No, the lack of being able to run the software I need is preventing me from choosing Mac. The Apple tax is preventing me from choosing Mac. The cramming of AppleCare down my throat (which begs the question, if Macs are superior to PC's, why do they push AppleCare so much?) is preventing me from choosing Mac.

I think a lot of people misunderstand the Blu-Ray format. I choose the Blu-Ray format not just for the increased quality of picture, but also the increased quality of audio. It's hard to find a laptop or desktop that can produce the same audio quality that is equal to my home theater. My laptop is for work, if I want to watch a movie, I put the laptop away, and go into my home theater.

The iTunes store has a purpose and can be quite valid at rare times. For me, I will only use the iTunes store if a show is (a) not on DVD, (b) not online, (c) is really a must have. Such as the case of Superman: The Animated Series. We had Seasons 1 and 3, but couldn't find season 2. In the end, we just bought it from the iTunes store and filled our collection. Now, shows like the Daily Show, House, or Lost, yeah, we'll never buy those because they are readily available on either DVD or Hulu.

For me: NF before buy.

I have to disagree with the claim though about The Matrix. The Matrix on DVD did wonders for home theaters, but not just DVD. I think one of the best introduction DVD's of all time has got to be The Fifth Element. Every home theater store was using it as a reference disc to get the DVD point across. I think it is too early to brand a movie with reference disc status. However Iron Man and Transformers are pretty close. The technology is progressing too fast for any of the current media to fully demonstrate its capabilities.

I wouldn't say Xmas is going to be the reason why Blu-Ray sales will increase. I will say it has more to do with the same reason why more kids are born in July, August, and September than any other month. Winters force people to stay inside, which leaves people very few options of what they can do. So people stay home and watch movies and so on. That is why you see an increase in Blu-Ray movie sales and rentals.

The problem with these bargain bin Blu-Ray titles is they defeat the point of what Blu-Ray discs should contain. Most of these titles have just the movie with a moderate upgrade in video/audio quality, and no viable extras. You buy a Blu-Ray player to get the extra content that is available through BD-Live, as well as the storage increase of the disc media.

I buy Blu-Ray titles mostly for the extras. A Blu-Ray title that has just the movie, usually is just Netflixed, and returned. The movies I keep and own are the Transformers type. Where you have extras galore, and can relish in the film you can tolerate to watch over and over again.

I never understood this, you spend $2,000 to $7,000 on a television, and then go el cheap-o on the stand? That's like buying a Lamborghini, and then getting auto coverage from Frank's Steamed Clams and Auto Insurance. The problem I have had is that most retailers don't realize the home theater community. Look at the media center stands available. Some look really nice, but aren't usable because they aren't deep enough for a receiver, and offer no place to put a center channel speaker.

Yeah, I'm going to take tech advice from Matlock, no thanks.

A lot of you must have not been around when DVD first came out, and its price point was far greater than VHS tapes. I remember it, and I even paid $380 for one of the first DVD players. The point is this, give it time, Blu-Ray is still in its infancy. Spend the money on the player, then just go crazy with Netflix, and watch the shows and movies by renting them. If there is a title you must have, then buy it.

Here is my gripe about the current available titles with Blu-Ray, if you are going to sell a movie title under Blu-Ray, and charge $28 for it. Make sure you have enough features to justify the price. I'm not going to pay that much for just the movie and some trailers, that's not a step up from the DVD format. Overcharging the price is actually a step down.

Also, one thing, whenever we talk about Blu-Ray, can you not mention High-def downloads. They're not in the same league. Even if they were, how long before you think the good old cable companies will allow you to download 20 to 30 GB titles on their networks before they gripe. If they're complaining about P2P now, just wait.

I live in Tualatin, Oregon, a suburb of Portland, Oregon. I thought I would give you a heads up of what you can expect. CRAP and BUGS. It seriously needs retooling. First off, for some odd reasons, you have repeats of channels, like the standard block of USA, TBS, and TNT. We have 3 of each, and we only get TBS HD so far, while USA HD comes and goes, and is set in on eastern standard time, unless WWE Raw now comes in at 6 p.m.

The channel lineup is horrible. You will have premium HD movie channels, then CNBC thrown in the middle of them. The on-screen guide now features at least 800 channels. Most of which are just telling you what channel use to be there. So between the repeats and that, it will take you about 15 to 20 minutes to go through the whole list. Go once, mark your favorites.

I love the Verizon television service, but they need to iron these bugs out and quick.

Um, this is a given. I have found out that the best way to work with Netflix is to have two accounts. (It is actually cheaper this way, trust me.) I found about this process about four years ago before they had profiles. I had two queues side by side on the screen. One was from an older account, the other from the newer account, want to take a guess which queue was a string of long waits and short waits, while the other was available nows. It's sick and twisted, but honestly, I alway have my movies or shows, so I can't really complain.

As far as the knock against Gamefly, I love it, and they're improving, you just have to know how to work that as well. If there is a game coming out that you really want, don't have a long queue of games for them to have a choice to pick. If you only have one game in your queue, they have to send that one. I have been working this with new releases since the Xbox 360 launch days.