Manufacturer: Next Gen HD - DVD player...

[Robin]

What electronics manufacturer would you choose to purchase, a Blue-Ray or HD/DVD or Universal DVD player from? And why them?

Cheers

-Robin

 

[Reverb]

I would go for a Sony Blu-Ray player to start with. If SACD has shown us anything its Sony knows their own technologies best. Most if not all the best SACD players have been Sony's, or at least Sony has set the referance bar for everyone else to follow.

 

[Robin]

The next Generation Sony Blue-Ray DVD player...

Joe,

Sony's next generation Blue-Ray DVD player, could be soooo awesome...
I though most folks, would have been thinking 'Denon', as their current DVD players have been so very popular... Sony has been the leader in this area, as you say... I wonder, what the new Blue-Ray players will look like, cost and more importantly what they will be capable of reproducing (quality of the source)?

Cheers

-Robin

 

[Reverb]

Denon has been making very good players, there DVD-5910 is one of the if not the best player on the market, however it has taken Denon some trail and error to make it to the top. I remember back in 1997 when DVD was finally seeing the light of day the best play at the time was Sony’s flagship player. You may remember it, the entire front panel dropped down and a tray magically appeared from inside.

CES’06 should answer a lot of questions. PS3 with its Blu-Ray player should be out between March or April and home Blu-Ray players are slated to launch around the same time frame.

 

[Peter Hogan]

Joe,

Sony's next generation Blue-Ray DVD player, could be soooo awesome...
I though most folks, would have been thinking 'Denon', as their current DVD players have been so very popular... Sony has been the leader in this area, as you say... I wonder, what the new Blue-Ray players will look like, cost and more importantly what they will be capable of reproducing (quality of the source)?

Cheers

-Robin

Hi,
After the latest news of what Sony has pulled, I have written off that particular company for good. Any company that would approve such a product has lost my approval...PERMANENTLY. I'll never buy another Sony product. You can read more about it here:
http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights.html
and here:
http://www.cnet.com/4520-6033_1-6376177.html?tag=nl.e501

Peter

 

[Reverb]

Hi,
After the latest news of what Sony has pulled, I have written off that particular company for good. Any company that would approve such a product has lost my approval...PERMANENTLY. I'll never buy another Sony product. You can read more about it here:
http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights.html
and here:
http://www.cnet.com/4520-6033_1-6376177.html?tag=nl.e501

Peter

Well I guess it’s a good thing I never put a music CD into my computer drive.

So if this bothers you I guess your computer is running an AMD processor? Why? Because when Intel released the Pentium II, they forgot to tell people the chip was encoded with a serial number that allowed them to track your activity.

You must not have upgraded to Windows 95 years ago, right? Because Microsoft added thousands of lines of useless code that turned out to be tracking software and backdoor access for there convince.

You don’t buy MonsterCable products do you? Because as of late they have been suing every business that uses Monster in their name. Like mom and pop shops, like Monster Pizza or Monster Kitchen Appliances. MonsterCable just got done suing Disney and Pixair over the movie Monster INC. because they stole MonsterCable’s copyrighted name. Of course they did not win against Disney, but MonsterCable has won Lawsuits against many different businesses, most have had to close their doors.

This is nothing new, it’s been going on for years, but rest assured every time it happens is one stop closer to a bill being pass that will help protect your rights. If you have one pirated song or movie in your home then you only have your self to blame and not Sony. The entire Music and Movie industry has been pushed to this point bye the cheep and greedy.

 

[socialxray]

Hey Pete,

Instead of getting mad at Sony write your congressman and tell him or her to repeal the law that makes this legal and takes away our right to fair use on the media products that we buy. Yes I'm talking about the DMCA again. That should be your enemy. Not Sony. And by the way, Sony isn't the only company doing this.

