Hunting the Game of Thrones

It all started with this Oatmeal comic about the availability of HBO’s Game of Thrones. So I started hunting for this acclaimed series, and luckily, Season 1 released on March 6, 2012. But which format to get? There’s the physical media (DVD or Blu-ray) then there’s streaming (HD or SD), and relatedly, renting versus owning. I checked around, and here are the prices I found online and at stores.

While I’d love the quality of High Def, I don’t own a Blu-ray player (Steve Jobs told me I don’t need one since my Mac doesn’t have Blu-ray). I’m not a fan of paying to rent individuals shows. I am a Netflix subscriber but don’t want the hassles of waiting for the series of discs to cycle through the mail. And subtitles. I need me some subtitles to read the lingo from the Game of Thrones time frame. So… the best bet looks like getting the physical DVDs from Costco with their $5 instant rebate.