# Your first DVD



## Wayde

Name your first ever DVD?

I bought my player in 1999 when the <$200 barrier was finally broken. Then I bought the Matrix.

It was amazing. It's hard to believe it was only six short years ago.


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## brucek

When Sony released their first ever DVD player in April 1997 I was first in line.

It was a DVP-S7000 and I paid $1299. I still have it and it still produces about the best non-progressive signal I've seen.

The player came with the movie 'In The Line of Fire' with Clint Eastwood. Sony decided to include a DVD with the player since you weren't able to purchase disks anywhere and renting was unheard of.

The first few months the player was released with firmware that allowed internal dip switches to disable regional code and macrovision. These were originally intended for troubleshooting. Didn't take long for people to discover this and not many months went by before Sony removed the switches from new models. I still have the switches in my unit.......

brucek


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## Sonnie

My memory ain't that good. I think our first DVD was Armageddon with Bruce Willis... but not positive. I know our first DVD player was a Toshiba SD-???.


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## GregBe

My first DVD was Jerry Maguire. I remember after setting up the player, spending the better part of an hour trying to figure out how to get the image to fill up my 4 x 3 screen :rolleyesno: . Obviously I quickly realized those silly black bars were the way to go


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## FlashJim

My wife bought JFK for my birthday in March of '98. It was about a year or so before I got to see it. Our first DVD player was a Sony PS2.  DVD duties were soon taken over by a standalone Sony that was $300 at the time. Ouch.


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## nova

My memory is not so good either,... but my first DVD player was, and still is a Mitsubishi DD-2000 picked up for the unheard of price -at the time- of $249, (seems like msrp was about $749) an open box demo and no manual. IIRC my wife picked up the first DVD, Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery. Musta been late '97, Oct. or there abouts.


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## Phil M

My first movie was 'Out of Sight', I was living in Germany at the time and my wife is Italian - it was the only movie that had both an English and Italian soundtrack. This was my cunning plan to get WAF points, the fact that JLO was in the movie was an added bonus :T

For any female members my JLO quote is directed at her acting ability, nothing to do with her physical attributes.


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## khellandros66

My first DVD was bought in 1998 and it was The Negotiator

~Bob


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## Wayde

khellandros66 said:


> My first DVD was bought in 1998 and it was The Negotiator
> 
> ~Bob


I hope you were able to _negotiate_ a good price.:laugh: 

Sorry, I couldn't help myself.


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## rcarlton

I bought three movies: _JFK, The Doors, Woodstock_, at the same time I bought my first DVD player in the fall of 1997. Still have the player, never a problem with it. It does not play SACD or burned DVD's since they didn't exist in 1997. Probably can't give the player away now since a $30 player would out perform it.


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## Vader

My first DVD in 1999 was "Godzilla" (yea, there are a few of us on Earth that liked it.... I'm the other one), and my first player was the still-execllent Sony S7000 (which has since gone to a good home, but I still miss it). I had been living in LaserDisc land for the past decade, and decided to get my feet wet in the then-new DVD format. That led to me upgrading from a pro-logic amp (NEC PLA-710) to my first DD amp (Marantz SR-580), because many of the first DVDs had only 5.1 tracks (no 2.0 track for Pro-logic), and I found that all of the life was simply sucked out of the sound when a 5.1 track is downmixed. Now I get to start again with Blu Ray (or HD-DVD), and the new uncompressed sound formats (which will require a new AVR to take advantage of)...


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## Guest

my first dvd player was the pioneer 414...IIRC, retail was around $550...my first DVD was the first Blade movie


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## MrPorterhouse

First DVD was "Terminator 2" in 2000, and it was a very big deal. There was lots of buzz about it and the amazing surround sound. It was in demo rooms everywhere.

First DVD Player was a Sony PS2.


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## Guest

I can't think that far back. :scratchhead: :laugh:


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## Guest

I bought the first model Pioneer DVD player released in Australia (1995 I think). It cost me $1000 AUD. The model in question (I can't remember exactly) was brought into the country by Pioneer as a world zone, which Pioneer then converted to a region 4 machine. The store I purchased it from directed me to an electronics place across the road, who then converted it back to a world zone for me for $50. It was DD only, and there was a grand total of 14 DVD titles to choose from. 

I still have the first 2 I purchased, one was The Mask and the other was Die Hard With a Vengeance. Interestingly they are not even DD one has MPEG Empowered on the back and the other MPEG Multichannel. I remember finding a company on the net (from the states) that had about 3000 titles listed, so I bought from them, still do to this day.


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## adogand6kids

I will answer this in stages. The first DVD I ever saw was The Majestic with Jim Carrey. This was on my first DVD system - a Sony Dreamsystem HTIB in 2002. I was a total newbie at the time. In fact, I had purchased a separate DVD player and receiver before getting the HTIB, but had to return it because I was unable to decipher the manuals and could not get it set up. (I think I was trying to use the "optical" cable to get video out of the DVD player). The first DVD I bought was The Incredibles.


