Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-Ray Disc Player
I paid how much for this?
I'll admit it.  I'm one of those \\"Gotta buy it as soon as it comes out\\" guys.  My buddies love me for it and my girlfriend seems to tolerate it.  <br /> <br />   I held off moving into the high def ring until the Blue Ray came out.  I once again bought into Sony's, \\"Just wait, good things will happen.  We haven't even began to unleash its potential\\" rhetoric.  I got this home and hooked it up to my Toshiba 34HF84.  The first thing was the load times.  That's not too bad.  I can suck that up and live with it.  What's with the hourglass anyhow?  I wasn't overly impressed with the image quality at all.  Neither was my better half.  And she's not that big of an audio/videophile.  It really didn't look all that much better than my upconverting DVD player.  Like I said, my girlfriend tolerates my hobby.  But she really couldn't believe we just dropped over a $1200 on this thing.  Also, it felt really cheap.  So, back to the store this thing went.  They wouldn't take the movies back, So I had to take them over to a store near me that takes trade-ins for games and movies. <br /> <br />   In the end, I picked up a Toshiba HD-A1.  I'm much happier with the picture quality and my girlfriend even notices the difference.  The Toshiba is really well built.  I'm talking old school quality.  A solid machine.  Something I expected out of the Samsung for twice the price.  I think my cheap DVD player in the bedroom is better built. My girlfriend is also happier the we saved a pile of money with the Toshiba.   <br /> <br />   I bought into the hype.  I'm a guy that likes his toys.  Blue Ray may end up being better in the long run.  But as it sits right now, HD-DVD is far superior IMO.  The picture quality is much better and the Toshiba HD-A1 is a better piece of equipment.  And guys, you know it's easier to sell it to the girlfriend/wife when it's half the price.  I've bought into Sony's excuses/hype/promises for the last time.  I've landed in the HD-DVD camp.  If Blue Raypulls itsact together down the road or they win this round, then I'll go back.  But I'm not paying more for it at the cash register.