| So what would Blu Ray do for me? Would I get better watching quality from ordinary DVDs? This is all big mystery to me. |
The last DVD player I bought was $40 for Samsung, at Best Buy. At that price it's not worth bothering with trying to fix an old one.
Whether to get BR is a matter of personal preference. I won't buy one until they're dirt cheap. I don't see the point. But in the next few years having BR may provide more options. My local library already has a fair number of BR DVDs. So if the cost isn't too much more than the cost of a DVD player then it might be worthwhile.
We have a CRT TV and a Samsung flat screen. Frankly, I don't see a difference. Probably I would if they were put next to each other, but as long as the picture is decent it doesn't really matter to me. What I'm watching is far more important than having a super-detailed image. If you get BR and have a HD TV then presumably you'll get a better picture than with plain DVD. If that matters to you then you might want to go see a demo, so you can know exactly how different it is.
I remember going to see the movie Avatar when it first came out. It was billed as an amazing feat of special effects. I thought it was a very stupid movie. Juvenile and poorly acted. Suitable as Saturday morning cartoons for kids. What also struck me was that the 3D detracted from the experience. I quickly realized that one's mind fills in the details easily, while watching "3D" is actually seeing a normal (3D) background with just one item appearing to be in a closer plane. It's distracting. We see 3D in a movie just fine without needing the distracting gimmicks. To me the constant marketing of fancier TVs is the same situation: It's fine if the picture is a little more clear, but I'm much more concerned that what's on the TV be worth my time in the first place.