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## azjimmy

First player was a Pioneer DVD333 in 2000. Still going strong in the bedroom setup, first disk was 5th Element, I believe.

Jim


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## Guest

Fogged up memory. But I do believe the first DVD we bought was
The Thin Red Line and our first DVD player was a Panasonic.
I don't remember how much we paid, but we still have it.

akitaboy


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## Darren

The Fifth Element


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## mikeb

It would have been in 98 when I purchased a Toshiba dvd player, I remember it was $700 something and Turbulence was my first movie purchase. I was pretty excited not to have to get up and turn the laser disc over in middle of the movie.


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## Guest

I believe me first DVD was around late of 1999 The Thing along with my first DVD player a SONY DVP-S535.


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## Guest

First DVD, along with just about everyone else here came the same day I broke down and bought my first dvd player... The Perfect Storm, had just come out so it was the hot title at best buy 

Now at 300ish dvds and counting "The Perfect Storm" is probably the only dvd in my collection 
that I haven't watched more than twice... HA!


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## brandonnash

'99 or 2000. The first Dave Matthews dvd. Got it, my dvd player, and my small RCA HTIB, hooked it up outside and had an outdoor concert (on a 27" TV). Up to around 200 or so DVD's now.


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## SteveCallas

First dvd player was an RCA model that also supported DIVX - what a terrible idea that was :rolleyesno: First dvd was a pack along with the player, NFL's Greatest Moments, but the real reason for getting the player was the release of The Matrix. Had to have watched that movie about five times that first week because of the picture and because I was setting up a new surround system - it was the first DD5.1 soundtrack I experienced at home.


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## Prof.

I bought my first DVD player only about 6 years ago..a Toshiba SD2650..
I was very reluctant to change from VHS, mainly because I was getting good sound dynamics from my JVC VCR with new video releases, but rentals became a constant pain, trying to find some titles plus all the damaged tapes..
I think the first DVD I bought was Star Trek "Generations"..I already had this movie on VHS so I was able to make a comparison between the two systems...
Needless to say, I've never looked back...
I still have the Toshiba stored away in the cupboard, but I now use a Samsung HD860 for Anamorphic projection..


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## Jerm357

My first DVD I bought was *Terminator 2: Judgment Day*. It was $34.99 and came it a medal case:drool: Man I love that movie. Now I even have two versons of the movie, the Ultimate Edition and the Extreme Edition:bigsmile:


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## rcarlton

Jerm357 said:


> My first DVD I bought was *Terminator 2: Judgment Day*. It was $34.99 and came it a medal case:drool: Man I love that movie. Now I even have two versons of the movie, the regular version and the Ultimate Edition:bigsmile:


Just saw Terminator 2 in the metal case for $5.50 at WalMart. How prices have changed.:clap:


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## brandonnash

Funny you're talking about that. It contained one of the first "1080" versions of a movie available to consumers. All that and I still can't get it to play on my computer!!!?????


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## Jerm357

rcarlton said:


> Just saw Terminator 2 in the metal case for $5.50 at WalMart. How prices have changed.:clap:


Which one was it? The Extreme Edition which looks like this...








Or the Ultimate Edition that looks like this...








Both have metal cases.

I also picked up the Extreme Edition for pretty cheap from Target (like $7.50)
But the Ultimate Edition was the one that was $34.99 and you dont see them much any more. Its kind of funny because the cheap one has the better PQ but the Ultimate Edition has the better sound. (DTS)


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## wbassett

First DVD was Galaxy Quest. I can't remember what the player model was but it was an RCA DVD player with component and progressive scan output... I think I paid around $250 for it! (As per my CC receipt, I only paid $245 for my HD A2, and people say that's expensive?!  )

Other format first purchases:
VHS-- I honestly can't remember
DVD-- Galaxy Quest
BD-- Casino Royal
HD DVD-- Batman Begins
Laser Disc-- Madmax The Road Warrior

Another interesting question for people would be how many different copies/versions do people have of T2 or movie sets like the Bond movies? I actually have two boxed laser disc sets (1&2) of The Connery Collection Bond flicks as well as all the movies on DVD... 

I have T2 on Laser Disc, two DVD versions, had it on VHS too. I have no idea how many different versions of Star Wars I've had over the years, everything from Laser disc to the new DVD box set.

Now there is HD DVD and BD and I am buying the same movies all over again! :dizzy:


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## lvisneau

I can't remember when, But Twister and soldier were my first.................It was back when they said "these (dvd's) will never catch on, your waisting your $$$$.


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## Richard W. Haines

It took me a while before I got into the DVD format. Primarily because I'm a film collector. I started in 16mm in 1985 then moved up to 35mm. Mostly I collect rare Technicolor prints of classics because the color is so much better than current Eastmancolor prints shown in theaters and they never fade. I was also burned on a lot of earlier video formats. I collected both CED and Laserdiscs until the formats were eliminated and I felt I had wasted a lot of money. To make matters worse, the discs deteriorated. The CED discs began to skip and some laserdiscs acquired 'laser rot'. My Technicolor film prints remained in excellent shape although some were fifty years old so I figured I'd stick with that format. I had seen earlier Sharp analogue video projectors and wasn't satisfied with the quality, especially compared to film prints I projected in my home theater. I did eventually buy a DVD player and began renting movies but not collecting them. My relatives gave me some DVDs as presents including the "King Kong" special edition, Rogers and Hammerstein collection and "Hair". The quality seemed comparable to the laserdiscs of the same titles.

