I'm a consumer whore.
And how!
But in all seriousness, I am. Last November I bought myself an HD DVD player using my birthday money. I was convinced that HD DVD would win the format war. Because, I told myself, WB and Paramount are firmly situated in the red camp. AND! “HD DVD” is such a consumer friendly name that even Joe Wal-Mart would understand the concept.
Well, as it turns out, HD DVD did not win the format war. In fact, Sony bought the format war with its late-to-the-game Playstation 3. So bitter was I as I watched HD DVD players plummet in price along with their high definition disc buddies. I cringed at the thought of having to admit to my home theater that a Blu-ray player would be joining the stack soon. I assured my many components that a Sony would never be brought home.
Boy was I wrong. Thanks to a failing economy the government tried to buy me off in an effort to assure me that “we’re not in a recession”. Whatever – free money to spend on whatever I want. I faithfully drove to Best Buy on that fateful Saturday with my stimulus money in hand. After all, I had to spend it; if I didn’t, the terrorists would win!
As it turns out I quickly found myself in the Blu-ray section of the store. There were so many options to choose, oh but I had done research. Never content to simply ask a sales person what the best choice for me would be I have to prove I’m the smartest person ever and must know everything there is to know before making a final decision. You see, I have an addiction – the only prescription is owning the best. It’s a sick sad life, but as I mentioned earlier, I’m a consumer whore, so you knew this coming in.
It didn’t take long to realize Best Buy didn’t have the model I wanted and a quick search on the internet revealed to me that not only was it not yet released, it was about $200 outside my price range. My heart sank. The misses tried to console my broken spirit but I was a lump.
However, our story doesn’t end here! I happened to run into a dear friend and trusted advisor. We spoke on the matter and his recommendation shocked and appalled me. He said he had Playstation 3 and that I should get one. He said it was a great player and even greater value! I was incredibly surprised by his recommendation – how could I even consider purchasing something that was a) Sony and b) not a stand-alone Blu-ray player!?
Well he was right. I bought one and I haven’t regretted it yet. Speaking from a purely un-objective standpoint, it’s pretty cool I have to admit. The picture and sound quality is far and away fantastic – I was/am very surprised. All in all, I’m very satisfied with my purchase.
What did I learn from this whole experience? Well, first of all, I learned that I can’t stick to my “feelings” when it comes to purchasing the latest and greatest tech gear. I need to go with the facts and not care about any loyalties or biases I may have. For a long time I didn’t even consider the PS3 because it was a Sony product – and I think that was just lame. I could have saved myself a lot of time if I had just opened myself up to whatever possibilities presented themselves rather than letting other things get in the way. The other thing I learned is that I’m a consumer whore. I don’t think that needs any explanation because it’s just a fact. I am – deal with it.
UPDATE3000: PS3 as Blu-ray player = teh rocks!
