So you’ve heard all about Blu-ray players. All your friends have one and you’re the last poor sap still suffering through grainy, low-def movies, huh? It’s time to upgrade, my friend.

It’s easy to get confused over what to buy with the huge variety of Blu-ray players on the market today. But with player prices dropping like rocks, more and more people are now basking in the warm, fuzzy glow of their blue lasers. (Disclaimer: basking in glow potentially harmful to your health.) Anyways, the lowered price points mean that everyone can get in on the HD movie scene, even consumers who don’t know 1080p from 1219g (Protip: I made that last one up.) And if you’re one of those people who thought the difference was negligible, think again. It’s time to experience a whole new level of movie-viewing for a lot less than you might think.

There are number of factors to be considered when it comes time to pick out a slick new player for your home entertainment center. One thing you should key in on is whether or not a particular unit has the ability to play high-definition sound in addition to pumping out all that gorgeous imagery. There are some players on the market that can only offer support for outdated Dolby Digital or DTS, so look for those that have Dolby True-HD and DTS-HD compatibility if you really want to have a setup worth bragging about.

And wouldn’t it be nice if you could get a little backwards compatibility support? You’ve already got all those DVDs sitting around, why waste them? Rather than trashing them all or keeping a DVD player and a Blu-ray player, try finding a Blu-ray device that plays DVDs. Not all of them can, so make sure you check the feature set for this one.

Not everything’s about looking to the past, of course. We’re at an age now in which a piece of electronics hardware no longer has to be a static device. Make sure you pick out a player that is able to receive firmware updates. Manufacturers regularly send out these downloads to patch over small problems or allow for new functionality. These updates can be extremely useful, so you definitely want a player that can connect to the internet and download firmware.

With all of that out of the way, it’s time to focus on what you really care about — the picture quality. Some devices only play in 720p, while others are capable of up to 1080p. You’re going to want one that displays 1080p if getting the most amazing picture quality possible is important to you.

And if you’re looking to buy a Blu-ray player, then that should be exactly what you’re after. See you on the HD side.