Even the NBA's Shawn Marion thinks Blu-ray Discs are too expensive
By Darren Murph 
posted February 28th 2009 8:48AM
posted February 28th 2009 8:48AM
[Image courtesy of NikeBasketball]
posted February 28th 2009 8:48AM
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I haven't paid more that 30 bucks for a BD. And I think the only time I paid more than about 20ish was when I bought Wall-E (which was the 3 disc edition). I'm not sure where people are buying all those expensive discs at and I'm sure they're out there somewhere. But a bit of looking around and I'm not having any trouble paying what I consider fair price.
Exactly. I am getting sick of people whining about discs being $35 to $40. If they just looked a little harder, they will find a lot of movies under $25. I'm not saying that BDs need not to drop in price, but there are deals out there.
i don't think the mainstream consumer is interested in having to scour the net to find a good price on a freakin movie they like to compulse buy at walmart and until the prices are lower which i don't think the studios have any interest in doing that's not going to happen.
You don't think that mainstream consumers are interested in finding bargains??
I'll be sure to let Wal-Mart know that right away so they can stop marketing themselves as a discount retailer...since no one is looking for that sort of thing.
This article succeeds at one thing: proving that "millionaire" Marion is a moron. I'm sure he doesn't care how much the crap inside his "pimped" Hummer (or whatever insane vehicle he owns) costs...
Oh, I get it. He's black and he's rich so he must have a "pimped" ride, right? Way to be racist, you racist.
Hey Adam, he DOES own a Hummer:
2005 Porsche 997 Carrera, 2004 Ford GT Mustang convertible, 2005 Dodge Magnum, 2003 BMW 7.60, 2002 Mercedez–Benz CL 600 and a 2002 H2 Hummer.
http://www.complex.com/STYLE/Gear/Rides/Shawn-Marions-Rides
Get off your high-horse and drop that played out race card.
Wow, he's just as clueless as most former HD-DVD thumper's and download-only evangelists ...
I have never bought a Blu-ray for more that $25, most have been in the $19-$22 range. Hardly a bank buster considering the great improvements in quality of picture and sound over DVD (upscaled or not)..
+1
I will say the cost of getting all the benefits from BR-D can be a bit pricey though.
Between getting a good set that will give you a solid picture, AV Receiver or Separate audio setup that supports BOTH TrueHD and DTS-MA, paired up with some quality speakers, and then setting everything up can costly but if a college student/part time worker can afford it and do it why can't a guy like him do it?
I don't think I've paid over $20 for a BR-D. Online retailers is the only way to buy things.
Jim, No matter how many BD you've bought for $25 or less, it can't change the public perception that Blu-Ray Discs are expensive. The prices have to come down and do so very publicly.
The real root of the problem is that DVD prices have dropped so much that the average buyer stopped budgeting for them and they have become impulse buys. If I had to guess (and since I don't know him, I do) how Shawn Marion buys his movies, I'd say he buys them at brick and mortar more on impulse than with certain titles in mind. If that's the case, then it's no wonder how he got the impression that blu is expensive. If he's got as nice a home theater as I suspect he should, then he sure as heck would see the difference between upconverted DVD and Blu.
All of you folks that keep complaining about how these people aren't doing a good job finding the deals should be more outspoken about it around the water cooler, and in non HD forums. It's no secret that I preferred HD DVD over Blu, but believe it or not when people complain about the price about titles on Blu, I tell them that it's well worth the effort to shop around.
Right, he'e completely clueless and all of you Blu-ray diehards are the only ones who actually see the super low prices of Blu-ray.. LOL give me a break. What reality do you live in seriously? Are you so blinded by who knows what that you justify the ridiculous prices they still charge.
The man goes and shops and buys discs just as anyone else and he's completely right.. MSRP on titles at stores like Best Buy, Walmart and others go from $25-$45 on new titles and catalog titles that you can buy on DVD from $3-410 cost $20+ with only a handful for $15-$20. The worst offenders are Disney and Fox but the others are there too with digital copy versions and crap.
It's expensive. If it's not for you go pick up everything you can on Blu-ray but don't tell others that it's not expensive like everyone else is blind.
Sites like Amazon and DeepDiscount.com routinely advertise disc sales, as well as Best Buy on the retail side. A few weeks ago, BB had Reservoir Dogs for $12.99, much less than what I'd seen online, so I'm as baffled as crawdad62 about the price issue,
According to this link, http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10169635-1.html, more combo discs are coming. Yes, HD DVD did it first and might have succeeded if that were the only format available, but this may be the only way to solve the dilemma of those enlightened folks who still put Blu-ray discs in SD players and expect them to play. Now they will (flipped to the correct side, of course).
@ Jay D
Would you have replied this way if the quote came from Joe the Plumber? The point was to show how Americans think, regardless of income. Oprah Winfrey, billionaire, once said she would never pay $10 for a cup of coffee because it's ludicrous. Should we also assume she's "moronic" because her "pimped" mansion keeps her from making this purchase?
