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blu-ray

March 03, 2009

Todays Top 5 Blu-Ray Players

After winning the war against HD DVD format in February of 2008, Blu-Ray started to come out with HD movie discs along with DVD players. Blu-Ray offers the best and highest resolution picture on the market and is changing the way we watch movies today. Here we have today’s top ranked Blu-Ray players available. Find great deals on all of them through GetItNext!Blue-Ray DVD Player Image

1. Samsung BD-P2500


2. Sony BDP-S550


3. LG BD300


4. Sony BDP-S350


5. Sony Playstation 3

December 11, 2008

The Clone Wars - Star Wars for the Next Generation

When the first Star Wars movie, now officially titled “A New Hope”, was released in theaters in 1977, I was seven years old. “The Empire Strikes Back” followed in 1980, and the original trilogy wrapped up in 1983 with “Return of the Jedi”. I would have given anything for a real lightsaber…come to think of it, I still would! The point is, I grew up with the world George Lucas created at impressionable times in my life. Star wars

The Star Wars universe then produced book after book from imaginative writers such as Timothy Zhan and Kevin J Anderson at a time in my life when I really enjoyed reading. The books I felt, did, and continue to do a fantastic job in furthering the Star Wars tale for those wanting a future-look into the lives of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, and company.

My son is now seven years old, and Star Wars means as much or more to him now, as it did to me all those years ago. That is what I think is one of the most unique characteristics of the Star Wars saga – it spans generations, and in some cases brings generations together. Essentially, the motion picture versions of the original trilogy, in addition to the prequel trilogy, tell the life story of Anakin Skywalker’s Jedi heroism, and his fall from grace to the Dark Side as Darth Vader - albeit a little backward in presentation.

And now, the spin-off story set between the motion pictures “Attack of the Clones” and “Revenge of the Sith”, is the story of the Clone Wars as the latest chapter. Thanks to the two animated dvd’s; “Star Wars Clone Wars – Volumes One and Two”, and the theater-released computer animated “Star Wars - The Clone Wars” prefacing the television series of the same name, my son now wants to either be a Clone Trooper, or a Jedi when he grows up. Well, who am I to stand in his way…provided he can score me that real lightsaber.

Star Wars Video Games & Accessories - Wii                Nintendo Wii

Star Wars Video Games & Accesories - Nintendo DS    Nintendo DS

Star Wars Video Games - Playstation                          Sony PS3

Star Wars Video Games - Xbox                                   Xbox 360

Star Wars Video Games - PC

December 06, 2008

Blu-ray Disc Deals Are Plentiful - Make Great Stocking Stuffers

Blu-ray-comparison-advantage This holiday season is truly the tipping point for Blu-ray as consumers are purchasing blu-ray players, playstation 3 consoles, and loading up on Blu-ray discs with no fear of picking a losing format.  Luckily for all of us, the winner of the high definition disc format was declared earlier in the year.  If you're one of the many consumers switching over to Blu-ray there are several ways to jump start your Blu-ray disc collection on the cheap.

Look for 2 for 1 deals, often times stores offer these to get shoppers into the store and even offer these at a loss.  This is a good one to pick up several titles at once.

Another way that is very effective is eBay, believe it or not eBay offers outstanding savings on Blu-ray discs, both new and used blu-ray discs.  If you find eBay overwhelming try some of the searches I've linked to via GetItNext.  The searches will save you lots of time and help you find Blu-ray disc bargains.

Blu-ray Disc Hot Auctions Deal search

Blu-ray Disc Buy It Now searches only buy it now auctions
Blu-ray Find a Deal (searches eBay for Uggs with 0 bids and less than 4 hours left)
Blu-ray Bulk Bargain this is a great way to jumpstart your Blu-ray collection on the cheap (searches for lots and multiples)

Blu-ray Player

Sony Playstation 3

November 27, 2008

Popular Kids DVD Stocking Stuffer Ideas

Stocking_stuffers Looking for some terrific stocking stuffers for the kids this Holiday season?  Here is a list of some top children’s dvd’s that are perfect stocking stuffers and also make great gifts:

Disney Enchanted DVD (my daughter’s favorite)
Wall-E DVD
Alvin and The Chipmunks DVD
Alvin and The Chipmunks Holiday DVD
Dr. Seuss Horton DVD
The Original Christmas Classics DVD (my personal favorite)
Nim’s Island DVD
Transformers DVD(for young teens)

October 08, 2008

Netflix Gouges Blu-ray Customers With Monthly Surcharge

Netflix_gouges_bluray Well my love affair with Netflix is now over.  Today I received a message that they will now be charging  more per month for Blu-ray discs. 