While I am all for voting with your dollars, these companies (record companies) do not care about what the consumer thinks. They use their declining profits as proof that piracy is rampant instead of trying to adapt to new technology. Then they take these statistics to Congress to use as ammo for their (the record companies) agenda. Don't laugh because it has already worked! Why compete in the marketplace when you can legislate your profits?

Hey don't get me wrong. I think what Sony is doing is totally unethical BUT it is within the constraints of the law as it now exists. Not giving them your hard earned cash is fine and they truly deserve a boycott; but, they are NOT the only company doing this. They just happened to get caught.

 

[Robin]

Who get your vote?

Hey Pete,

Instead of getting mad at Sony write your congressman and tell him or her to repeal the law that makes this legal and takes away our right to fair use on the media products that we buy. Yes I'm talking about the DMCA again. That should be your enemy. Not Sony. And by the way, Sony isn't the only company doing this.

While I am all for voting with your dollars, these companies (record companies) do not care about what the consumer thinks. They use their declining profits as proof that piracy is rampant instead of trying to adapt to new technology. Then they take these statistics to Congress to use as ammo for their (the record companies) agenda. Don't laugh because it has already worked! Why compete in the marketplace when you can legislate your profits?

Hey don't get me wrong. I think what Sony is doing is totally unethical BUT it is within the constraints of the law as it now exists. Not giving them your hard earned cash is fine and they truly deserve a boycott; but, they are NOT the only company doing this. They just happened to get caught.

socialxray,

Now you've got me really courious..., I need to know..., sooooo which Manufacturer of the next generation HD - DVD player did you vote for and/or would you purchase? Probably not Sony..., so who?

Cheers

-Robin

 

[SugarMedia]

Hi,
After the latest news of what Sony has pulled, I have written off that particular company for good. Any company that would approve such a product has lost my approval...PERMANENTLY. I'll never buy another Sony product. Peter

Sony to Stop Controversial CD Software
By TED BRIDIS, Associated Press Writer2 hours, 19 minutes ago
Stung by continuing criticism, the world's second-largest music label, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, promised Friday to temporarily suspend making music CDs with antipiracy technology that can leave computers vulnerable to hackers.

Sony defended its right to prevent customers from illegally copying music but said it will halt manufacturing CDs with the "XCP" technology as a precautionary measure. "We also intend to re-examine all aspects of our content protection initiative to be sure that it continues to meet our goals of security and ease of consumer use," the company said in a statement.

The antipiracy technology, which works only on Windows computers, prevents customers from making more than a few copies of the CD and prevents them from loading the CD's songs onto Apple Computer's popular iPod portable music players. Some other music players, which recognize Microsoft's proprietary music format, would work.

Sony's announcement came one day after leading security companies disclosed that hackers were distributing malicious programs over the Internet that exploited the antipiracy technology's ability to avoid detection. Hackers discovered they can effectively render their programs invisible by using names for computer files similar to ones cloaked by the Sony technology.

Sony's program is included on about 20 popular music titles, including releases by Van Zant and The Bad Plus.

"This is a step they should have taken immediately," said Mark Russinovich, chief software architect at Internals Software who discovered the hidden copy-protection technology Oct. 31 and posted his findings on his Web log. He said Sony did not admit any wrongdoing, nor did it promise not to use similar techniques in the future.

Security researchers have described Sony's technology as "spyware," saying it is difficult to remove, transmits without warning details about what music is playing, and that Sony's notice to consumers about the technology was inadequate. Sony executives have rejected the description of their technology as spyware.

Some leading antivirus companies updated their protective software this week to detect Sony's antipiracy program, disable it and prevent it from reinstalling.

After Russinovich criticized Sony, it made available a software patch that removed the technology's ability to avoid detection. It also made more broadly available its instructions on how to remove the software permanently. Customers who remove the software are unable to listen to the music CD on their computer.

 

[SugarMedia]

Hey Pete,

They use their declining profits as proof that piracy is rampant instead of trying to adapt to new technology. Then they take these statistics to Congress to use as ammo for their (the record companies) agenda.