However, about two years ago a friend showed me his DLP and projected a DVD onto his screen and I admit I was quite impressed. Unlike previous video projectors, the Digital Light Projector did generate an image that simulated a film print. Much better than 16mm although not as good as 35mm. But film prints were hard to come by, especially for titles made in Eastmancolor rather than Technicolor which
faded over the years. Obviously, it was better to project a DVD of a "De Luxe" or "Metrocolor" movie than a faded film print. So, I purchased a low end Optoma H27projector and Samsung DVD player and began to collect DVDs and got used to the 'digital' look. In some cases, the image is better than a film print for older titles since the distributors did a 'clean up' of the image and removed the scratches and dust from decades of printing off the negative. In fact, I have a problem now screening film prints that don't look mint like the DVDs.

Fortunately, the Optoma DLP is small and sits on a table below the 35mm projector lens so both formats fit in my projection booth. Since I only have mono sound on the 35mm machine, the DVD player has superior audio with 5.1 surround. Of course no video image can look as vibrant as a 35mm Technicolor print but a well made DVD can come pretty close and you have the advantage of 'tweaking' the image
which in my case is to saturate the colors a bit and add 10% more red which simulates the warm look of movies of the fifties and sixties which I prefer over today's 'colder' color cinematography.

If memory serves, the first DVD I actually purchased as opposed to received as present was Hitchcock's "North by Northwest" which did look better than the 16mm Technicolor print I used to own.

The only problem with home video collecting is that unlike film prints which have been standardized for the last 100 years, video formats keep changing and/or become obsolete. I'm well aware that the 186 DVD titles I have will all have to be replaced with HD versions in the future. Also, I don't believe DVDs are archival and they might deteriorate over the years like some CDs and laserdiscs in my collection.
The Australians did some tests on the longevity of DVDs and they claim 10 years
is the lifespan. So collecting DVDs of my favorite films is not a one time investment
like purchasing a 35mm Technicolor print of a classic but an ongoing one into the future.


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## Owen Bartley

My first DVD was Heat. I think because I had just gotten the player, and I hadn't seen the movie, which was on special. I was just really eager to watch something and that popped out at me. I loved it, but it was subsequently stolen when our university house got robbed and I guess that's one I haven't gotten around to replacing yet.


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## MatrixDweller

I paid $499 for a Pioneer DVD player back in 1999. It was a floor model too so it was $100 off. The first movie I watched on it was Terminator 2 which I rented from a pitiful 4 foot DVD section at Jumbo Video. It was great back then.


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## santora

Well this is all tied to my first dvd player, so let's start there. My first dvd player was the pioneer 525 back in the late nineties. My wife, whom I was dating back then, sat a listened very carefully as I ran through all the players I was interested in purchasing for myself(never letting on she was going to buy it for me). Then when she was finally ready, she called Crutchfield to confirm that it was a good player. She gave it to me for my birthday with great fanfare and said "let's watch something!"

But she didn't get any movies. So I've got this neet looking player and no movies. Occasionally I give her a hard time about that because I find it funny. The next day I went out and picked up The Last Starfighter and Terminator on DVD. And that's how it all started.


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## thxgoon

My first DVD player I bought in 1999, it was the latest Panasonic at the time and the DVD I bought to watch on it was Star Trek First Contact. Great Movie! I actually bought the DVD a few weeks before the player... heh


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## Guest

Some friends of ours gave us a DVD player and a bunch of DVD's just after we got married (2004) If I remember right I think the first DVD we actually watched on it was Mean Girls.


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## Guest

I bought a DVD some days before.Before that i have a cd player of pioneer.The DVD is of Vinverth.


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## drf

First dvd was monsters inc. Back in whatever year it was when cheap dvd players with onboard dolby decoders were cheaper than dvd drives for pcs.


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## mrstampe

I won a copy of *Cast Away *in 2000 in an online promotion, so I picked up a display Sony DVD player at BB. The jump in video and audio quality absolutely blew me away! I never looked back at VHS after that. That sony served me well untill my PS3 purchase last month. In fact, it's still pulling duty in the bedroom.


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## superchad

thats easy it was "GoodFellas" and its so old that you had to flip it during movies just like my Laserdisc player (my LD had 2 heads and it flipped inside but still a 30second pause). I still have that disc!


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## BruZZi

Blade Runner


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## robk_11

Pink Floyd The Wall. I had to have it and used to watch it on my computer before I had a DVD player!


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## Guest

The Jackal, on the Toshiba dual disc player I still have. Used to play that scene where Bruce Willis tests the cannon on my 36" tube TV with the receiver set to 'phantom'.


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