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If you want 1080p, yes.

Apple HD rentals/purchases are only 720p

It's not just about resolution either but also compression rates, colour depth, extras and sound channels. No download service will be able to match what can be delivered physically for a long time because HD standards will continue to improve and require more and more storage capacity. By the time download services can match Blu-ray's 1080p for quality consumers will be purchasing movies in retail stores at digital 2K, then 4K and then 8K resolution. 1080p is not even close to end of the road.
 
Believe me I went through the same debate with myself last summer and I went with the sony fw thinking the specs were twice as good for 1/2 the price and it has bluray but I made a huge mistake and recently sold the sony.
 
Even at the hubs, cable internet just did break like 15mb-sec, in the last few years. Though, now it is capable of a much faster(hundreds). But thats not even available, thats company use only. But most of the country does not have full fiber systems to support super fast internet. Apparently the only thing faster than cable internet is the uber expensive and uber advanced satellite internet. But not the kind that avg. joe can get. So im thinking, until you can load a 40 gb movie from the internet in less than an hour......physical will be around for a while.

Blu-ray rips are usually only around 10 gigs, and their quality is just as good as the original blu-ray disc.

If you want 1080p, yes.

Apple HD rentals/purchases are only 720p

Who said you need to get it from iTunes? I have about 14 1080p movies. They're blu-ray rips, and look just as good as they do when played from the disc. Apple and other digital format movie distributers say that they can't offer higher quality HD movies because they don't have the bandwidth or the server power to handle the load. However, they never even think about the possibility of using a BitTorrent distributing system. With BitTorrent the load is spread out across a huge network. I can download higher quality 1080p movies from a private torrent tracker faster than I can download crappy quality 720p movies from iTunes. For me, it's just common sense to use a BitTorrent system.
 
have you forgotten about the macbook pro's stunning 1080p display

No, I hadn't forgotten. - The specified Sony also has the 1080p display included in that price.

One runs Windows... the other runs OSX
Since neither of those have Blue Ray, that solves the issue for me

The Vaio does have a BluRay option, but I had to specify the Vaio downwards in order to compare it to a Macbook.
 
Honestly, why would you care about 1080p on a display that small?

You usually have to have a 40" display to even tell it's 1080p... Plus it'll suck down your battery life.

If you want Bluray on your TV, buy a Bluray player... if you want large backup support, buy the drive...
 
Honestly, why would you care about 1080p on a display that small?

You usually have to have a 40" display to even tell it's 1080p... Plus it'll suck down your battery life.

If you want Bluray on your TV, buy a Bluray player... if you want large backup support, buy the drive...

how about wanting to bring your blurays and be able to watch them on the go.........
 
Which looks like total junk watching standard definition 720x480 resolution video.

All LCD look poor when they display non-native rez content IMO.

No, I hadn't forgotten. - The specified Sony also has the 1080p display included in that price.

The Vaio does have a BluRay option, but I had to specify the Vaio downwards in order to compare it to a Macbook.

The Macbook Pro has a 16x10 screen not a 16x9 which means you can view HD content and still have 120 vertical pixels for more control .

Also the 17" MBP has a LED based screen and 8 hour battery life.

I'll be damed if some rook is going to come up in here and tell us that we paid 2x as much and got half the computer. I like Apple too but I'm no fool.

To the OP:

Blu-ray drives don't come in slot loading 9.5mm drives that would fit. Even if Apple wanted to add Blu-ray it makes little sense unless it's a recorder IMO as the computing benefit of Blu-ray is archiving data on 25-50GB discs.
 
Sorry but Blue Ray will have the same problem as BETA, its a nice format and has the advantage of compact size but cost and popularity will kill it much like how VHS won over BETA. DVD has flooded the market Blue Ray is having a hell of a hard time gaining a foothold.....its not always about the tech itself remember minidiscs???
 
Sorry but Blue Ray will have the same problem as BETA, its a nice format and has the advantage of compact size but cost and popularity will kill it much like how VHS won over BETA. DVD has flooded the market Blue Ray is having a hell of a hard time gaining a foothold.....its not always about the tech itself remember minidiscs???

Dude, your comparing mini discs with Blueray? Blueray is like the next gen of DVD. Res is going up, and i dont think DVDs memory size is gonna cut it forever. And just think, if your not using the memory on blueray for HD movies. You could get like entire trilogy's on one disc. Its just too useful to go away. Mini discs had no advantage on cds other than size. Stuff that fades out, is stuff that is stuck in the middle of a revolutionizing market. And internet download arnt gonna just take over. The internet in the US is not like, Korea i believe. Where there is internet access everywhere. And cable stops at the city limits for most providers. So, that leaves out alot of people.
 