Profits are declining because they don't launch any good music. 99% of all new bands out there are crap.

 

[audioraptured]

Polls

Not to agitate an already alarming subject, (sorry Robin, I know it was an interesting question for the poll you started), but if I had know what Sony was doing, I would never purchase any of their products; and I will not any more until an apology and permanent fix is given, and restitution equally distributed.
My story is a $5000 credit card charge, (of which I never made), from BMG. It seems during Christmas a couple of years ago, my account was used illegally to get this money by those working for BMG. They were eventually caught, (greed), and jailed, (in Germany I believe), but the time and problems took months to clear up.
If these low level thieves can do that with simple credit cards while working for such a large company, imagine what can be done with the information gathered from all the unsuspecting people who trusted the Sony software. Thanks to all for alerting us to the problem regardless of who believes what the reason or motives could be.

 

[SteveInNC]

Hey Pete,

Instead of getting mad at Sony write your congressman and tell him or her to repeal the law that makes this legal and takes away our right to fair use on the media products that we buy. Yes I'm talking about the DMCA again. That should be your enemy. Not Sony. And by the way, Sony isn't the only company doing this.

There is some debate as to whether this is legal or not. A jurisdiction in California is suing Sony over this based on various spyware, consumer rights, and other issues. Of particular note, with all of the traction that this is gaining in the mainstream press, the Feds are now aware of the issue. The Department of Homeland Security's Assistant Secretary for Policy was quoted as follows:

... There's been a lot of publicity recently about tactics used in pursuing protection for music and DVD CDs in which questions have been raised about whether the protection measures install hidden files on peoples' computers that even the system administrators can’t find."

In a remark clearly aimed directly at Sony and other labels, Stewart continued: "It's very important to remember that it's your intellectual property -- it's not your computer. And in the pursuit of protection of intellectual property, it's important not to defeat or undermine the security measures that people need to adopt in these days..

from: http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2005/11/the_bush_admini.html

 

[Jeff Zaret]

Sony has stopped their quest for loading the Rootkit. Microsoft's beta Spyware remover will remove it. The only question is about the ones that are out there.

 

[Robin]

Denon...

Personally, I have been very impressed by the top of the line 'Denon' players in the past, though I do not currently own one... I am looking to see what Denon will come-up with in the spring of 2006...

Cheers

-Robin

 

[Dolfin]

I like pioneer elite quality. But ultimately it'll depend on the reviews and personal test-drives before I make any concrete decision.

 

[amey01]

I'll wait 'till a real brand comes out with a player. Naim, Linn, etc......

 

[Robin]

It could be a long wait...

I'll wait 'till a real brand comes out with a player. Naim, Linn, etc......

amey01,

It could be a long wait for Naim Linn etc. to come out with a Blue-Ray DVD player... But, I guess good things come to those that wait... I think maybe your advice is very good. You must be a very patient person...

Cheers

-Robin

 

[audioraptured]

Next Gen HD_DVD

As most of you have read by now Sony has changed their policy about its poorly thought out over-protection of certain parts of its copy (right), and I must amend my rant. Naturally I believe that one man alone, standing up to the corporation giant, was all it took for them to change their minds.

 

[Robin]

Pioneer Elite Blue-Ray DVD player...

I like pioneer elite quality. But ultimately it'll depend on the reviews and personal test-drives before I make any concrete decision.

Ryan,

I just read in a post Dan started, in which Joe says the Pioneer Elite Blue-Ray DVD player is set to come out in June of this year for a MSRP of $1,800.00 (USD), with a street price of est. $1,400.00 to $1,200.00 (USD). I guess I'll need to start saving some more cash...

Cheers

-Robin

 

[TheBobGoat]

At CES last night MSFT annouced they would be selling an add-on to the xbox 360 that would be a HD DVD player. I figure unless blue ray destroys HDDVD, I will be using my 360 and that format