This may come as a shock, but in my home I don't have a Blu-ray player, Apple TV or any other sort of stand-alone "smart" box (like Boxee). I do enjoy watching movies on the iPad or laptop, (for viewing movies on our TV we stream Netflix via the Xbox 360) but I've just never come around to this other new fangled non-mobile technology and I wonder if now is time to make the leap.
Have you ever been in this position? You wait on a new technology and then after a few years or so of doing fine without it, you wonder if you're missing out? I'm considering getting a Blu-ray player as well as a "smart" set-top box but I wonder if I really need them. I travel often and it's rare that I make a purchase that can't function equally well at home as in the air.
Sure it might be interesting to see Spock sweat on Star Trek or stream some of the HD footage we've shot to our TV, but will it get used? When Blu-ray came out we put it into the same category as cable TV. Something nice, but I'm not home often enough to justify paying for it, and the same went for all of the "smart" boxes whether from Google, Boxee, or Apple.
However with Anthony's recent post on hacking the Apple TV I'm wondering if it's finally time to say goodbye to the PS2 and replace it with a Blu-ray player and/or Apple TV. After all, it's not like this home is averse to tech, says the woman typing on a laptop with two other laptops, one tablet, and two smartphones within reach. Is it time to update the home video tech so I can finally use the Blu-rays people give me or are things quite alright just as they are? After all, most of the time I really am on a plane when watching a movie.
What made you decide to buy a Blu-ray player or "smart" box like an Apple TV? Have you regretted or enjoyed those purchases?
MORE BLU-RAY & SMART TV ON APARTMENT THERAPY:
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i don't usually use our blu ray to play blu discs. when i need to it is there but the rest of the time i load files up on a thumb drive and plug it in, and watch videos that way, or connect it to netflix, or hook up pandora for some music.
I don't own that many blu disc and i rarely rent them because redbox charges a premium, and i think, do i really need the extra definition for 30 cents? My player upscales pretty good too, so standard dvds look pretty amazing on it.
i don't have an xbox though, so the streaming wins for me. the wii wasn't cutting it with no hd streaming. also now I got a new MB pro, so i can connect it to the tv through hdmi and watch hulu on the tv, which is amazing.
If you have to ask you dont need it.
We've never bothered with a blu-ray player. Our DVD collection is large, but we've never bought Blu-rays, so what's the point?
I love our apple tv, though. It was originally purchased because we wanted to be able to play our music collection on the nice living room stereo system without having to run cords all throughout the house. Honestly, at just a little over $100, it was a sound purchase. We prefer the Netflix menu to that on the Wii, and for how often we rent movies, the iTunes rental store is just fine.
You messed up when you bought the Wii and the Xbox 360. If you had bought the PS3, you would have had a Blu-Ray player, A video game console, and something to sync a computer with through PS3 media server.
If you have the Xbox 360 you can do a lot of what the different media stations can do. It will play movies from an external drive (though not as many formats are supported) much like how a WDTV works. Obviously you can do all your streaming and whatnot with it as well. I don't have a blu-ray player either, and honestly I don't believe there is THAT much improvement over DVD. Maybe at some point when I have a state-of-the-art HDTV it will be, but my 42" HDTV works fine with my upscaling DVD player or WDTV. I do not like the Apple TV at all (and I work there). I would recommend against it unless you solely do itunes and streaming services, and really want the airplay feature.
Physical media is dead as soon as a cross platform & DRM-free digital format prevails. I am a media pc junkie. The landscape is crawling with competitors and no one has it right yet. For non-techies, I generally recommend Roku boxes. At $80, and a Netflix or Amazon Prime account, it is a lower investment than cable, satellite or a BluRay player with rentals or purchases. It's not for everyone (yet), but it's easy enough for most. AppleTV is also great. I think BluRay is worth skipping.
We just picked up a cheap blu-ray player last month for Christmas.We had an XBox for playing DVDs, but it broke, and Amazon had a special.
We have one BR disc, but anticipate buying more. I don't care about physical media, but many movies my wife loves aren't available for streaming. The BR drive also has Netflix, and though the client is terrible, having a Netflix button on the remote was a selling point with my wife.
I have a TV gen2 that I just installed aTV Flash (Black) on recently. I really like it, and importantly it passes the "wife" test for ease of use and simplicity. It does two things very well: providies living room access to all of your iTunes / iCloud content (Movies, TV shows, music, photos & airplay) and access to local network video_TS folders.
We also use it regularly for Netflix in the living room, usurping the Mac Mini (HTPC).
That being said if you don't need iTunes/Local media then a Roku is a great option, but already having a 360 I'm not sure it makes sense for you. Judging from the pics in the article perhaps a TV upgrade is the next logical path? A smart box such as TV or Roku doesn't increases your content options that much, while a BluRay player wouldn't make sense on anything less than a 1080p LCD. Most newer "smart" TV's will have some streaming abilities built in, and the MHL HDMI port looks to be important for future smart boxes.
I am personally tempted by a 360 for its access to UFC & ESPN3 content (and gaming), and a Roku for Amazon Prime & Nowhere DVR access. Unfortunatly my 4yr old 720p LCD tv is about to give up the ghost, forcing another look at what is really important.
When did people start calling them "smart boxes"?
I agree with the previous poster, a TV upgrade would be needed if you want to go blu-ray. Personally, I'm not buying anymore physical media. The kids just end up scratching it.
i feel sometimes the esame way yes we have stuff but its comes times only duss use it.
I dont what a blu-ray because i not gonna really use it. a do a lot on the mac mini conected to a 32 inch tv and ass they say in a comment earlier its better if you improve the TV more than any thing else. You have what you need netflix and Xbox. and you dont keep home so what ever you get be shore to kill it using it.
If you're already in the apple 'verse, then get yourself an apple TV and install the boxee software. If your TV is the one pictured, it's almost not worth getting a blu-ray player, IMO. Leave physical media in the past.
If you have an xbox, you can decide fir yourself whether a bluray is worth buying. The experiment is simple. Rent or purchase through Zune both a standard definition and a high definition version of the same show.
If you and your family can tell a quality difference on your TV and your viewing environment AND the difference is worthwhile, then you should buy one.
If you do, don't overinvest. The xbox streams media and continues to add new sources. Buying an nonlinear capable bluray player would just duplicate things and add unnecessary cost.
The other thing to consider is whether your family rewatches content frequently enough that owning a disc is worth it.