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Best Buy to Consumers: Pick Blu-ray
Retail giant Best Buy will recommend Blu-ray as the preferred high-def DVD format, and prominently showcase the format starting next month.
bestbuy blu

Best Buy is supporting Blu-ray as the preferred high-def DVD choice

Also Filed in Blu-ray

February 12, 2008 | by Arlen Schweiger

The big blue big-box retailer has decided Blu is the way to go. Blu-ray, that is, and that’s what Best Buy will be peddling more prominently beginning next month in-store and online, and recommending to consumers as the choice when it comes to high-definition DVDs.

A company press release says Best Buy is “taking a step forward in addressing consumer confusion about high-definition formats.” Looks like it won’t be long now before there is no more confusion.

Seems to be a good time to ride the Blu-ray tidal wave, now that online movie rental giant Netflix also decided to go Blu-ray (and in-store rental giant Blockbuster went down that road a while ago).

“Consumers have told us that they want us to help lead the way. We’ve listened to our customers, and we are responding. Best Buy will recommend Blu-ray as the preferred format,” said Brian Dunn, Best Buy’s president and chief operating officer. “Our decision to shine a spotlight on Blu-ray Disc players and other Blu-ray products is a strong signal to our customers that we believe Blu-ray is the right format choice for them.”

Dunn continued, “Best Buy has always believed that the customer will benefit from a widely-accepted single format that would offer advantages such as product compatibility and expanded content choices. Because we believe that Blu-ray is fast emerging as that single format, we have decided to focus on Blu-ray products.”

There were no specifics about any hardware or software sales to accompany this push to Blu-ray (the cheapest one listed on the Best Buy website is $399), but we’re keeping our fingers crossed—especially those of us who grabbed HD DVD players last holiday season on mega-sale.

Read the entire press release here.



About the Author:
Arlen Schweiger - Managing editor of Electronic House Magazine
Arlen contributes product news items to electronichouse.com along with his role on the print publication. Got a tip? Send it along!


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Comments (19) Most recent displayed first.
Posted by Jeff Kalman  on  02/18/08  at  12:56 PM

Powers, you don’t know what I was referring to as propaganda…

I’m well aware that players need updates for some new (not necessarily useful) features.

Posted by Powers  on  02/18/08  at  12:53 PM

Sony is releaseing the blu-ray requirments in what they call Profiles. They started with a grace period profile called 1.0. The have two additional profile 1.1 and 2.0. sorry to say that this is not “bologna propaganda”.

Refer to and article “HIGH-DEF DIGEST” High-Def FAQ: Blu-ray Profiles Explained
Fri Nov 23, 2007 at 03:35 PM ET
by: Joshua Zyber http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Joshua_Zyber/High-Def_FAQ:_Blu-ray_Profiles_Explained/1186.

Even sony is releasing firmware to support profile update to the PS3. see the blob entry by PlayStation Network Operations:
Firmware Update (v2.10)+ Posted by Eric Lempel // Director,
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2007/12/17/firmware-update-v210/comment-page-2/

Posted by Powers  on  02/18/08  at  12:41 PM

Darla and Jeff

I have had a Blu-ray player for about a year and yes I had 3 Blu-ray disks that required a firmware update to play. The last update was for blu-ray java 1.1.

Posted by Jeff Kalman  on  02/16/08  at  02:52 PM

Careful ray!

Don’t hang yourself in all that loose tape. :D

Posted by ray  on  02/16/08  at  02:50 PM

I made a good choice 16 years ago to get a vhs player, i get all my movies free from the library to boot. I knew all this new fangle stuff was a set up tp get my money. ‘Tween the revenuers and the comapnies they are both out to clean us out. I just wish my tapes would stop gittin a tangled up.


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