[Snakeadelic]

Grav, part of the problem is in fact the differing tech and cross-incompatibility.

Giving it a quick casual Google search shows me that even a not-quite-bottom-of-the-line Blu-Ray player goes for at least 10% of my ENTIRE monthly (fixed) income, and that's before the nearly 50% of my monthly income that goes straight to rent and utilities. And there's no guarantee it would be compatible with any of our other machines, including the only TV we own (the one with the dead built-in DVD player). My sweetie is also on a fixed income not much larger than mine and is by nature so non-materialistic that gift shopping for him is now "And what website would you like a gift card for this time?" because there's not much physical stuff he wants.

Getting a new DVD player was easy and under $50. Getting it hooked up and functioning took two and a half hours, three technicians' opinions, and a set of photos from a demonstration by the one of those three techs who actually understood what I was asking. If the built-in player in the TV was not Blu-Ray compatible, it's possible none of the wiring in that particular TV is.

PS3 was suggested on the other thread but appears to be even more expensive than a dedicated Blu-Ray player, and with my hands getting arthritic and my sweetie's increasing difficulty coping with things like on-the-spot decision making, concentration, and his own response to frustration, video games are pretty well right out so it's not like a PS3 would get used for its original purpose. And so I shall continue to hope that someday someone gets the set on DVD but wanted it on Blu-Ray and remembers me sniveling about the formats!

I'm not a contributing member on ANY other forum anywhere any more. I don't use Ebay because of PayPal--I tried to do my Christmas shopping using that combo as I had for several years, but a few years back I tried to log in on PP only to get an email stating that until I sent them a scan of my driver's license, ORIGINAL Social Security card, AND a utility bill with my name and addy on it, I could not transfer funds from my PP-verified decade-old bank account (only one I've had since 2004, still ticking along just fine) into my online PP account. They did NOT offer any guarantee of who would see or have access to the information they demanded, and so I left my PP account sitting with like $2 in it. There aren't many online retailers I trust, particularly when it comes to electronics that I understand poorly at best. So my Internet footprint is pretty tiny--Hell, my Twitter account is basically to keep updated on musicians' tour schedules and only has 2 non-famous people on it out of like 13 I follow total. My options for swapping out this set are pretty limited. I'm actually contemplating checking with the local pawnshop...if I can find a day when I won't ask the owner's wife if her brother is still in jail for identity theft and credit fraud because that could get...awkward.