Josh-da-man

I wouldn't expect BluRay and HD-DVD discs to be discounted as steeply as standard DVDs in stores -- where you can often get new release DVDs at nearly 50% off MSRP -- until there's a decent-sized base of players out there.

It's probably going to be a few years before the number of Blu-Ray players begins to approach the number of DVD players. And as such, they aren't going to move as much software as DVD can.

matome

Pricing sounds fine to me. I was used to laserdisc prices so it's still decent and the prices will come down once the format (hopefully) becomes widespread.

Easy

IIRC the dot com boom and dvd were a happy marriage. Many sites practically gave them away. HD can't count on anything like that to boost sales. I hope you all jump in and buy them a $35 a pop. I'll be right behind you...in a few years...when prices fall...

Adam Tyner

Two flaws in this argument:

1) I sincerely doubt dot-coms had much of an impact on the adoption of DVD by the world at large. Yes, we took advantage, but we're not a representative sample.

2) You almost have to go out of your way to pay full retail for a CD or DVD, and the only $35 DVDs we'll be buying are the ones with an MSRP of $40 - $60.

B.A.

That doesn't sound unreasonable at all. I may actually by a player sooner than I thought.

cajun_junky

That is exactly what I am thinking! We obviously don't know the BR player prices yet but the HD-DVD players at $500ish is not all that bad. With media costs in the low $20's I am getting a little more excited.

What we need is a dual format players for about $500.

bboisvert

Columbia House HD Club, here I come!

Qui Gon Jim

I agree with Adam. I didn't find this site until after the dotcom bubble popped.

darkside

There were very few of us that took full advantage of the Reel.com days and I think it had little impact on the success of DVD.

Josh H

Not too bad I guess. But like I've said all along, I won't even consider buying until theres' a single format and players and discs are the same price as dvd players and discs today.

And since I don't have an HDTV, nor plans to buy one in the next 2 or 3 years, it will be extremely easy for me to wait.

Iron_Giant

No thankyou, I will stick with DVD for a long time to come.

BigDan

The more info that comes out, the more interested I am in taking the plunge.

Drexl

The pricing seems reasonable to me.

TheKobra

I see them being about $19.99 on Tuesdays when they come out. I will wait a long time before I pay $34.99 for a new release. But that is just me....I'm cheap.

Adam Tyner

It sounds like an HD forum like this isn't for you, then.

As stated earlier, $34.99 is not the retail price, so you're not making an apples-to-apples comparison.

Easy

I don't know about that. Initial market penetration can be tough and I give the internet a lot of credit for that... more than most it appears. I bought my first player and discs from defunct etailers and much sooner than I would have given only local influences.
Pure speculation... not that everything in this thread isn't but I doubt you will see heavy discounting with HD initially. I'll be interested to see what street prices actually are.

Adam Tyner

So did I, and I remember a time when buying a DVD in a brick-and-mortar store seemed like a completely outlandish concept, but I don't see how big an impact it could've had overall. In 1999, you had an install base of over 5 million players. How many of those players do you think were purchased online? How many of those 5 million-ish people purchased their DVDs primarily or exclusively through online retailers? Maybe in the hundreds of thousands, if that, but I can't see that number being in the millions.

I agree that you won't see heavy discounting, but a $34.99 HD-DVD/Blu-Ray disc still won't run you $34.99 unless you're shopping at Suncoast in the mall or something.

PerryD

I'll happily pay $20 to $25 (likely discount pricing off of $30 to $35 MSRP) for a 1920x1080p movie. Heck, if you work out the cost per pixel (HD is 6 times resolution of DVD), it's a bargain compared to DVD

agent2099

This sounds very resonable, I thought it was going to be much higher, say in the $40-$50 range (a price I would not pay).

pro-bassoonist

That is great introductory pricing!! I would certainly be willing to pay around 21-22$ per disc....my main concern is the region-free issue as I am hardly interested in any of the Hollywood's main sellers. Which basically means that I will have to wait a bit before I completely dedicate myslef to the new format. I am certainly very, very interested though.

Ciao,
Pro-B