MsPerky

I don't have a DVD player with the big TV and I want the capability to watch movies/etc. Since the places to rent/buy DVDs have dwindled considerably, I'm thinking buying a DVD player may not be the way to go. I can record on the HD box from the TV, but the space to store movies is limited, and I don't always get the movies I want to watch from the TV. What to do? OK, techie A/V gurus, take your best shot!

MsPerky

I checked out On Demand movies, but they don't have many of the movies I want to see, like quirky indie films.

boltonblue

I agree on dwindling supply / availability.
In the past things would be headed towards blu-ray as next evolutionary option.
I don't see the big rental space developing there.

I'm not a real fan of the on-line option. although i'm leaning towards a PS3 for blu ray and net flix
oh and I get to play gran tourismo on it

DrCloud

You didn't specify your TV's capabilities (beyond "big"), but let's assume it's a full-HD system (1080P, etc). This means that either hard media (meaning, now, BluRay discs) and the on-demand stuff from your cable provider will be more reliably HD than streaming the movies.

We've found that, even with the highest-speed internet subscription, sometimes the network slows down too much to support HD bandwidth requirements. (Maybe we've got lots of gamers and/or movie-watchers in our neighborhood, or something.) For example, we tried NetFlix (and dropped it when Sony dropped them) and now have Qriocity, but choosing an HD movie sometimes brings up a bandwidth warning -- and you ignore those at the peril of lots of pauses while the download tries to stay ahead of the playing.

One positive thing about this is that the manufacturers are recognizing that people want more than one source -- so that you can get a BluRay player (which will also play DVDs, music CDs and so on -- they're backwards compatible) that also has internet capabilities to get some of the streaming sources. (We stream stuff through a separate box that has built-in access to various sources. A computer is better, of course, although you need a newer one with HDMI output to take full advantage.) For example, this one, which I found by Googling "Sony Blu-Ray". At $110, it seems hard to resist. HPH

dean

^ What he said. And depending on who your television service provider is, you may be able to expand the recording capacity of your HD-DVR with an external hard drive. I know DirecTV allows for this with their HD-DVRs, but I don't know about others.

MsPerky

Very useful info...thanks!

dlq04

I bought a DVD a year ago, hooked it up, and have never used it! We don't rent movies locally any more - some stores have closed and frankly we just got out of that habit. We will occasionally watch something On Demand, for example, we watched Cars2 last night. Usually there's so few good movies each year it doesn't matter.

PS- I was disappointed in Cars2; no where near as good as the first one.

DrCloud

I guess I should add to what I said this: I like to have a player because there have been movies that I just have to purchase, for one reason or another. Some seem "important"; some I just gotta have -- these tend to be the "franchise" movies with lots in a series, like Harry Potter or Indiana Jones or Star Wars. And some of these I do indeed go back and watch again, so just possibly they pay for themselves.

But if you don't own DVDs or Blu-Rays, there are alternatives for streaming, like the Sony box I have. I think, though, a computer or tablet is a better approach, as it's more flexible. HPH

MsPerky

The thing is, there are lots of old movies I'd like to see again, some repeatedly, and I don't know if I could get them on Blu-Ray. Would it make sense to get a combo Blu-Ray/DVD player? I think I saw some out there. Decisions, decisions...

dean

^ Universal players are available. How much do you want to spend? Oppo BDP-93