuff is not even as good as VHS
I was a somewhat early adopter of DVD, I got my first dvd player in early 1999, years before anyone else I knew. After 10 years, I had about 50 DVD movies plus a couple of TV series sets.
I got a bluray drive after CES last year. After just a year, I have about 75 Blurays now. I never, ever saw DVD as a long term format, because I knew HD discs were just around the corner. I stopped buying DVD's about four years ago when I first heard HD discs were on the way, then I waited for the format war to end (though I was close to getting a dual format drive just before CES last year). I've already replaced half of my DVD's with the bluray equivalent and I give the dvd's to friends and family. By the end of this year, I expect to have 150 to 200 blurays and the only DVD's I will have left will be older tv shows and anime series and a couple movies that may not get released on bluray yet like Star Wars.
Blu Ray purchases if the movie is for me, DVD if for the rest of the family!
This isn't selfish, honestly, I'm the only one that cares about the differences and I have more DVD players around kicking the house and in-car to abandon that tech just yet.
Why buy when Netflix exists?
Because there are people out there, such as myself, who are collectors, and prefer to own the movie. I take pride in my home theater, as well as the collection of movies I have acquired.
Blu-ray didn't "force" me to stop buying DVDs, it convinced me.
We only buy Blu-ray at our household.
I stopped buying DVDs when it was clear that blu-ray was here to stay, but I haven't actually purchased a blu-ray player yet. I've been waiting for a good quality, and affordable, profile 2.0 player to make the rounds.
again, no answer suits me! I stopped buying DVDs but not because Blu-Ray "forced" me but because I decided I'd rather get the better quality version. It was my own decision, nothing forced me cause DVD is still around and I could still be watchin it instead (I still do).
The last mini-movie I bought had a poor BD transfer, so why pay extra BD pricing for less...
Yeah, I'm buying some DVD's as well as Blu-Ray's because basically, there are some DVD's they're not releasing on Blu-Ray so I'm just buying them on regular DVD like the ones from Dragon Dynasty, man if they released some of the ones on Blu, it'd be pretty amazing!
I buy both if its a movie I think that is not worth buying on blu ray I either buy the standard dvd or rent it and plus my sony blu ray player upscales pretty well on my 50inch 1080p samsung dlp tv.
Right now the only movie or movies I'm waiting to upgrade to blu ray is Heat and the LOTR trilogy.
Peace........
I learned with DVDs that it's pointless to buy movies. I almost never rewatched anything. It was simply a pit for cash.
y buy a blu-ray of maid in manhatan and y buy a dvd of the dark knight ..........its retarded i use netflix so i dont buy much but what i do have is blu-ray of movies that make a diference on what format they are seen in
That's the point I was tryin to make I don't buy all my movies on blu ray if its not worth having on blu ray I buy the dvd or I rent it.
But since apple tv just started showing movies in HD i've been very tempted but hey I promised the wifey no more toys
I stopped buying DVDs about three years ago when I realized that Netflix IS my movie library. I sold my old DVD collection for enough to pay for Netflix for almost two years.
Netflix....RedBox.... nein. No DVDs bought since 2006.
Price everything at $4.99 in a cheap cardboard sleeve, or make DVDs available for $9.99 the day of a theatrical release, you'll get me to open my wallet.
But it's just too easy to get good entertainment cheaply these days. Who's tossing around $20 bills to buy DVDs that they'll watch 2x a year for maybe the first 2 years?
DVD for Box sets (Blu-Ray box sets are way to expensive)
Blu-Ray movie (If the Special Features are added.)
It's frustrating at this point that all titles aren't coming out on Blu-ray, especially when it comes to the lower budget independent and foreign films which are often much better movies than the garbage that gets shoveled out of Hollywood. So when I can't buy it on BD I rent it on DVD.
Why buy if I can download (for free)?
I still have my hd dvd drive so i have been buying new hd dvd's on ebay for like 4 bucks. thats the only way i will buy a dvd any more. 20 dollars for about 3 times i will watch it. and 35 for hd ridiculous! I think i am ready for digital distribution.
I decided to stop buying until I dive into Blu-Ray. Netflix is my enabler, since anything i really want to see I'll order from there. I may resume purchasing as normal if more studios started packing DVDs in with their Blu-Ray discs.
i stopped buying because i don't want physical media clutter.
I haven't bought a DVD in over two years. There's just no point in buying DVD's if an HD version is on the horizon. I only buy the Blu-rays that I will watch over and over again.
But all the rest I rent to see if they are worth owning in the first place. And HD digital downloads and streaming are for rentals only, not for ownership.
I've cut way back on buying any movies at all!!! I just got a bunch of HD DVD movies (around 30) which worked out to about $4 each. Why spend $25-$30 for a Blu-Ray version?!?! I just sold off my VHS movies today. A Nice large Pile. How much did I get? About $8.00, as they were going for 10 cents each!!! A few of them dollars were from the 3 DVD's and 1 HD DVD also. They were in my way, I don't even own a VCR anymore. I can't remember how many YEARS it's been since I've popped a tape in. 10 maybe. To think how much money I spent on those movies. It's the same thing with DVD's and BLu-Ray, not quite as cheap, but in the end when you get rid of them, your not going to get much.
I'll hold onto my DVD's and HD DVD's and Blu-Ray's now, but I've cut way, way back on buying Disc's. I have over 500 already. I could watch one of my DVD's a Day for a year and still see a different one. I had 2 copy's of the 3 Star Wars films on VHS, not to mention my DVD Copy, is Blu-Ray Next, I don't know, but I'm becoming more and more of a fan of Netflix. I don't have to store the movie. I can watch whenever I want for quite a few of them anytime I want anyway. I'll buy DVD's for CHEAP, not pay $17-$24 for a new release. I also won't buy a new Blu-Ray for more then $24, and cheaper if I can. I'd just rather wait for the price to drop before buying it.
I stopped buying DVDs in 2004 when I signed up for Netflix.
I was all set to buy a PS-3 for the BD and home media stuff. But then I realized I haven't bought a DVD in about 3 years, and rarely watch any of the ones I already own. I do, however have an HD cable box and watch a lot of VOD. Sure, it isn't 1080p, but my TV won't do it anyway, and I don't really want to replace a TV that's only 5 years old and looks just fine to my tired old eyes.
I've been purchasing BD discs only for about a year now. I'm keeping my DVDs and selling some to put towards the blu ray version (favorites).