By Kyle Melnick
Blu-ray: you know it’s the best way to watch movies at home, but do you know why? Well, if you own a 1080p HDTV and want to use it to its full potential, Blu-ray is the truest form of 1920 x 1080p resolution, and additionally delivers the crispest audio with Dolby TrueHD 5.1. A Blu-ray player will also play nice with your existing DVD collection, upconverting the picture to hi-definition.
But the fun doesn’t stop there. With a hard line Ethernet cord or built-in wi-fi capabilities, a lot of today’s Blu-ray players are delivering hi-definition content via the internet. Once you’re connected, you’ll have access to the emerging world of Blu-ray widgets-- one of the fastest growing industries-- and you will be able to connect to your Netflix account to watch hi-def movies on-demand, access additional exclusive content for Blu-rays, link to Pandora to listen to your favorite music on your home theater system as well as provide your system with the latest firmware updates to ensure you have the latest features. Insignia Blu-ray players actually come preloaded with BD-Live, Netflix, and Pandora. BD-Live is really neat – it lets you access special content on a wide range of select blu-ray movies, like behind the scenes commentary, interactive games and much more!
A few pointers if you’re looking to ditch your DVD player and bag a Blu-ray:
- Make sure you remember to pick up an HDMI cable, as many Blu-ray players don’t come with one in the box. Any other connection to your TV will result in a loss of picture quality
- If a newly released Blu-ray doesn’t work on your player, make sure your firmware is up-to-date. If your Blu-ray player doesn’t connect to the internet, you should still be able to download the update on your computer, put it on a flash drive, plug it into the Blu-ray player and update it that way. Firmware updates also make sure you can get the latest bonus content on BD-Live.
- Finally, you owe it to yourself to get a Blu-ray player that allows you to fully enjoy one of the action packed movies like Transformer, Avatar or Ironman. All you need to do then is just turn all the lights off and really enjoy the movie! When you do Blu-ray right, you’ll wonder how you could have ever sat and watched a DVD.
Of course we love our Insignia products here at the Make your Mark blog – I mean, not only are they equipped with cutting-edge technology like Audyssey and Zoran, they also leverage their online community (you guys) when designing new products. This means the products they put out have the features you want! But we also understand that you might want somebody else’s word because, well, we’ve been talking about Insignia for a while now.
Lucky for you, the internet is abuzz with the latest offerings from Insignia from leading tech, consumer and lifestyle bloggers! Here are a few things they had to say:
“Insignia is offering a new 5.1 home theater system with Audyssey technology, yes, Audyssey. We love Audyssey.”
“Besides running the thousands of Chumby apps that can do everything from Facebook to live weather, (The Insignia Infocast) looks like it might have a few tricks of its own… Best of all, its features might match up closely to the flawed Sony Dash at a price that's $30 cheaper.”
“If he loves music, then the Insignia Water Resistant BoomBox may be the perfect gift (for Father’s Day)… Let dad listen to his favorite music by the lake or poolside with this water resistant boombox.”
“The Insignia Advanced Series Internet-Connected GPS – perfect for on-the-run dads and grads both, this handy-dandy device… can reduce drive time by 17 percent over a device without real-time traffic.”
--Natalie Kaar, Northern Virginia Magazine
“(The Insignia 720p HD Digital 5MP Camcorder) is a great handheld camera. It cost very little which makes it that much more appealing. At 149.99 at Best Buy, you can hardly bat an eye before pulling out your wallet. If you are like me and want a small convenient camera, which provides professional quality film making and photography at a low cost. You need look no further.”
--English Twist, Digital Camera Blog
So there you have it – Insignia is a fan favorite when it comes to those in the know. What do you have to say about your favorite Insignia products? Let us know below!
Electronics always get a lot of attention around Father’s Day, as dads tend to be more interested in Blu-rays than blue socks or ties. This past June, Best Buy Blue Shirts coast-to-coast discussed popular Insignia products for dad like the Insignia Digital Camera, Water Resistant Boombox, HD Camcorder, Internet-connected GPS and Blu-ray player.
Some of the highlights include:
- Scott Tavegia, a Best Buy Blue Shirt manager in Timonium, MD (near Baltimore), explaining the capabilities of the Insignia internet-connected Blu-ray player with WBAL-TV NBC 11.
“When you don’t want to run out and rent a movie, you can use the Insignia internet-connected Blu-ray player to look in your Netflix queue and stream it in hi-def right to your hi-def TV!”
- Mike Setti, a Mobile Manager Blue Shirt from Fredericksburg, VA, waxing poetically with WRC-TV NBC 4 about the Insignia Advanced Series GPS.