Dude, your comparing mini discs with Blueray? Blueray is like the next gen of DVD. Res is going up, and i dont think DVDs memory size is gonna cut it forever. And just think, if your not using the memory on blueray for HD movies. You could get like entire trilogy's on one disc. Its just too useful to go away. Mini discs had no advantage on cds other than size. Stuff that fades out, is stuff that is stuck in the middle of a revolutionizing market. And internet download arnt gonna just take over. The internet in the US is not like, Korea i believe. Where there is internet access everywhere. And cable stops at the city limits for most providers. So, that leaves out alot of people.

you forget the fickle nature of the consumers--like I said blue ray is great but when it comes to marketing its not always about innovation. blue ray can hold a lot more in the same surface area certainly but its not about that. and I was comparing it to both Betamax tapes and minidiscs I could have also put zip disc drives in that comparison as well but I might have been attacked quite viciously for that but zip disks is exclusively a market for the average computer geek laser discs are not and just because your average computer nerd waxes poetic about the latest innovation does not necessarily mean the the populace is keen on it.
 
you forget the fickle nature of the consumers--like I said blue ray is great but when it comes to marketing its not always about innovation. blue ray can hold a lot more in the same surface area certainly but its not about that. and I was comparing it to both Betamax tapes and minidiscs I could have also put zip disc drives in that comparison as well but I might have been attacked quite viciously for that.

Do you work at apple? So your philosophy on the whole thing is, it doesnt matter what the people want. The companies know best, and their grand scheme is more important. I say give the people what they want. Cash in, if it fades out so be it. Make the money while its hot. But it is true, electronics consumers are fickle technowhores.
 
Sorry but Blue Ray will have the same problem as BETA, its a nice format and has the advantage of compact size but cost and popularity will kill it much like how VHS won over BETA. DVD has flooded the market Blue Ray is having a hell of a hard time gaining a foothold.....its not always about the tech itself remember minidiscs???

Not sure what numbers you're using to support that conclusion.......

In the past year alone Bluray software sales have doubled, almost tripled (while DVD sales have slightly declined). It's now normal to see Bluray titles sell in the million+ number range, and on average over 10% of all media sales in a given period are Bluray discs (up from 3-4% in '07). Yes, when taken from an individual snapshot, DVD is the king of the mountain currently.

However, when you consider the specifics, what with DVD having a nearly 14 year foothold in the media sales realm, to Bluray having only recently emerged from the HD format war, to the issues of cost (both hardware and software) still being worked on....the fact that BD has managed to gain the inroads it has proven it will not go the way of "Beta" or "minidiscs".

Once the price points begin to hit the necessary targets (~$200 for a decent player and ~$20 for a movie), the numbers will only shoot up. Then again, I could be wrong....except people were making the same argument you did back in early '07 when the format wasn't even a year on the market.
 
Do you work at apple? So your philosophy on the whole thing is, it doesnt matter what the people want. The companies know best, and their grand scheme is more important. I say give the people what they want. Cash in, if it fades out so be it. Make the money while its hot. But it is true, electronics consumers are fickle technowhores.

No I don't work at Apple, and it does matter what the people want but not all people who walk into an Apple Store, Best Buy, Circuit City or order from a catalog in China Bolivia or Africa are technophiles nor want or comprehend the latest innovations (so who are we to force it on them, or obligate ourselves to educate them through our own twisted dogmas as thinking ourselves tech savvy). Our opinions as people of that kind are not representative of nearly 8 billion people on this planet who just want to go online and look at porn read the anarchist cook book or find that perfect recipe for a spinach casserole. So yes, I agree invest in the tech but know when to sell at the point before it goes tits up and remains archived in the worlds patent offices and becomes public domain.
 
Not sure what numbers you're using to support that conclusion.......

In the past year alone Bluray software sales have doubled, almost tripled (while DVD sales have slightly declined). It's now normal to see Bluray titles sell in the million+ number range, and on average over 10% of all media sales in a given period are Bluray discs (up from 3-4% in '07). Yes, when taken from an individual snapshot, DVD is the king of the mountain currently.

However, when you consider the specifics, what with DVD having a nearly 14 year foothold in the media sales realm, to Bluray having only recently emerged from the HD format war, to the issues of cost (both hardware and software) still being worked on....the fact that BD has managed to gain the inroads it has proven it will not go the way of "Beta" or "minidiscs".

Once the price points begin to hit the necessary targets (~$200 for a decent player and ~$20 for a movie), the numbers will only shoot up. Then again, I could be wrong....except people were making the same argument you did back in early '07 when the format wasn't even a year on the market.

Point 1 when a blue ray player costs 25 bucks and discs go for 10 it will reach the lower middle class how long do you project before that ocurrs? DVD's have only just gotten to that point Point 2 no one stampedes a Wal-mart these days for a DVD player at 39 bucks everyone carrys them for 19.95. Stop thinking JUST about the tech itself.
 
I get frustrated by Apple sometimes too. But since I've switched from PC's I've come to appreciate the "don't offer something unless it's done really well" attitude. I have friends with budget laptops sporting blu-ray players and such and they're usually sluggish or quirky or the screen isn't up to par or they don't offer the outputs for a 1080p tv or if they do but the videocard doesn't handle it well. The list just kind of keeps going. The point is, just because it shows up in the specs, doesn't mean it's worth paying for.

It seems to me that if Apple hasn't started putting Blu-Ray in their systems yet it's probably because they don't want to do it until they can do it cost effectively and with excellence. If they just churned stuff out the second it was technically possible, they might start infringing on Microsoft copyrights.

