Decide what to buy

We posted yesterday with comments from the HD DVD and Blu-ray reviews on Reevoo, suggesting that Blu-ray’s likely triumph in the high def disc format war will probably be a good thing for shoppers.

At the same time, Dixons released research saying that there was a near 50:50 split between people who preferred Blu-ray and people who thought HD DVD was better, with a small edge for Blu-ray:

"In
an online vote, 53% of Dixons.co.uk customers plumped for Blu Ray,
while 47% chose HD DVD.

"Commenting on the vote deVere Forster, Director of e-Commerce said;
‘The results, far from being decisive, showed that it is still all to
play for out there. While the big boys are fighting it out for
supremacy, our customers are very much straight down the middle and
whichever way it goes half of them will be disappointed.’"

There are reports on HDTVUK and AVZombie which have further commentary but no-one has discussed the survey’s findings yet.

Dixons’ poll could mean that there is no clear consumer favourite in the high def war, or, given that hardly anyone actually owns a high def player, might it just reflect shoppers’ confusion about the two high def formats?

(Via HDTVUK)

It seems that battle over the successor to DVD is close to being decided. The interestingly-named Blu-ray is now a big favourite to win the format war over dominance of the high definition disc market. In the last few weeks Warner Brothers and Paramount studios have announced plans to switch their support from HD DVD to the rival Sony-led Blu-ray camp, leaving Universal as the only major Hollywood studio that is continuing to release movies in the Microsoft and Toshiba-backed HD DVD format.

But those who remember the VHS-Betamax format war in the 70s and 80s will know that the victorious format is not necessarily the best product for consumers: Sony’s Betamax was generally considered to be the better format, but cost slightly more.

After taking a look at the Reevoo reviews that mention Blu-ray and HD DVD, it seems that shoppers are very happy with their Blu-rays, especially as part of the latest PS3 package, but that HD DVD player owners are more circumspect.

"Watching Blu-Ray through PS3 has to be seen to be believed"

"Play a Blu-Ray DVD on this
TV and the picture and audio quality are stunning"

"Blue-ray looks incredible"

HD DVD owners like the value-for-money:

"Great Picture. Great Sound. Gread Price. (So much better than blue ray that has numerous problems and you are paying a preumium for these problems)"

"Compared with stand-alone Blu Ray players at the time of purchase this was a third of the price, had faster loading times, ethernet upgradeabilty and a better selection of movies so for me this purchase was a ‘no-brainer’!"

But Blu-ray’s market dominance is starting to tell: "catalogue of films doesn’t compare to blueray rental shops i.e blockbuster won’t be stocking any hd dvd’s"

Just in terms of the number of reviews, Blu-ray is clearly ahead, and had noticeably more glowing reviews.

Alternatively, another reviewer comments:

"If you are worried about the BluRay/HD format war, don’t be; the HD players are so cheap now that you could get a PS3 (which is the cheapest and the best BluRay player on the market at the moment) AND an HD-E1 and have both bases covered."

Assuming you don’t get one of each, it’s starting to look like a Blu-ray player is a safe bet. This will probably come as big relief for most shoppers tired of the format war, and for audio-visual buffs who have been hoping that the better quality format would emerge victorious this time.

For more information:
- HDTVorg has a summary of the latest developments.
- HDTVUK’s Blue-ray/HD DVD archive is a good background to the format war to date.
- Updated: Dixons customer survey on shoppers preferred format reported at HDTVUK.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Is that really the intention of the manufacturers responsible for these remarkably similar-looking mobile phones?

Pictured above from left to right are the Apple iPhone, CECT P168, Meizu M8 and LG Prada.

These may look like their original counterpart but, just like in the movies, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. The question is, are the iClone gang a mad scientist bodge job or genuinely worthy rivals?

The LG Prada, for example, may look stunning but only scored 6.6/10 from 22 genuine impartial reviews. Some really common problems that Reevoo has picked up on from your reviews are the sticky touchscreen and poor memory, which often results in the phone freezing. The touchscreen is also a bit impractical, as touching it during a call will cut you off. Maybe LG are just trying to encourage people to hold phones away from themselves to reduce exposure to SAR!

Little is known about the Meizu M8 or the CECT P168 (also known as the iFone). The Chinese manufacturer of the iFone is so open about copying Apple that it uses the same clown fish wallpaper. The iFone has nowhere near the same capabilities as the iPhone, running 256MB and an old fashioned WAP browser. It does, however, have 6-speaker surround sound, which may work well with playback of various sound formats. Be warned that the data for the CECT P168 is often contradictory and regardless of whether it has a 2MP sticker, the camera is only 1.3MP.

The Meizu seems to perform a little better on specs, with an HTML browser (just like the iPhone) and 8GB of memory (just like the iPhone). Like the iPhone, it has tilt and movement recognition so the screen automatically orients depending on how you it is being held. The Meizu even has a better camera – two in fact! It boasts a 3MP camera on the back and a 0.3MP camera on the front for video-calling. Apparently, the phone also has better screen resolution on a slightly smaller screen (3.3 inches to the iPhones 3.5). It seems that there actually could be potential for this phone to score quite favourably as an iPhone alternative, but there is only very sketchy information on the rest of its specifications and performance. This and its limited availability mean that most of us would rather spend a bit more to get a more trusted brand. To buy a Meizu or iFone one outside of China you have to go through an ebay

The message here is, if you want something like an iPhone, but are put off by the choice of an O2 contract or paying £270, don’t just go for something because it looks like one!

Reevoo Recommended Alternatives:
The Nokia N95 8GB, for example, matches the iPhone on almost every feature except the Apple badge. In addition, the N95 8GB has an impressive 5MP camera, downloadable games, an FM radio tuner and instant messaging. All this for £200 or a contract with any network.

Perhaps there are one or two things you really love about the iPhone but could really do without some of the extra stuff. If that’s the case, check out our Reevoo Recommended phones to fulfil your wants, such as listening to Music and Surfing the web.