“This is our Insignia Advanced Series GPS – what makes this different than most others GPS units, and what customers really like is that this is actually an internet connected GPS. It will not only give you weather updates, but also local gas prices and even the traffic as it’s happening in real-time. It will actually guide you to the shortest route based on traffic. It runs on battery and can connect via Bluetooth, and has all kinds of features customers love.”
- Joe Lieberman, a Blue Shirt expert from the Ocoee store in Orlando, speaking with Jacquie Sosa of WOFL-TV FOX 35 about five great gifts for dad. As you can see from the picture, Joe is a big fan of the Insignia Blu-ray player.
“The big thing this year is internet connectability. With the Insignia Blu-ray Player, if you’re a Netflix customer, you can actually pull up your Netflix account directly on the Blu-ray player, where you can look through all the movies they have to offer and watch them in hi-definition without ever having to get on your computer!”
Couldn’t have said it any better ourselves, guys! Great job!
I'm a huge sports fan - whether it's baseball, basketball or bowling, I love watching and participating in as much as possible. My favorite team is my hometown San Diego Chargers - who proudly sport the Best Buy blue and yellow - and I am a very active surfer and scuba diver in my free time.
One of the things I really enjoy about blogging for Insignia is the sport connections. For all you racing fans out there, I'm sure you're used to seeing the lime green blur on Sundays. AJ Allmendinger, driver of the number 43 Insignia/Best Buy car in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, is currently ranked 22nd overall and has three top-10 finishes so far this season. He's looking to kickstart a strong second-half of the season at Chicagoland this weekend, so be sure to cheer him on to the checkered flag Sunday!
If baseball is more your thing, Insignia has that covered too. As the official HDTV of the Minnesota Twins, Insignia has over 450 HDTVs located throughout the stadium, with sizes ranging from 32” all the way to 65”! These televisions are part of Insignia's new Commercial Series line aimed at entertaining the masses with exceptional high definition picture quality at sporting venues, pubs, restaurants, hospitals and other professional settings.
Right now, the Twins are at 44-37 and are in second place in the AL Central, just one game behind the Detroit Tigers! Twins fans and Insignia fans alike are pulling for a postseason run this October.
So for all of you sports fans in the Insignia Community, who's your favorite team/athlete? Let us know below!
Joseph
Mobile Manager
Best Buy Store #1187
Encinitas, CA
Joseph joined Best Buy’s Media Department in 2005, and has also had experience in Home Theater, Computers and Customer Service, and has worked with the Best Buy for Business program. Joseph now serves with the Best Buy Mobile department as a Mobile Manager.
He currently works at store #1187 in Encinitas and attends California State University at San Marcos, where he is studying accounting. In addition to being a technophile, Huberty is also an active surfer and scuba diver.
Aaron
Digital Imaging Specialist
Best Buy Store #890
Atlanta, GA
Aaron, Imaging Specialist at Best Buy, started his consumer electronics career at the Best Buy store in his hometown of Johnson City, Tenn. In 2007, King moved to Atlanta, where he still works in the Digital Imaging department, and also helps as an expert with Macs and all portable devices.
Aaron graduated from East Tennessee State University with a BS in Digital Media and concentration in Visualization and EFX in 2006, and is currently enrolled in a graduate program at Georgia State studying film. He competes in film festivals in his free time, and also enjoys playing guitar, photography and cycling.
Kyle
Home Life Specialist
Best Buy Store #1766
Oldsmar, FL
Kyle joined Best Buy in August 2008 to work in the Home Theater, Appliance and Gaming departments at store #1766 in Oldsmar, FL. Originally from Las Vegas, Kyle has lived all over the U.S. and even spent several years in the Philippines due to his father’s job as an air force pilot.
Kyle is an expert in all gaming and home theater, including the latest advances in LED and 3DTV technology. In his spare time, he loves playing video games and flying real aircraft with his father.
Crystal
Operations Manager
Best Buy Store #1155
Charlotte, NC
Crystal began her Best Buy career in New York City as a Customer Assistant and BlueShirt Spokesperson in October 2007. Since then, she has represented Best Buy in such periodicals as the New York Times, Cosmopolitan, and aMNewYork and has made several television appearances including Good Morning America, CBS Evening News, CNN, and BBC.
Currently, Crystal works as an Operations Supervisor for Best Buy in Charlotte, NC. She loves reading, gardening, and watching the latest BluRay releases with her family. She holds a Masters Degree in Vocal Performance from UT Knoxville, and hopes to one day have a successful operatic career while continuing to enhance people’s lives with technology at Best Buy.
| Meet the Insignia Blue Shirt Bloggers | |
 Joseph Huberty |
 Aaron King |
 Kyle Melnick |
 Crystal Stoupe |