Please stop using sales on titles that cost $3 in bargain bins on DVD as an overall trend. They are hooks so people buy so they can sell them $25+ ones. There are maybe 5-6 titles on sale that have prices below $20 and those are mostly ancient catalog titles that, as I said could be bought for $3-$5 in bargain DVD bins. They are still 2-3 times the price of DVD versions not to mention cherry picked. I have yet to buy a title below $25 that's fairly new on BD. A stroll to the Walmart or Best Buy and even Amazon is enough to see.
Actually Walmart has had Resevoir Dogs for $10 for a long time. Quite a few others too. Some arnold movies and stargate maybe, RD was the only one worth getting at the time. I will impulse the hell out of some BD if I think its something i'll watch atleast twice.
average BD I've purchased have always been no more than $20. How he gets the $35-$40 figure just shows that he is ill informed.
Shawn Marion is a great player and a scholar. The players are too much money, the discs are to expensive, HDTV are still too much money.
The most people want to spend on a movie is $20. I am glad he said this.
He is being careful with his money, he got probably 5 years left in him. Then he has to live on his salary for the rest of his life.
By the way, hes making 17.8 million this year.
I have a blu ray player and a cd/dvd changer that holds 400 disc but I do not buy all my movies in blu ray if its a movie I think thats not worth buying on blu ray I either rent it or buy the dvd for example u guys can't tell me quarantine is worth having on blu ray I dont think so thats either a rent or a standard dvd buy if its worth it at all so I agree with Shawn Marion.
Right now the only movie i would upgrade to blu ray now is heat
Right, some clueless moron that probably spends huge amounts of money on things a lot more useless than BD-discs have spoken. Whow, this must have been the lowest piece of crap of anti-BD article I've seen in a long long time.
Did some former HD-DVD support/journalist put this words into this guys mouth or did he actually say them himself? I for sure believe the first. This guy doesn't care one bit. If he want's to whatch a movie he sends his servant to get it for him and he has no clue whatsoever what technology that is used to bring that movie to his retina.
Lara Croft - Tomb Raider (Special Collector's Edition) DVD = $5.49
Lara Croft - Tomb Raider [Blu-ray] = $16.99
Price difference 3x
You can buy both Tomb Raider movies for one BD:
Lara Croft - Tomb Raider / Lara Croft - Tomb Raider, The Cradle of Life bundle DVD = $12.49
Batman Begins (Widescreen Edition) DVD = $9.99
Batman Begins [Blu-ray] = $17.99
Price difference - almost 2x
Batman Begins (Two-Disc Special Edition) - $19.99
Batman Begins (Limited Edition) [Blu-ray] - $32.99
Horton Hears a Who (Widescreen and Full-Screen Single-Disc Edition) - $14.99
Horton Hears a Who! [Blu-ray] - $24.99
Firefly - The Complete Series DVD = $21.99
Firefly: The Complete Series [Blu-ray] = $57.99
Serenity (Widescreen Edition) DVD = $9.49
Serenity [Blu-ray] = $19.99
Boondock Saints (Unrated Special Edition) DVD = $10.99
The Boondock Saints [Blu-ray] = $23.99
Pride and Glory (Widescreen) DVD = $16.99
Pride and Glory [Blu-ray] = $24.99
Napoleon Dynamite (Widescreen DVD) = $7.99
Napoleon Dynamite [Blu-ray] = $22.99
Office Space - Special Edition with Flair (Widescreen Edition) DVD = $10.99
Office Space - (Widescreen Edition) DVD = $2.49-$4
Office Space [Blu-ray] = $22.99
Independence Day (Widescreen Edition) DVD = $14.98
Independence Day [Blu-ray] = $25.99
Hitman (Unrated Edition) DVD = $10.99
Hitman [Blu-ray] = $22.99
Band of Brothers (Full boxset) DVD = $42.49
Band of Brothers (Blu-ray) = $53.99
Incredible Hulk (Widescreen Edition) DVD = $15.99 - $8 difference on a fairly new title
Incredible Hulk [Blu-ray] = $23.99
The Dark Knight (Widescreen) DVD = $14.99 - $9 difference
The Dark Knight [Blu-ray] = $23.99
The Dark Knight (Special Edition) - $18.99
The Dark Knight: Limited Edition Blu-ray - $47.99
The Dark Knight Limited Collectors Blu-Ray + Joker mask = $69.98
and the list goes on..
And these are just some titles I looked that I would personally buy (or already own). In most cases it's like this.
I completely agree with him.
What retailer?
Also blu-ray deals on Amazon change almost every week.
I must get almost 4 e-mails a week from Amazon about PS3 game deals, then BRD deals, and then another for deals in Home Electronics. I think I've seen 3 promotions go on for BRD on Amazon in one week.
If you plan on walking into Best Buy and blowing money on impulse buy then most likely what do you have to worry about price. If you complaining on the price then play it smart and wait for a deal. In this world it pays to know how to shop online and have patients on waiting for something in the mail.
Ohh and as far as new releases go... I just bought the new Afro Samurai that came out less than a month ago for about $20 on amazon. If you own a BRP it's worth buying the movies you love. For the rest and just to see it... Netflix + Blockbuster.
