Long tail upgrades
When we were both employed, I was springing for flat panel TV’s in every room. It was an interesting exercise, because I bought them over a 2 or 3 year period. It gave me an education in the various types of TV’s out there, and the evolution of “SmartTV’s”. I moved from Plasma 3D (Best for fast action movies and sports), LCD (Clean and bright glass) and finally, LED (Light weight and bright colors). I have yet to move to a 4K TV, and am not sure I will any time soon. That’s just how I roll. You see, TVs will always drop in price, because basically they are the instrument of the advertisers and they have an interest in getting them into your home. My rule when buying a TV: “Wait as long as you possibly can.”
With the proper viewing equipment, you can really enhance your viewing experience and pleasure, fairly cheaply. I always make sure I have decent sound installed. (for a future post)
Since almost everything is digital these days, you really need to marry the content with your viewing devices to get the full effect.
Don’t forget about old media
There are number of reasons why I still like traditional media: (See my old school methods for preserving my collection while taking up minimal space)
- I don’t want to re-pay for something I already paid for once
- If the government kills net-neutrality, you might need to pay for streaming larger files
- It’s portable to areas that don’t have internet access. (like the mountain cabin I’m going to buy)
Blu-ray discs in particular are still a viable and inexpensive option for movies.
The way I break down the costs for movies are tiered:
- Attend in theater: $15
- Purchase at retail after release to DVD/Blu Ray $20
- Stream it after release: $5
- Rent on Red box if available $2
The price drop from number 2 on this list is the most significant after about a year or two.
That is what leads me to this weeks tip which is a simple website recommendation. (I have no affiliation with them and receive no money for clicks or purchases…I just like them and use them)
It’s simply the single best online resource for finding great deals on DVD’s and Blu-Ray Disc movies. It makes almost hourly updates to price changes and there really are some significant discounts. At the very least, it will provide you with an idea of the profit margins within this industry. If they can sell something for $5 and still make a profit, what does that tell you?
The average price for the least expensive movies is about $5. Often times you can get the combo pack which includes the Blu-ray disk, the DVD disc and a digital code for streaming. If you prefer one method over the other, you can keep one for your collection and sell the others on the secondary market, reducing your costs even further.
I often try to seek something that we haven’t seen before, that I might consider watching more than once, or something that I know will have a great soundtrack or special effects that I can enjoy. I also use it to keep an eye on movies that I’d like to upgrade, even if I already own them.
If you spend some time with the sorting buttons in the headers, you can really narrow down your selections nicely. (i.e. best overall deals, or just cheapest prices)
Overall, it’s a good way to enhance your entertainment options, while minimizing your cost.
Do you think the trade off of the extra storage is worth it? How do you think media will be integrated in the future?