If they did this from the beginning I would've understood and sucked it up but now that the HD dvd war is over it just seems like its another way to gouge customers that are hooked on the format.  I guess they don't realize whats going on with the economy right now.  I plan on responding the only way I know how, with my check book.  As of next week I will be canceling my subscription and saying so long to Netflix. 

Here is the money hungry message:

Dear Matt,

As you may know, Blu-ray movies are more expensive than standard definition movies. As a result, we're going to start charging $1 a month (plus applicable taxes), in addition to your monthly membership charge, for unlimited access to Blu-ray movies.

The additional charge for unlimited Blu-ray access will be automatically added to your next billing statement on or after November 5th, 2008 and will be referenced in your Membership Terms and Details. If you wish to continue getting Blu-ray movies for $1 a month more, you don't need to do anything. If not, you can remove Blu-ray access anytime by visiting Your Account at the Netflix website.

If you have questions about this change or need any assistance, please call us anytime at 1-888-638-3549.

-The Netflix Team

February 15, 2008

War is Over Sony Blu-ray Defeats HD-DVD

Bluray_wins It's officially over folks.  Sony Blu-ray has won the war.  First Netflix canned HD-DVD last month, then came Best Buy and now today the biggest US retailer has decided to discontinue HD-DVD movies and HD-DVD players and only carry Blu-ray discs and Blu-ray players.  Walmart said its customers have spoken and they are discontinuing all HD-DVD products.

For all you fence sitters its time to step up and enter the beautiful world of 1080p.  I highly suggest you forgo the regular Blu-ray players and get more bang for your buck and pickup the awesome PS3 which offers loads of features above and beyond gaming and Blu-ray movie watching.  While you're at it match the PS3 with a Sony XBR4 LCD and you'll be in HD nirvana.

For all you HD-DVD early adapters, I feel for you.  Better dump them on eBay while you can still get some return for your investment.  Gotta run I'm planning on watching Spiderman 3 via Blu-ray tonight.

January 16, 2008

Two Trilogies worth checking out...

Hey Everyone,

Matt_damon_2One of my current favorite actors is Matt Damon. For those of you who haven't heard of him, and I'm not sure what planet those people have been living on the last 10yrs, he first came to Hollywood's attention by writing a screenplay with his pal Ben Affleck called "Good Will Hunting" . This movie was directed by Gus Van Sant and went on to become not only a blockbuster hit, but also an Oscar winner, including Best Screenplay for its two young writers. Now, after that , Matt went full-guns into the acting world, scripts were being offered all around, and to his credit, he has picked some really choice roles. Two of my favorites are the characters he portrays in these series of movies : The Oceans Trilogy and The Bourne Trilogy. Each role required Matt to act in very different ways: The Oceans requiring a comedic bent with some insecurity thrown in for good measure and the Bourne trilogy requiring Matt to bring his cold, ruthless and hard-hitting aspects to the fore. For my money he carried both of these diametrically opposed characters off with equal skill and likability. And it's just not his characters that are great, the movies themselves are really enjoyable to watch as well; good direction, great production values, lots of laughs and never a dull moment. What I've also heard about him personally is that he's a really nice guy and despite much success, he's still manages to remain a non-diva, always a plus. Matt has definitely grown into an actor to be reckoned with in Hollywood, I'm sure we'll be seeing alot more of him, and that's okay by me.

Be sure to catch Matt in these other great films: The Good Shepperd : The Departed : Syriana : Rounders : Stuck On You : The Talented Mr.Ripley : Dogma : Saving Private Ryan

I hope everyone has a great 2008!

P.S. Tonight I'm going to a special screening of "Cloverfield" and I'm quite stoked about that!

January 01, 2008

Transformers Movie GM Swings at ET and Misses

Bumblebee_camaro I finally broke down and Netflix'd Transformers the movie.  I've been holding out due to the Michael Bay / Paramount agreement to only produce Paramount movies on HD-DVD for the first 18 months.  I caved and upon receiving the Transformers DVD tossed it into the ole PS3 last night and was mildly surprised.  One of the advantages of the PS3 is that it upscales regular DVD's and makes them look pretty close to HD.  With transformers it made it look really good, almost to the point that I forgot it wasn't high def.  It also made me want to see it even more via Blu-ray.  If the action looks good from a regular DVD I can't imagine how awesome it would look on Blu-ray inputted into my 1080p Sony.  Sound quality was ehh, it didn't really sound that great but could be the result of my subwoofer being down.