These are all Amazon prices.. Retailers are even worse.. I just came back from Walmart.. some titles that I listed at $22 or $25 are $29.99 there. They do have some on sales for $10-$15 but this is not a rule, it's an exception. The overall fact is that prices are very high.
I bought Band of Brothers BD for $45 or $46 a couple months ago so no difference if you just look...though a $10 difference on a 10 disc set not bad.
Right now you can go to best buy.com and put I am legend BD in your cart and I am legend dvd in your cart and both will be $10.
You just not have to be lazy...I guess this guy needs to find someone better to go shopping for him
For most of those titles you listed, they are worth the $10 premium.
But yeah, it's only worth it for those that care about better PQ and audio. Mainstream doesn't care unless it's cheap, so marketshare will reflect this.
I don;t think BD's need to be $5 either, but $20 should be the average for new releases, and no more than $15 for catalog (which there are many in that price point now).
I think it's funny that many are calling the Matrix clueless. Who's fault is it that he is clueless? Advertisers, that's who. If they can't get the word out to the Matrix how good a job are they doing getting the word out to the masses. 90% of Blu-Ray sales are for the big budget high action releases, like Dark Knight, Hell Boy, 3,000, Transformers etc. You'll never see those type releases priced under $20 till at least a year later.
Do millionaire sports stars actually do their own shopping? Maybe this guy's assistants are buying his stuff at Amazon or Best Buy slapping a Borders price tag on there and pocketing the rest....or maybe that's just their "markup" :-P
Seriously, its not the prices that bother me (I rarely pay more than 24 dollars for my BD's), its the slow pace at which catalog titles are being released. I realize 18-24 year old males is the safe demographic for the studios to target but they are not the only demographic buying blu-ray players. I'd be willing to bet older film enthusiasts with more disposable income make up a formidable portion of the Blu-ray market yet we only get thrown a bone once every two or 3 months with a classic catalog title.
....as I sat there, puzzled, holding my $10 Universal Soldier BD...
I own a BD player and don't own a single disc, I have not intention of buying them at current prices, I also have no interest in buying old movies released on BD (which are the cheaper ones) rentals only for me.
Then why did you waste your money on a Blu-ray player?
I don't get the snobbery. Depending on the disk some Bluray titles do NOT look substantially better than SD DVD on a quality upconverter. Further, cable/broadcast HD on some channels is incredible. In that context (which is much of what people watch), there's no reason to get Blu-ray disks except for the extras (that few people care about) and audio (which few people care about).
Shawn Marion represents the broad public while some EngadgetHD poster represents group think and circle logic. Call him ignorant if you like but it sounds like having more disposable income measured in 7 (if not 8) figures isn't enough to get him to go Blu to REPLACE his collection. If it's the right movie I'm sure he does buy some new Bluray. Granted, maybe he's one of those closet HD DVD guys. Either way, he IS the mainstream. Many of us have thousands of movies with no intention of replacement with Bluray. When it comes to new releases we MIGHT buy a Bluray if its the right price . . . aka
BD looks and sounds way better than DVD (upscaled or not).
I read the whole article and the interview basically was following marion's hobby of going every week to the STORE and enjoying the shopping experience of finding new movies. Plus watching everything.
he's got the means to buy anything he wants but has stated blu-ray is too much money for the 3-10 discs he'll buy every week.
a guy who has millions still does not have to waste thousands. I'm sure like many of his peers, they came from modest beginnings. Some still remember what it was like before they came into money.
Webdev is right when he says - "Jim, No matter how many BD you've bought for $25 or less, it can't change the public perception that Blu-Ray Discs are expensive. The prices have to come down and do so very publicly."
Most shoppers I know have always went to Best Buy to get their movies on DVD since they always had lowest prices next to Amazon. But visit them now and tell me their Blu-Ray prices aren't ridiculous. Most consumers are going to make a few trips to check to see if prices are falling, but at Best Buy they are not. Once in a while you can find a good deal but not that often. Walmart is pretty good at pricing, but again do most consumers think of Walmart as an electronics store with a wide movie and music collection or is that Best Buy, hmmm :)
response to crazybabydoc - "Many of us have thousands of movies with no intention of replacement with Bluray. When it comes to new releases we MIGHT buy a Bluray if its the right price . . . aka"
Thats right when an old catalog title like Ronin gets released with no extras and a high blu-ray price do you think I am going to run out to buy it to replace my DVD. Studios, some more than others, are releasing blu-rays without all the extras that the DVD had. So much for their early advertising of "and enough room for extras and more.." Some do not even have trailers which for collectors is a big no no. So to me, studios just don't get it and their execution of optical hi-def movies has been abysmal to say the least. Don't even get me started on that format war.
I agree most NEW titles that are loaded like Iron Man and Dark Knight are going to sell well. But for catalog titles, the studios need to step up big time. If its good enough to put on blu, then its good enough for the DVD extras too. Hey it rhymes :)
If that's the case, then it's no wonder how he got the impression that blu is expensive. If he's got as nice a home theater as I suspect he should, http://www.ipodconverter.com then he sure as heck would see the difference between upconverted DVD and Blu.