Also, I'm sure it's some brilliant strategy to get all my money. But I prefer to keep eyes on the positive side. :)
 
no im all down for getting a mac i just dont understand why they are so expenisive, so i opened to forum so i can see this from someone else's opinion
 
You've failed to mention (unless you never seen it) that the Sony FW's screen is horrible. So funny how they would put Blu-ray in it with a bad screen. The screen washes out when you tilt it forward, sorta like the older aluminum Macbooks. The plastic casing is also quite cheap. You cannot compare this to Macbook Pro. Especially for Sony, when Sony makes something at a medium to lower cost it's always junk. If you don't get an expensive Sony it WILL be junk.

remember its not only about what is on the screen u can use the drive as a bluray player for your tv, don't be so focused on one aspect

Why don't you get an external bd rom, I just got one for $120 plus a nice usb case for $60. Then use Bootcamp and if you want copy the bd to your mac side. Here is a process similar to what I do on my macbook for coping bd's, the whole process takes 2hrs max. http://machdtheater.blogspot.com/2009/03/blu-ray-ripping-tutorial.html

You can play the blu ray without anydvd hd with no hdcp problems, and use a minidisplay port to hdmi to your tv and again no problems with hdcp.

where did u get that so cheap?

All LCD look poor when they display non-native rez content IMO.



The Macbook Pro has a 16x10 screen not a 16x9 which means you can view HD content and still have 120 vertical pixels for more control .

Also the 17" MBP has a LED based screen and 8 hour battery life.

I'll be damed if some rook is going to come up in here and tell us that we paid 2x as much and got half the computer. I like Apple too but I'm no fool.

To the OP:

Blu-ray drives don't come in slot loading 9.5mm drives that would fit. Even if Apple wanted to add Blu-ray it makes little sense unless it's a recorder IMO as the computing benefit of Blu-ray is archiving data on 25-50GB discs.

Interesting I actually didn't know that they aren't being made in slot load, thanks, as far as being a rook watch your words boy, just cause i question apple doesn't make me a rook, just makes me inquisitive
and i have said before either way ill be buying a mac, my whole point is since they have all these loop holes, the waiting game to see if apple does one better can get tiring

I get frustrated by Apple sometimes too. But since I've switched from PC's I've come to appreciate the "don't offer something unless it's done really well" attitude. I have friends with budget laptops sporting blu-ray players and such and they're usually sluggish or quirky or the screen isn't up to par or they don't offer the outputs for a 1080p tv or if they do but the videocard doesn't handle it well. The list just kind of keeps going. The point is, just because it shows up in the specs, doesn't mean it's worth paying for.

It seems to me that if Apple hasn't started putting Blu-Ray in their systems yet it's probably because they don't want to do it until they can do it cost effectively and with excellence. If they just churned stuff out the second it was technically possible, they might start infringing on Microsoft copyrights.

Also, I'm sure it's some brilliant strategy to get all my money. But I prefer to keep eyes on the positive side. :)

This is the type of answer I am looking for . Thanks:D not that flame war nonsense
 
Blu-ray rips are usually only around 10 gigs, and their quality is just as good as the original blu-ray disc.

No, they are not and they are much larger than you state.

I can download higher quality 1080p movies from a private torrent tracker faster than I can download crappy quality 720p movies from iTunes. For me, it's just common sense to use a BitTorrent system.

By the time you can download just one of them I can walk to my nearest store, buy the movie on disc with a nice box, get food, eat food, watch the movie more than a couple of times, go to sleep, wake up next morning, wash, dress, go to work, come back from work, watch the movie again and find out that your download still hasn't finished.
 
I don't see them implementing BR drives in their notebooks for a while for a couple of reasons;
  • To my knowledge, there isn't a BR drive thin enough to fit in their current notebooks
  • Even if there was, it'd be way too expensive
  • If there isn't, Apple aren't going to make their notebooks fatter just to squeeze in a BR drive
  • They only have one notebook capable of playing back a HD movie without downscaling (17" MBP)
  • From what i've heard, battery life while reading a BR disc is appaling.

There's no reason not to have it as an option on the Mac Pro, but I just don't think its feasible on Apple's MacBook range at the moment.
 
No, they are not and they are much larger than you state.



By the time you can download just one of them I can walk to my nearest store, buy the movie on disc with a nice box, get food, eat food, watch the movie more than a couple of times, go to sleep, wake up next morning, wash, dress, go to work, come back from work, watch the movie again and find out that your download still hasn't finished.

Umm... I get uncapped 101Mbps for $99/month so downloading 10GB takes me 13 minutes.

*sigh*, just reading your post confirms just how far the US is behind. Everyone gets 100Mbps for $10/month in Japan (and people can upgrade to 1Gbps for $50/month)

If you don't think downloading is the future, you need to open your eyes. Although US is trying to catch up, the Japanese can download an entire 50GB DL BD in less than 7 minutes. Optical media is dead. In a few years, we'll be laughing at the fact that we actually wanted a loud, big, spinning disc drive in our laptops.

The biggest reason why the MBA is so much thinner than a MB is the lack of an optical drive. Optical drives are just wasted space in a portable machine.
 
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