WTG Sony, Stick it to the... er Customer?

[TheDruid]

PS3 low end model cant play 1080p blueRay movies.

http://blog.wired.com/games/index.blog?entry_id=1549232

Nope, $500 just aint going to cut it, give us $600 though and we'll even throw the HDMI cable in for free... Considering the cost of an HDMI cable alone, if you have the means, i say go for the $600 model.

[Mr. Analog]

I'm not so worried yet.

[Melbosa]

Hmmm from your link there Mr. A, I would be a bit worried.  Looks like Sony is pulling another Beta vs VHS battle.  Blu-Ray $1000 vs HD-DVD $500 a unit... reminds me of how Beta lost that battle, even though being the better quality of the two.

[Mr. Analog]

Hmmm from your link there Mr. A, I would be a bit worried.  Looks like Sony is pulling another Beta vs VHS battle.  Blu-Ray $1000 vs HD-DVD $500 a unit... reminds me of how Beta lost that battle, even though being the better quality of the two.

Actually quality had nothing to do with it (it was only a very, very minute difference between VHS and Beta), it was all about licensing and the amount you could record. Turns out if something is a) cheap and b) adds value it's going to live

Mind you when Sony released BIII in the mid-80s it had caught up just in time to be irrelevant to SVHS, oh well.

BUT, I digress, the real focus of the article is that neither format is flying of the shelves just yet.

[Melbosa]

Sorry quality did have to do with it.  Beta tapes were made of thicker plastic, the magnetic tape was of a better quality, and the design was more compact for less warping from mis-handling.  Compared to the VHS of the time, Beta was by far the superior product for durability and design quality.

I don't disagree with you on the licensing and such as well, as they were contributing factors, but I think we might see some part of that history repeat itself here.

[Shayne]

The High end PS3 DOES NOT INCLUDE THE HDMI cable.  It has the ports, but no cable.  Confirmed some place on Digg I think.

[Tom]

Some of the cost difference between the HDDVD and BlueRay can be attributed to BluRay actually being more expensive to manufacture. The Laser Diode has to operate at a higher "freq", the disks have to ave a thiner coating, thus having to have a hardend laquer type finish applied. And then theres the huge shortages of Blue laser diodes, even before Sony soaked up most of its manufacturing quota for the PS3. And then theres just Sony being an ass

[Mr. Analog]

Sorry quality did have to do with it.  Beta tapes were made of thicker plastic, the magnetic tape was of a better quality, and the design was more compact for less warping from mis-handling.  Compared to the VHS of the time, Beta was by far the superior product for durability and design quality.

Since this discussion has been had before here I won't say much, but to be truthful the downfall of Betamax is manifold, and is articulated with gusto here. Though I have to say I'm surprised that you mention the quality of the tape construction itself as an owner of both formats I have not noticed any differences between them beyond form factor (in fact, I find VHS easier to de-tangle mostly because the cassettes use easy to access philiips head screws & the flap button is easier to manipulate).

For the record, I own probably twice as much Beta than VHS cassettes right now.