blu-ray.com
Blu-ray website has expanded its coverage to include topics such as 3-D movies, 3-D Blu-ray, video games, and more. They have helpful resources linked up to make it easy for movie buffs of all levels of interest to find what they're looking for.
The website may look like it is selling blu-rays directly from the website, but in reality the website outsources all links to other websites where viewers can find the product. Blu-ray not only provides links to buy the product but also contains a surprising amount of movie reviews.
Website Design
At first glance, the website design seems to be a mess. The color scheme is okay. It is light blue and white. There is a clean, fresh look, but it gets lost in the sloppiness of the text placement and layout. Navigation is difficult. It looks like the website design was not well thought out.
The text is small and difficult to read. Eye strain is an issue while being on the website for a prolonged amount of time. There are no clearly defined spaces on the home page. The only way to differentiate articles is that the titles are in a bold text. There are random columns in the middle of the page without explanation. There are advertisements present on the page, but fortunately, they do not interfere with the user interface.
Content
There are a lot of great Blu-ray content out there. It would be much easier to find what you're looking for if the categories and sections of the website were more clearly defined. The zoom function was really helpful while I was reading articles on this site.
I found the website's community feature to be great. The forums are very active and helpful, and the website is designed slightly better than the rest. It is easier to navigate. In the community threads, topics include Blu-ray, Movies, Tv Shows, Anime, Collectibles, Gaming, Home Theaters, Audio, and Hot Deals. There are many more categories with active users who respond quickly.
The main focus of the website is Blu-ray. On the category page, users can look at the stats of new releases and favorite movies. The website has a database of an incredible amount of titles. The organization on this part of the website is also a lot better than on the homepage. Readers are able to search Blu-rays by genre, release dates, by the studio, alphabetically, and in many other ways.
The video game section is still growing and has a lot of content already. There are reviews, forums, and the best deals available on the web sections. The categorization of gaming content is also organized meticulously. There is a page dedicated to every gaming console. From there, viewers can read reviews and find offers on related products. If you click on a game the page reveals retail information, summaries, specifications, user reviews, forums, and more information.
The deals category on Blu-ray is the best section of the entire website. It takes the hassle out of searching multiple times on different search engines and offers the best price. The advanced settings make searches a breeze. The search includes not only Blu-rays but also DVDs, box sets, video games, video game consoles, home theater equipment, Legos, Funko Pops, comics, books, posters, and snacks!
Desktop & Mobile Accessibility
The desktop browser access is fine. The website design isn't the best, so that makes it significantly worse. The layout confuses viewers and makes navigation a pain. The main menu categories are clearly labeled, so it helps some. It seems the home page has the worst layout. Other specific categories were organized better and easier to use. The biggest issue is the font size. Without zooming, eye strain is inevitable.
The mobile browser is a bigger pain than the desktop version. The site is the same, but much smaller. It's impossible to use without zoom. It's difficult to navigate. I didn't use this version very long before giving up on it completely. It's pretty useless. Don't waste time trying to use the mobile version - go ahead and skip straight to the desktop. There's no appstore for Blu-ray on the app store.
Positives
There is a lot of content available on Blu-ray. Some of it is just the technical aspects of movies, like summaries and retail information. It can be boring, but it's still useful information. The more entertaining parts of the website are the reviews and forums.
The deals category is another area of the website that I enjoy. There is so much to explore and find deals on. The organization of deals is really well done, with a lot of filtering options available. The advanced searches make the interface even more user-friendly, and the general search feature is really helpful. It delivers an impressive number of results, which is great for finding what you're looking for quickly.
The Blu-ray community is commendable. There are forums dedicated to specific topics, including movies, tv, anime, pop culture, and collectibles. The users in the forums are very active and responsive. There are discussions that foster a sense of community. With a sense of community, it is no surprise that Blu-ray has so many active members, despite their website design issues.
Negatives
The most negative part of Blu-ray is the website design. There is a lot I could complain about on this subject. The home page is the biggest issue. It lacks design and directionality. A good layout is consistent and directs the reader's attention in a pattern. There is no clear layout to the homepage of Blu-ray. There are no borders or line breaks to separate articles. The only feature that stands out is that headlines are a couple of font sizes larger and in bold text. However, this is not enough to provide a true distinction. There are columns that are almost in the middle of the website, but not quite. They are off-center and unattractive to view. The menus are one of the only reprieves in the messiness. However, the color scheme and small text make that small positive into a negative as well
There are a lot of ads on the website. Sometimes they're frustrating, but mostly they're well-placed within the site. If the website design wasn't so annoying, this issue would probably be more relevant.
Improvements Needed
There are only a few improvements I could suggest for Blu-ray. One would be a website redesign that makes it more visually appealing to viewers. Improving font size and readability would greatly help. I would spend more time on the website if it weren't for having to strain my eyes to view every article. Zooming is a temporary solution but results in frustration. Aside from rebuilding the website entirely, there are a few small improvements that could be made - enlarging text, providing some sort of flow to articles, and using more graphics.
A mobile app would make this website a lot nicer. It would be hard to make the website into an app, but if it were done it would be really great. It would increase website traffic and bring more people to forums.
Summary
At first glance, Blu-ray is a website that has some issues. However, once you get past them, it has a lot to offer. There are movie reviews that are entertaining to read and a very advanced search function. The forums on Blu-ray is a great way to connect with people who have similar interests. There are also many topics to talk about and the community seems very active. Best deals are a category to find some amazing prices on unique items like Funko Pops, Legos, collectibles, comics, and more.
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