Blu Ray vs. HD DVD battle coming to an end?

[arisegundo]

Kinda of off/on topic, but now since the whole format wars are over, I have found myself still renting movies. I still don't own a single Blu Ray, and the last new DVD I got was as a gift.

The irony, when I was younger and making less income, I'd find myself impulsively buying the latest big release at Walmart/Circuit City/Best Buy while they were at there first week discount out of habit.

I'd watch them once, maybe twice, and then it sits on the shelf.

Now with online rental streaming to my computer or PS3 and $1 rental machines across the street from my house, I don't see a need for buying physical media.

Has anyone else made the transition to renting only or are you still buying movies and tv shows on DVD and Blu Ray?

It's my intent to move away from physical media as much as possible in the next year. With a computer that connects directly to our living room TV, storage getting cheaper by the week, and more and more streaming/download options (yes, legal!), we're perfectly happy with never owning a blu-ray drive. Even our netflix account, in terms of viewing time, is used much more for streaming than for discs.

[HoustonMidtown]

Has anyone else made the transition to renting only or are you still buying movies and tv shows on DVD and Blu Ray?

I never did buy them -- always rented...

[barracuda]

I stream most everything from my Mac using an Apple TV. Blu-ray does have an advantage in picture quality, but honestly, it's not enough to justify spending a premium for a movie I only plan to watch once. Same goes for renting blu-ray from Netflix...it's not worth paying an extra $4/month on top of the regular subscription just for the occasional blu-ray disc.

[Geoff8201]

This is a subject where practicality doesn't apply to me. As a home theater enthusiast I've gotta have the latest. I bought my 52" LCD to enjoy HDTV, HD gaming and Blu Ray both via my PS3. Honestly, watching a regular DVD bothers me, I notice the lack in picture quality and it just honestly bugs me, as does people who tell me the picture doesn't look any better. I just tell them to go visit their eye doctor and get a perscription for some glasses. I chose to not just enjoy a movie, but also to experience, thus why I bought a 1080p big screen and a 5.1 surround sound system. As for buying or renting, it's mostly Blu Ray rentals, but a few epic "keeper" type films I buy when theres a deal, or when I just have to have it.

[editor]

I've never been much on buying movies. My wife is that kind of person, though. She usually loads up on DVDs when we're in Asian countries where the same DVDs they sell here for $20-$40 go for $2-$5, and yes I mean legal versions purchased in high-end department and electronics stores (HMV especially). The crappy pirated ones can be had on the streets for pennies, but at $2 for a legal On Her Majesty's Secret Service or Napoleon Dynamite with all the extras, why bother with a pirated copy?

The only snag we ran into was with Godfather II. Apparently half the film is in Italian. On my wife's copy, the Italian portions are open captioned in Chinese and English isn't an option.

[AtticaFlinch]

The only snag we ran into was with Godfather II. Apparently half the film is in Italian. On my wife's copy, the Italian portions are open captioned in Chinese and English isn't an option.

Gives you a good reason to learn Italian.

[arisegundo]

Gives you a good reason to learn Italian.

Or Chinese!