I won't go into a whole rehash of the movie since thats been done over and over.  There is one thing I wanted to mention.  General Motors obviously spent a ton of dough featuring, Chevy Camaros, Pontiac Solstices, GMC Yukons, Hummer H2 and various other GM offerings.  I really think GM missed the boat however, they had the opportunity to have the greatest product placements since Reeses Pieces was promoted in ET.  The whole Bumblebee Camaro upgrade was brilliant, it flowed perfectly within the movie plot lines and I didn't think wow that was a blatant promotion.  The concept Camaro looks awesome and has built a tremendous amount of buzz however YOU CAN'T BUY IT.  GM reportedly will be selling a similar version in early 2009 but by then the buzz and demand will have dwindled due to 2 years of waiting.  If GM had planned this better and had a slick car lined up rolling off the lines it would have hit a homerun with the placement.  Maybe by 2009 Transformers II will be out and they can pay millions more to rekindle the Bumblebee magic.

December 23, 2007

50 Hottest 2007 Technology Products and Trends for 2008

Iphone5 Listing of the top 50 coolest and hottest technology gadgets / gizmos for 2007.  Most of these are going to be the hottest sellers and biggest trend setters in 2008:

  1. Apple iPhone
  2. Intel Core 2 Duo
  3. Nintendo Wii
  4. Sony XBR5
  5. RIM Blackberry 8800
  6. Parallels Desktop
  7. Pioneer Elite 1080p PRO-FHD1
  8. Apple Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger
  9. Adobe Premiere Elements 3
  10. Apple TV 
  11. Nikon D80
  12. Samsung SyncMaster 244T
  13. HP DV9000T
  14. Apple MacBook Pro
  15. Direct HR-21
  16. Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite
  17. Motorola Razr2 
  18. Nikon D40X
  19. Samsung BlackJack
  20. Apple iPod 80GB
  21. TomTom One
  22. Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP 
  23. Slingbox
  24. Guitar Hero 2 
  25. Shure E500PTH
  26. Apple iPod Nano (8GB)
  27. Nikon Coolpix S51c
  28. Dell UltraSharp 2007WFP
  29. Archos 704 Wi-Fi
  30. Lenovo ThinkPad X60 Tablet 
  31. Canon EOS 30D
  32. Shure SE210
  33. Asus Crosshair
  34. Dell XPS M1210
  35. Creative Zen V Plus (8GB)
  36. Fuji FinePix F40fd
  37. Sony Playstation 3
  38. Canon MP600
  39. LG Electronics BH100
  40. Samsung i760 Smartphone
  41. Nokia N800
  42. Adobe CS3
  43. Aliph Jawbone
  44. Logitech Harmony 880
  45. Dell XPS 410
  46. TiVo Series3 HD Digital Media Recorder
  47. SanDisk Sansa Connect
  48. nVidia GeForce 8800 GTX
  49. Panasonic HDC-SD1
  50. Canon Pixma iP4300

December 15, 2007

Happy Holidays! Here's Your $85,000 Phone Bill...

Bell_devil_horns Just when you think you've heard it all comes a story like this. A Canadian man from Calgary has got himself in quite the predicament recently with an $85k cell phone bill. Piotr Staniaszek, a Bell Mobility customer, thought his $10 "unlimited" data plan would cover all of his data needs but apparently it was only *unlimited* to an extent. He tried using his cell phone as a modem to download high-definition movies to his computer but didn't realize that these huge files were not covered under his data plan. One month later a $60,000 bill came in the mail but when Staniaszek called Bell to complain he found out that in the meantime his bill had actually risen to a whopping $85,000! In an act of goodwill, Bell has agreed to lower the bill to $3,243 but Staniaszek says that he intends on fighting the entire bill right down to zero. He feels that he should have been warned by Bell that "unlimited" was not truly as boundless as he thought. In a recent interview Staniaszek gave his agitated response: "I told them I wasn't aware that I would be charged for hooking up my phone to the computer. I'm going to try and fight it because I didn't know about the extra charges. Nobody explained any of this to me." Although he does have a fair arguement, Bell argues that it is the customers responsibility to understand the terms of their contract and any additional features. In my opinion, such suspicious behaviour should have been addressed to the customer by Bell but instead Bell didn't say a peep until the day the bill came in the mail. It seems Staniaszek took a bullet for us all and hopefully this unfortunate dilemma will teach us to pay more attention to small details and keep a cloer eye out for this type of loop hole.

Victor